35 Toxic Family Quotes to Help You Let Go, Heal, and Move On

If you feel held down by your family, you might learn a thing or two from these toxic family quotes we’ve compiled.

Often, we are told that our family will always be our fallback—our safe haven. They will be the ones who will support and care for us no matter what we’re going through.

However, life is a funny thing. Sometimes, instead of providing a loving and supportive home, our family makes us feel unloved and unappreciated.

After all, how would you feel if you were mistreated by the ones who are supposed to love you the most? A toxic family is like a sharp sword that can cut through any hope or dream we might have.

If we grow up in a toxic family, depression and anxiety are imminent. There’s even a possibility of being a toxic parent to our future children.

So, before the worst happens, we must recognize whether our family members are toxic; if they are, we should cut them off from our lives! To help you with this, we’ve gathered the best toxic family quotes below.

And don’t forget to check out these encouraging quotes and family quotes.

Best Quotes About a Toxic Family

1. “Family is supposed to be our safe haven. Very often, it’s the place we find the deepest heartache.” – Lyanla Vansant

2. “Blood doesn’t make you family. Some of the most demonic and demeaning people in your life share your DNA.” – Temi Ade

3. “Just because someone gives you life doesn’t mean they will love you the right way.” – Anonymous

Toxic Family Quotes

4. “Let’s get out of the habit of telling people, ‘That’s still your mom, your dad, or your sister.’ Toxic is toxic. You are allowed to walk away from people that constantly hurt you.” – Anonymous

5. “You are born into your family, but as an adult, your life belongs to you. If your family doesn’t support the life you choose, then choose to distance yourself from them for your own mental health.” – Barrie Davenport

Toxic Family Quotes on Negativity

6. “Cutting people off doesn’t have limits. Family can get cut off, too, if they are causing you stress. Eliminate any negativity in your circle.” – Anonymous

7. “Toxic family relationships spoil all other relationships unless you remove the poison before it’s too late.” – Anonymous

8. “Families are homes built on a foundation of trust and love. A toxic family can never be home because the foundation doesn’t exist.” – Anonymous

Toxic Family Quotes on Negativity

9. “Toxic family members will see expressions of forgiveness as weaknesses to exploit. Don’t give in to their tactics this way. If you need to forgive them for your own healing, then do it, but keep it to yourself.” – Sherrie Campbell

10. “It’s perplexing how family members claim their undying love for us. They can say whatever they choose, but their actions and behaviors don’t match their words. There is an imbalance in the relationships with distinct discrepancies, especially in who overpowers the scapegoat.” – Dana Acuri

Quotes About Toxic Family Members

11. “A toxic mother talks but never listens, and she gives advice but never takes any.” – Sherrie Campbell

12. “A good family will see your boundaries and move around them; a toxic family won’t even realize they’re there.” – Anonymous

Quotes About Toxic Family Members

13. “Toxic parents care more about how you make them look than how you actually feel.” – Anonymous

14. “Toxic mothers are image-oriented rather than love-oriented.” – Sherrie Campbell

Toxic Family Quotes to Help You Cut Them Off

15. “Family or not, I will cut you off. That saying, ‘But that’s family,’ means nothing if a family is toxic and means you no good.” – Morgan Sharee

16. “It’s okay to cut toxic family members out of your life. Blood ain’t thicker than peace of mind.” – Anonymous

17. “Do not be waylaid by a toxic family Whatsapp group. You fought hard to emerge as your own person in real life. Do not succumb to this new medium that replicates all the sad, toxic hierarchies of broken families. Walk out. Do it now.” – Itayi Garande

18. “Family is where you’re meant to be most free, don’t let blood chain you down.” – Michelle Meleen

19. “If the family you chose before your birth no longer supports your path towards fulfilling your true destiny, it is never too late to find a new tribe.” – Anthon St. Maarten

20. “Let go of toxic family members. Embrace friends and other family or relatives that support your path toward your dreams and goals. Because life is too short for tolerating toxic relationships and letting them hold you back any longer.” – Anonymous

Toxic Family Quotes That Zoom in on the Hurt They Cause

21. “Ask yourself, ‘Will you do this to your family?’ If not, why let them do this to you?” – Anonymous

