Dealing with a narcissist can be about as pleasant as glass in your salad.
Without warning, they’ll cut you without a second thought to soothe their fragile feelings.
Yet, they’re incapable of figuring out that they’re the toxic party.
But leaving isn’t always an option.
Sometimes, the narcissist in our life is a family member, colleague, or partner we genuinely love.
So what’s the best way to cope?
According to science, reading quotes about narcissists can be an effective balm.
How Reading Narcissist Quotes Can Help You
How can reading quotes about narcissism help? Interestingly, there’s a biological benefit.
Neuroplasticity describes the brain’s ability to change, and recent studies suggest that the process is lifelong. In other words, brains aren’t nearly as inflexible as once thought. People can “get smarter” and change their thought processes.
How? By building new neural pathways.
Think of thoughts as your mind’s interstate highway system, wherein the more you tend to a particular idea, the better paved its “brain road.”
As such, if you consistently read quotes that help you deal with a narcissistic force in your life, your mind will become better at brushing off their behavior and maintaining healthy boundaries.
55 Narcissistic Quotes That Are Spot-On
Look through the following lists of toxic narcissistic quotes to better understand what you’re dealing with — or healing from.
Dealing with the Abuse
Some of what you’ll read here are shallow or manipulative narcissistic quotes.
Others are quotes by those who’ve survived a relationship with a narcissist and are sharing what they’ve learned. Read them carefully and think about what you’ve been through yourself.
1. “Nobody can be kinder than the narcissist while you react to life on his terms.” — Elizabeth Bowen
2. “Withhold admiration from a narcissist and be disliked. Give it and be treated with indifference.” — Mason Cooley
3. “The lion is most handsome when looking for food.” — Rumi
5. “Beware of narcissistic people. They’ll tell everyone you’re crazy, only to cover up their trickery. ” ― Mitta Xinindlu
6. “There’s a reason narcissists don’t learn from mistakes and that’s because they never get past the first step which is admitting that they made one.” —Jeffrey Kluger
8. “I don’t care what you think unless it is about me.” –Kurt Cobain
11. “You will never get the truth out of a Narcissist. The closest you will ever come is a story that either makes them the victim or the hero, but never the villain.” —Shannon L. Alder
13. “There is simply no winning with a narcissist. He will treat you so horribly that you will become withdrawn and depressed and then he will turn around and say, ‘You’re no fun anymore, you’re always so depressed. I need to be with someone more positive.’” —Susan Williams
15. “The narcissist enjoys being looked at and not looking back.” — Mason Cooley
16. “Hypocrissist: A narcissist who has their head so far up their ass they can’t hear the hypocrisy coming out of their mouth.” — Joel McDonald
17. “A narcissist is someone better looking than you are.” -Gore Vidal
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Leaving and Letting Go
The following quotes are here to motivate you to create distance between yourself and the narcissist you know. You need that distance to protect yourself and the people you love. Let these quotes remind you of what’s at stake.
19. “If I cut you off it’s because you handed me the scissors.” — Harvey Specter
20. “We must all suffer one of two things: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret or disappointment.” — Jim Rohn
21. “If you think leaving a narcissist is hard, just wait until you get the bill for not doing it.” — Kim Saeed
22. “Just because someone desires you, does not mean that he values you. “ — Nayyirah Waheed
23. “Instead of asking her why she didn’t leave her abuser sooner, tell her you are proud of her for leaving when she could.” — Christy Anne Martine
Healing from the Hurt
These quotes are to help you through your recovery from a relationship with a narcissist. You’ve been through something not everyone has. And the time will come when you’ll have your own insights and empathy to share with others on the same recovery path.
