57 Toxic Relationship Quotes to Free Yourself and Move On

Published August 14, 2020
Man sleeping with an unhappy woman sitting on the floor next to him

Unhealthy relationships can lead to high levels of distress and mental health disorders, as well as a general disruption to your social and work life. While the patterns associated with being in a toxic relationship are often complex and long standing, seeking inspiration to move on without an unhealthy partner may be a great step for those who are seeking healthy relationships.

Toxic Relationship Quotes

Toxic relationship quotes may give you a bit of insight into your own current or previous relationship and help you make the healthiest decision for yourself moving forward.

Leaving a Toxic Relationship Quotes

Quotes about leaving a toxic relationship:

  • While it may feel scary to be alone again, it may be even scarier to stay.
  • Bravery is leaving a toxic relationship and knowing that you deserve better.
  • Leaving a toxic relationship means giving yourself an opportunity to understand your needs.
  • Ending an unhealthy relationship is not only courageous, but a monumental step in working towards a healthier relationship with yourself and others.
  • Letting go of a toxic relationship gives you more space to get to know yourself.
  • Ending a toxic relationship means putting your mental wellness first.
  • Breaking up with an unhealthy partner gives you space to get to know what you need in a relationship.
  • Trust yourself if you feel like your relationship is bringing you down.
  • Leaving a toxic relationship may be painful at first, but with time, you may feel as if a huge weight has been lifted.
  • Toxic partners can chip away your unique personality until you don't know who you are anymore- take time to reconnect with yourself post-breakup.
  • Once you leave a toxic relationship, know that it's okay to reach out for help- it's not easy processing this type of experience alone.
  • Ending a toxic relationship often means beginning a new journey of self reflection and self-care.
Leaving a Toxic Relationship Quote

Final Goodbye Toxic Relationship Quotes

Final goodbye quotes about toxic relationships:

  • Don't forget what happened when you were mistreated, use it to inform your future decisions.
  • Saying goodbye to a toxic relationship means you were brave enough to trust your gut.
  • Even though breakups can be painful, eventually your heart will catch up with your head.
  • Ending a relationship that drains you gives you space to find what uplifts you.
  • When you leave a toxic partner, you carry with you the knowledge you've gained from your experience with them.
  • Acknowledge and learn from your toxic relationship before moving forward so you don't go through the same experience with a different partner.
  • You deserve to leave behind an unhealthy partner and connect with others who value you as a person and respect you wholeheartedly.
  • One of the most difficult aspects of leaving a toxic relationship is missing the amazing moments you shared together and wondering if you're making the right decision- know that unhealthy and abusive behavior almost always escalates.
  • When you reflect upon your relationship, remember it's okay to look back fondly on the beautiful memories and still want to move on.
  • Acknowledge what you're scared to lose if you end a toxic relationship and think about what you're hoping to experience in the future.

Toxic Relationship Quotes for Him

If you identify as a man and are thinking about leaving a toxic relationship, some quotes include:

  • Allow yourself the space to grieve the loss of your relationship, no matter how toxic it was, so you can move forward with closure.
  • Letting go of a toxic relationship gives you time to focus on what makes you happy.
  • There's often a burst of clarity after a toxic relationship has ended.
  • Trust your instincts when it comes to any relationships that feel unhealthy, unsatisfying, and deflating.
  • If your partner has stifled your personality, isn't supportive, and isn't willing to work on your relationship related issues, you're in an unhealthy relationship.
Toxic Relationship Quote for Him

Toxic Relationship Quotes for Her

If you identify as a woman and are thinking about leaving an unhealthy relationship, some quote examples include:

  • While it may feel painful to have a broken heart, you already have the strength within yourself to heal.
  • Ending a relationship, no matter how dysfunctional it was, can still be incredibly painful- give yourself time to process your emotions.
  • After ending a toxic relationship, be your own healthy, loving, and stable partner.
  • Experiencing a toxic relationship offers you incredible insight into what you want and don't want in a partner.
  • Leaving a toxic relationship may be one of the bravest steps you take in putting your mental and physical wellbeing first.