22. “When we are raised in toxic families, we often go through a time period, and for some of us, a lifetime of repeating the toxic patterns we were raised in with other people in our lives. We do this until we decide we’ve had enough pain and choose to genuinely examine our patterns and stop the craziness for good.” – Sherrie Campbell

23. “Love is close to hate when it comes to sisters. You’re as close as two humans can be. You came from the same womb. The same background. Even if you’re poles apart, mentally. That’s why it hurts so much when your sister is unkind. It’s as though part of you is turning against yourself.” – Jane Corry

24. “Nobody fights you like your own sister; nobody else knows the most vulnerable parts of you and will aim for them without mercy.” – Jojo Moyes

Comforting Toxic Family Quotes for Those in Pain

25. “Ending the toxic cycle within your own life isn’t easy. When you don’t come from a healthy family, you do your best to ensure a healthy one comes from you.” – Steve Maraboli

26. “You are allowed to terminate your relationship with toxic family members. You are allowed to walk away from people who hurt you. You are allowed to be angry, selfish, and unforgiving. You don’t owe anyone an explanation for taking care of you.” – Anonymous

27. “Fear of breaking family loyalty is one of the greatest stumbling blockages to recovery. Yet, until we admit certain things we would rather excuse or deny, we cannot truly begin to put the past in the past and leave it there once and for all. Unless we do that, we cannot even begin to think of having a future that is fully ours, untethered to the past, and we will be destined to repeat it.” – Ronald Allen Schulz

Toxic Family Quotes for Everyone With Bad Family Members

28. “Not everyone deserves full access to you, including toxic family members.” – Anonymous

29. “You don’t get to choose your family, but you do get to choose how they’re allowed to treat you.” – Anonymous

30. “Wherever there is a major deficit in parental love, the child will—in all likelihood—respond to the deficit by assuming itself to be the cause of the deficit, thereby developing an unrealistically negative self-image.” – Sherrie Campbell

Sad Toxic Family Quotes to Help You Vent Your Anger and Frustration

31. “You don’t have to leave your whole family in the past, just those who don’t deserve a place in your future.” – Anonymous

32. “When you walk away from a toxic family, you begin the journey of finding your true people.” – Anonymous

33. “It’s okay to cut ties with toxic friends and family you’ve got to prioritize your own well-being.” – Brenden Dilley

34. “These people were meant to raise me. Instead, I’ve had to raise them right out of my life.” – Anonymous

35. “Calling this a family doesn’t make it a loving home; it just makes it a hateful lie.” – Anonymous

Are You Someone Who Grew up in a Toxic Family?

There are some normal and loving family relationships out there. Sadly, it’s not easy to be sure whether what you see on the outside is the truth.

You’re lucky if you feel your family is your safe place. But, many people would want nothing more than to escape their toxic family.

No one could blame you if you feel this way. After all, in a toxic family, there’s no saying how much pain or emotional and physical abuse you’ve experienced.

People say we should learn to forgive and forget, especially if it involves our family members. However, as we’ve learned from the quotes above, there’s no other way to move forward and heal if we don’t let go of what’s causing us pain.

It doesn’t matter whether it’s your mother, father, siblings, or even aunts and uncles. If they are toxic and hurt you and keep you from following your dreams, you must cut them off from your life!

We can’t say that this process will be easy or cause you no pain. However, keep in mind that after you pass this challenge, you’ll open up a new path filled with happiness and joy!

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Karen Danao

Hi, I’m Karen, a content curator and writer for Quote Ambition; I’m also a marketing and advertising professional. Beyond the keyboard and the screen, I’m someone who’s out to enjoy every bit that life has to offer!

Poetry, philosophy, history, and movies are all topics I love writing about! However, my true passion is in traveling, photography, and finding common ground to which everyone from different cultures can relate.

With the many places I’ve been to, I found that love, inspiration, and happiness are some things that bring people together. No matter how different we are on the outside, I’m a true believer that our emotions don’t lie; if you dig deep into our psyche, we’re all the same inside.

This belief was further amplified when I joined Quote Ambition. Through the quotes I’ve read, collected, organized, and written about, I found that humans are resilient, creative, and compassionate.

We take from each others’ hearts and courage, and it’s through our individual experiences that we learn how to rise above our challenges and pain. In so many ways, Quote Ambition is a platform that allows people from all over the world to gain the inspiration they need anytime, anywhere!

You can find me on MuckRack and LinkedIn.