25. “You are not broken and in need of fixing. You are wounded and in need of healing.” ― Danu Morrigan
26. “There is life after narcissistic abuse, Hold On.” ― Tracy Malone
27. “I wish that people would stop destroying other people just because they were once destroyed.” — Karen Salmansohn
28. “It is mental slavery to cling to things that have stopped serving its purpose in your life.” — Chinonye J. Chidolue
29. “You’ve got to make a conscious choice every day to shed the old – whatever ‘the old’ means for you.” — Sarah Ban Breathnach
30. “Over and over again, I have learned how damaging, how unrelenting, the aftermath is from these pathological, quietly undermining relationships.” — Sandra Brown
31. “Recovery from narcissistic abuse is not about forgiveness. For one thing, we don’t have the credentials to forgive at that level” — Zari Ballard
32. “Forgive yourself for not having the foresight to know what now seems so obvious in hindsight.” — Judy Belmont
33. “Love doesn’t die a natural death. Love has to be killed, either by neglect or narcissism.” — Frank Salvato
34. “Intuition — once you have had a narcissist in your life, you must develop your intuition and learn to listen to it and act accordingly.” — Tracy Malone
35. “Narcissistic love is riding on the rollercoaster of disaster filled with a heart full of tears.” — Sheree Griffin
36. “If you are an empathic, sensitive person, you are particularly vulnerable to the machinations of a narcissist who views you as someone they can easily manipulate.” ― Barrie Davenport
37. “How starved you must have been that my heart became a meal for your ego.” — Amanda Torroni
39. “I tell adults I work with never to waste their time arguing with a narcissist. You cannot win with a narcissist. Their perspective is always theirs.” – Deedee Cummings, M.Ed., LPCC, JD
40. “Hate is the complement of fear and narcissists like being feared. It imbues them with an intoxicating sensation of omnipotence.” — Sam Vaknin
41. “Please repair your narcissism before you start loving your neighbor as yourself.” ― Charles F. Glassman
42. “Narcissists would rather lie and humiliate you than to admit that they were in the wrong.” ― Mitta Xinindlu
43. “Narcissism is voluntary blindness, an agreement not to look beneath the surface.” — Sam Keen
44. “If you want to go from being adored to devalued in the blink of an eye, simply insult the narcissist.” — Tigress Luv
45. “What are narcissists looking for, after all? Just someone at their level that they can feel superior to.” — Luigina Sgarro
46. “Where there is much pride or much vanity, there will also be much revengefulness.” — Arthur Schopenhauer
47. “Narcissists often appear to be very confident, but a key feature of narcissism is low self-esteem. Narcissists display arrogance and exaggerate their achievements to hide this low self-esteem.” – Emily Guarnotta, PsyD
48. “There is a difference between supporting someone and feeding someone’s narcissism. One is support and the other is not.” — Fathom
50. “You can teach a narcissist to show up on time, but you can’t train them to listen once they get there.” ― Dr. Ramani Durvasula
51. “People, no matter the economic class, find ways to feed their narcissism.” – Lynne Tillman
52. “Once you recognize a narcissist for who they are and accept that the problem isn’t you, there’s no going back. The blinders are off.” – Barrie Davenport
53. “There’s a reason narcissists don’t learn from mistakes and that’s because they never get past the first step which is admitting that they made one.” – Jeffrey Kluger
54. “Someone who demonstrates narcissistic behaviors will operate in a way that is manipulative, but convincing. They are good at making themselves appear as the victim when issues with their behaviors are brought to their attention.” – Oddesty K Langham, MS, LPC, NCC
55. “Underneath the so-called narcissistic personality is definitely shame and the paralyzing fear of being ordinary.” – Brené Brown
Which of these narcissistic quotes stood out to you?
Now that you’ve looked over this collection of quotes on narcissism, which ones stood out for you? Which reminded you most of your own situation and what you learned from it?
The good news? However long your relationship lasted, you can learn from it. And with your intimate understanding of narcissism and its effects, you can help others recover from their experiences, too.
You and your well-being are worth fighting for. Encourage others as you work through the healing process.
And don’t let anyone tell you how long it should take.