Quotes About Bad Relationships and Moving On

Moving on from an unhealthy relationship quotes:

  • When you've moved on from an unhealthy relationship, take your time healing and reflecting upon your experience.
  • Learning from your experience in an unhealthy relationship promotes growth and insight.
  • Truly moving on from an unhealthy relationship means you've given yourself grace to look back and reflect upon the experience.
  • Leaving a toxic relationship can feel impossible; know that you should go with your gut and always aim to prioritize your emotional and physical wellbeing.
  • After a breakup, the healing process can take time, know that for most, pain will dissipate with time.
  • If you've ended a toxic relationship, surround yourself with supportive others and find ways to process your experience in healthy ways.
  • Healing will look different for everyone- explore what you need once a toxic relationship has ended.
  • While you may not know it at the time, healing from a toxic relationship promotes incredible growth within yourself.
  • A toxic relationship can leave you feeling wounded and alone- know that this is a natural part of the healing process.
  • Pain, in relationships, becomes burned into our memory as a means to help us never forget this type of experience, so toxicity can be avoided in the future.
  • It can feel like you're healing process is taking forever, hang in there and know that your brain is taking time to recover, reorganize, and reboot, so you can move forward in a healthy way.
  • A negative relational experience can leave you feeling nervous about meeting anyone else- know that there are healthy people out there and you deserve to experience a truly loving relationship.

Quotes Unhealthy Relationships

Toxic relationship quote examples:

  • Loving yourself means surrounding yourself with people who respect your boundaries.
  • Love never means enduring any sort of abuse, no matter what the circumstances.
  • Unlearning unhealthy relationship patterns takes time, but you deserve to enjoy healthy and uplifting relationships.
  • Unhealthy relationships are filled with insecurities, mistrust, and dishonesty.
  • Experiencing an unhealthy relationship can give you insight into your past relational patterns.
  • Unhealthy relationships are often part of a pervasive pattern that developed in childhood.
  • While it can be challenging to break the pattern of unhealthy sultanships, it is possible, as long as you're willing to look at your own conscious and unconscious drives.
  • A healthy, loving relationship means never fearing each other.
  • In unhealthy relationships, power dynamics are unbalanced.

  • In a toxic relationship, one or both partners are not willing to address their own issues or take accountability for their own actions.

  • A toxic partner blames you, refuses to acknowledge their mistakes, and attempts to create the illusion of your dependence on them.

  • If one or both partners are unwilling to acknowledge how their behavior impacts each other, you are in an unhealthy relationship.

  • Unhealthy relationships are filled with unconscious projections, displacement, and often times triggered regressions that block one or both partners from understanding their role in the toxicity.

    Unhealthy Relationships Quote

What Is a Toxic Relationship?

A toxic relationship is one where those involved in the relationship have an imbalance of power. The toxicity of the relationship can range depending on the partners involved. Examples of toxic relationships:

  • One partner takes on role of abuser, while the other partner is the survivor of the abuse
  • A relationship with occurrences of mutual violence between adults (both partners are violent, evenly matched size wise, and both initiate the violence)
  • An emotionally and/or physically abusive parent and a minor
  • An untrustworthy, chaotic, and/or unpredictable partner and a caregiver or fixer partner

People are unconsciously drawn to relational patterns that feel familiar. Even if the relationships were unhealthy to begin with, in the brain, there's a sense of comfort and normalcy when patterns are repeated, no matter how toxic they may be. Breaking the cycle of engaging in toxic relationships can be incredibly challenging, especially because these patterns are often developed early on during childhood. Without a healthy attachment established with a parent or caregiver, children grow up and often struggle with developing healthy relationships as adults.

What Are the Symptoms of a Toxic Relationship?

Signs of a toxic relationship include:

  • Imbalance of power between adults in a relationship
  • Abuse and/or neglect within a parent/child relationship
  • One or both partners lack insight into their own behavior and may blame, avoid, and distract versus working through conflict in a healthy way
  • One or both partners feels anxious about the predictability of the other partner
  • Heightened anxiety about upsetting or rocking the boat within the relationship for fear of what may occur (abuse, anger outburst, threaten to leave)
  • Feeling unsafe emotionally and/or physically
  • Feeling scared to leave the relationship
  • One or both partners fears being alone
  • Abuse present within the relationship (physical, emotional, financial, spiritual, and/or sexual)
  • Threats are often present

If your partner has been abusive, know that abuse tends to escalate. If you need immediate help, contact a crisis line right away.

What Are Toxic Relationship Quotes?

Quotes about toxic relationships may help you look at your current or previous relationships with a more critical eye for unhealthy behaviors and interactions. Because toxic relationships tend to be a manifestation of a pervasive relational pattern, if you find yourself unable to get away from this pattern, consider reaching out to a therapist who can provide support.

Trending on LoveToKnow
57 Toxic Relationship Quotes to Free Yourself and Move On