No matter how you spin it, marriage is challenging.
Even if you love one another to the moon and back, you’re still bound to face difficulties with your husband over the years.
But sometimes, your husband can say and do deeply hurtful things.
By ignoring or neglecting you, your husband shows he’s taking you for granted.
Over time, his neglect can leave you brokenhearted and numb.
It’s hard to express how profoundly it hurts when your husband doesn’t respect and cherish you.
That’s why we’ve curated these 63 “unhappy marriage, bad husband” quotes.
Maybe seeing these quotes will help validate your feelings and give you the courage to take action.
[Side note: In this online course, learn healthy communication skills and build the intimacy you've always wanted in your relationship.)
68 Husband Hurting Wife Quotes
We’ve divided these quotes into three sections to help you identify where your husband is not living up to his marriage vows.
Read through all of the quotes, select the most relevant to your situation, and then consider using them in the following ways:
- Review these sad wife quotes with your husband and open a conversation about how his behavior is hurting you.
- Use a quote as a journal prompt, and write about your feelings and pain to help you work through it.
- Take these quotes to your next therapist appointment, and use them as a discussion starter related to the health of your marriage.
Neglecting Wife Husband Hurting Wife Quotes
Has your husband neglected you and put other people and activities ahead of spending quality time with you? Has he acted as though you’ll always be around so he can put off focusing on your needs?
These “wife feeling neglected by husband” quotes will show you that you aren’t crazy and that you deserve better — much better.
1. ”Loneliness is not lack of company, loneliness is lack of purpose.” ― Guillermo Maldonado
2. “Many marriages would be better if the husband and the wife clearly understood that they are on the same side.” ― Zig Ziglar
3. “Hearts can break. Yes, hearts can break. Sometimes I think it would be better if we died when they did, but we don’t. ” ― Stephen King
4. “If a man, who says he loves you, won’t tell you the details of a private conversation between him and another woman you can be sure he is not protecting your heart. He is protecting himself and the women he has feelings for. Wise women simply see things as they are, not as their low self-esteem allows.” ― Shannon L. Alder
5. “Something my dad says…He says you end up marrying the one you don't understand. Then you spend the rest of your life trying.” ― Fredrik Backman
6. “A man will admit his wrongs and try to fix them. A boy will find excuses and constantly blame you for why he’s hurting you.” ― Unknown
7. “Your spouse is not a possession you attain, but a friend in which you trust and adore.” ― Robert Vanleeuwen
8. “Sorry is not enough. Sometimes you actually have to change.” ― Unknown
9. “If your husband neglects you, he doesn’t deserve you.” ― Unknown
10. “There is nothing lonelier than being in a marriage feeling unseen by your husband. You feel like a ghost in your own home.” ― Barrie Davenport
11. “The loneliest thing in the world is lying awake beside someone asleep.” ― Rebecca Makkai
12. “A good marriage is supposed to be one where each spouse secretly thinks he or she got the better deal.” ― Anne Lamott
13. “What kills love? Only this: neglect.” ― Jeanette Winterson
14. “Never make the one you love feel alone, especially when you’re right there” ― Unknown
15. “Distance doesn’t separate people. Silence does.” ― Jeff Hood
16. “Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option.” ― Marc and Angel
17. “Neglect cannot exist with love in a marriage. If you’re neglected and taken for granted, you’re not loved.” ― Barrie Davenport
18. “Even the most intense feelings cease when neglected and taken for granted.” ― Anupama Garg
19. “I was always just a supporting cast member in my husband’s life. His attention turned to me only when I was attending to him.” ― Unknown
20. “Sometimes I get real lonely sleeping with you.” ―Haruki Murakami
21. “I will never regret you or say I wish I’d never met you. Because once upon a time you were exactly what I needed.” —Bob Marley
22. “Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.” —Haruki Murakami
Broken Heart Husband Hurting Wife Quotes
As time goes on, your husband’s neglect will take its toll on your psyche and your heart. Every time you try to connect, and he brushes you aside, it feels like a blow.
You are left with a fractured heart that soon may be broken beyond repair. If only he’d get the message before it’s too late.
23. “The pain of yesterday is the strength of today.” ― Paulo Coelho
24. “If I treated you the way you treat me, you would hate me.” ― Unknown
25. “Relationships are like glass. Sometimes it’s better to leave them broken than try to hurt yourself putting it back together.” ― Unknown
26. “It’s amazing how someone can break your heart and you can still love them with all the little pieces.” ― Ella Harper
27. “Silence is a woman’s loudest cry. You can always tell she’s really hurt when she starts ignoring you.” ― Unknown
28. “Pleasure of love lasts but a moment. Pain of love lasts a lifetime.” ― Bette Davis
29. “Be careful what you say. You can say something hurtful in ten seconds, but ten years later, the wounds are still there.” ― Joel Osteen
30. “Cry. Forgive. Learn. Move on. Let your tears water the seeds of your future happiness.” — Steve Maraboli
31. “When you hurt the one you love, you are bound to hurt yourself.” ― Unknown
32. “If you spend your time hoping someone will suffer the consequences for what they did to your heart, then you’re allowing them to hurt you a second time in your mind.” ―Shannon L. Alder
33. “The human heart is the only thing whose worth increases the more it is broken.” —Shakieb Orgunwall
34. “There comes a time in your life when you have to choose to turn the page, write another book or simply close it.” ― Shannon L. Alder
35. “Nothing hurts more than realizing he meant everything to you and you meant nothing to him.” ― Unknown
36. “Someday you’re gonna look back on this moment of your life as such a sweet time of grieving. You’ll see that you were in mourning, and your heart was broken, but your life was changing.” —Elizabeth Gilbert
37. “Do not look for healing at the feet of those who broke you.” ― Rupi Kaur
38. “You cannot really get married by mistake. You can only marry the wrong person.” ― Mokokoma Mokhonoana
39. “A broken heart is the worst. Nobody can see it, but it hurts every time you breathe.” ― Unknown
40. “Happiness is the china shop; love is the bull.” —H. L. Mencken
41. “You married him because he promised to love, honor, and cherish you. When all of those promises are broken time and again, you are left with a broken heart.” ― Barrie Davenport
42. “It is not a lack of love, but a lack of friendship that makes unhappy marriages.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche
43. “The shattering of a heart being broken is the loudest quiet ever.” ― Carroll Bryant
44. “Having your heart broken by the one you love the most can be like a thousand paper cuts or one massive and decisive blow. Either way, the pain is profound.” ― Barrie Davenport
45. “There are many ways of breaking a heart. Stories were full of hearts broken by love, but what really broke a heart was taking away its dream—whatever that dream might be.” ― Pearl S. Buck
46. “No matter how hard your heart is broken, the world doesn’t stop for your grief.” —Faraaz Kazi
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Husband Ignoring Wife Quotes
You thought you couldn’t be hurt worse than being neglected, but now he’s ignoring you altogether. It’s as though you’ve become persona non grata with the person who’s supposed to love you most.
You’re two ships passing in the night, and no matter how hard you try to win his attention, he just can’t be bothered.
47. “After marriage, a woman's sight becomes so keen that she can see right through her husband without looking at him, and a man's so dull that he can look right through his wife without seeing her.” ― Helen Rowland
48. “I still believed he'd love me again somehow, love me that intense, thick way he did, the way that made everything good.” ― Gillian Flynn
49. “Ignoring is a passive-aggressive way of dealing with a chronic relationship problem. When your husband ignores you, no matter if it’s all the time or just after arguments, he is trying to avoid and run away from a problem instead of dealing with it and solving it.” ― Lisa Penn
50. “Don’t spend too much time beating on a wall, hoping it will transform into a door.” ―Dr. Laura Schlessinger
51. “It's weird, marriage. It's like this license that gives a person the legal right to control their spouse / their ‘other half.” ― Jess C. Scott
52. “Most men do not have the balls to help their women to not need them.” ― Mokokoma Mokhonoana
53. “The husband who doesn't tell his wife everything probably reasons that what she doesn't know won't hurt him.” ― Leo J. Burke
54. “If you’re turning yourself into a pretzel to win his love and attention, you’ve already diminished yourself. You’ve already lost whatever love he said he had for you.” ― Unknown
55. “What’s worse than being hated is being ignored, because it’s like you don’t exist at all and your presence is nothing.” ― Anurag Prakash Ray
56. “It would be too easy to say that I feel invisible. Instead, I feel painfully visible, and entirely ignored.” ― David Levithan
57. “The demise of marriages begins with a growing absence of responsive intimate interactions. The conflict comes later.” ―Sue Johnson
58. “While it is better to be loved than hated, it is also far better to be hated than ignored.” ― Viet Thanh Nguyen
59. “You’re ignoring me so loud that it’s deafening. This silence is so deep that it’s echoing.” ― Anna Jae
60. “Indifference and neglect often do much more damage than outright dislike.” ― J.K. Rowling
61. “I think I owe you the time you wasted in ignoring me.” ― Nitya Prakash
62. “Really, what is more important in a man’s life than his wife? His work? His kids? His hobbies? If you’re not number one in your husband’s life, your soul will begin to wither and fade away.” ― Barrie Davenport
63. “I don’t want to be married just to be married. I can’t think of anything lonelier than spending the rest of my life with someone I can’t talk to, or worse, someone I can’t be silent with.” ―Mary Ann Shaffer
64. “The difference between privacy and secrecy is this; One is used to protect, the other is used to hide.” ― Renee Slansky
65. “A man should be like a child with his wife, but if she needs him, he should act like a man.” ― Umar Ibn Al-Khattab
66. “Betrayal was what I felt, my heart broken not just by a guy I was i love with, but also by, as I once believed, a true friend.” ― Danka V.
67. “Men are not meant to hurt their wives. They have a bigger role. They’re there to protect her and love her. A man hurting his wife is no man.” ― Unknown
68. “One day, I hope you look back at what we had and regret every single thing you did to let it end.” ― Sahil Verma
How to Use These Emotional Hurt Wife Quotes
Keeping quotes in an easily accessible file so you can read them when you need a boost is a great idea. Also, consider leveraging the sayings in ways that will help you internalize the messages. How? Here are four ideas to try.
- Use as Journaling Prompts: Make a list of the sayings above that resonate with you most. Then, if you haven’t already, establish a manageable journaling habit. Ten minutes a day can make a huge, positive difference in how you feel. As part of your practice, use quotes that speak to your situation as prompts to help you explore related issues.
- Make Graphics To Share: Think about how you feel when you stumble upon a quote or saying that hits you in the core. It makes you sit a little taller. The good ones can help ease anxiety and alleviate stress. So why not make graphics of profound sayings and share them on social media? Who knows, it may help one of your followers.
- Meditate on Them: Analytical meditations can help you unpack issues and ideas. Set your mind on one quote at a time while meditating and see what turns up.
- Discuss With Your Therapist: If you work with a therapist or coach, share the quotes that hit you the most. Your counselor can help you figure out why the sayings hold meaning for you and provide coping tools to recognize associated triggers.
If these quotes reflect some painfully familiar situations and emotions, here’s hoping they will also inspire you to take action to address the issues and work on your marriage.
Or, if things seem beyond repair, perhaps these emotional husband-wife quotes give you the courage to move on and find someone who treats you with more love and respect.