This post contains some of the best betrayal trauma quotes that will make you feel less alone.
What Is Betrayal Trauma?
Betrayal trauma typically refers to the lingering emotional distress experienced after betrayal by:
- A parent or other primary caregiver
- A romantic partner
Because of how close these people are and how much you may rely on them, you may find yourself with no choice but to accept their betrayal and sometimes the possibility of future betrayals.
This can negatively affect your self-esteem and emotional well-being.
Related: Betrayal Trauma Test: Do I Have Betrayal Trauma?
Forms Of Betrayal
Betrayal can take two forms:
- Behaviors that intentionally hurt, such as emotional abuse, verbal aggression, and domestic violence.
- Failure to care about your well-being, such as infidelity, deceit, misuse of communal resources, stonewalling, criticism, lack of support, etc.
Related: Betrayal Blindness – What Is It & How To Overcome It?
Betrayal Trauma Quotes
1. “Betrayal can be extremely painful, but it’s up to you how much that pain damages you permanently.” – Emily V. Gordon
2. “Betrayal is never easy to handle, and there is no right way to accept it.” – Christine Feehan
3. “Betrayal is so emotionally charged because the act of betrayal violates a couple’s core agreement- the promise to care for each other and keep each other safe.” ― Unknown
4. “Betrayal leaves us at a fork in the road. We can become stuck in a bad moment forever or we can put it behind us for good. We decide our path.” – Carmen Harra
Related: The Narcissist’s Prayer Explained
5. “Better to be slapped with the truth than kissed with a lie.” ― Unknown
6. “Beware the person who stabs you and then tells the world they’re the one who’s bleeding.” – Jill Blakeway
7. “Breaking someone’s trust is like crumpling up a perfect piece of paper. You can smooth it over, but it’s never going to be the same again.” ― Unknown
8. “Cheating is directly linked to lack of intelligence, insecurity, low self-esteem, and an overall sense of unhappiness with one’s own life.” ― Unknown
9. “Forgive yourself for the blindness that let others betray you. Sometimes a good heart doesn’t see the bad.” ― Unknown
10. “I trusted you, but now your words mean nothing because your actions spoke the truth.” ― Unknown
11. “I’m not mad, I’m hurt. There’s a difference.” ― Unknown
12. “It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.” – William Blake
13. “It’s funny how sometimes the people you’d take a bullet for are the ones behind the trigger.” ― Unknown
Related: The Ultimate Guide to Protect Yourself From a Narcissist
14. “It’s hard to tell who has your back, from who has it long enough just to stab you in it.” ― Nicole Richie
15. “Life has taught me that you can’t control someone’s loyalty. No matter how good you are to them, it doesn’t mean that they will treat you the same. No matter how much they mean to you, it doesn’t mean that they’ll value you the same. Sometimes the people you love the most turn out to be the people you can trust the least.” – Trent Shalton
16. “Nothing hurts more than being disappointed by the single person you thought would never hurt you.” ― Unknown
17. “One of the hardest lessons in life is letting go. Whether it’s guilt, anger, love, loss or betrayal. Change is never easy. We fight to hold on and we fight to let go. If you’ve been hurt until it breaks your soul into pieces, your perspective in life will definitely change, and no one and nothing in this world could ever hurt you again.” – Mareez Reyes
18. “So this was a betrayal. It was like being left alone in the desert at dusk without water or warmth. It left your mouth dry and [your]will broken. It sapped your tears and made you hollow.” – Anna Godbersen
19. “The knives of betrayal and drama cut deep and hurt… but they also trim away the nonsense and reveal your true friends.” – Steve Maraboli
20. “The real betrayal is forgetting yourself.” ― Unknown
21. “The saddest thing about betrayal is that it never comes from your enemies.” ― Unknown
22. “The worst pain in the world goes beyond the physical. Even further beyond any other emotional pain, one can feel. It is the betrayal of a friend.” – Heather Brewer
23. “There is no greater blessing than a family hand that lifts you from a fall, but there is no lower curse than a family hand that strikes you when you’re down.” – Wes Fessler
24. “To me, the thing that is worse than death is betrayal. You see, I could conceive death, but I could not conceive betrayal.” – Malcolm X
25. “Tragedy in life normally comes with betrayal and compromise, and trading on your integrity and not having dignity in life. That’s really where failure comes.” – Tom Cochrane
Related: 7 Stages Of Betrayal Trauma (+7 Tips For Overcoming Betrayal Trauma)
26. “Trust is earned, respect is given, and loyalty is demonstrated. Betrayal of any one of those is to lose all three.” – Ziad K. Abdelnour
27. “What is more important, that Caesar is assassinated or that he is assassinated by his intimate friends? … That,’ Frederick said, ‘is where the tragedy is.” ― M.L. Rio
28. “When in doubt, pay more attention to what people do and less to what they say. Actions not only speak louder than words, they are more difficult to fake.” – Zero Dean
29. “You don’t lose friends, you just learn who your real friends are.” ― Unknown
30. “An enemy cannot betray you, as you already expect your enemy to try to bring you down. Only a trusted “friend,” acquaintance, or family member can betray you, and that is what truly makes betrayal so hurtful and sad.” ― Bohdi Sanders
Related: How To Emotionally Detach From A Narcissist?
31. “Betrayal does not only break your heart but also darkens your soul. You will never forget the pain like a fog that forever lingers in the depths of your mind.” – Unknown
32. “Betrayal was the ultimate weapon, for it left emotional destruction in its wake. And questions. Thousands of questions.” ― Allison Lane
33. “If people could step inside a person who has been betrayed by the love of their life and feel the agony it causes, no one who is human would have it in their heart to cause someone that much pain and heartache.” – Unknown
34. “In the way that you need to clear the way to make a road, those who betray and abandon you expose things you need to remove from your life. They reveal the mistakes you made in trusting them and how you can avoid them in the future, and move on.” — Innocent Mwatsikesimbe
35. “No pain can ever be compared to the pain of being betrayed by someone special to your heart.” – Unknown
36. “One of the hardest journeys you make is the one you take from the bus you were thrown under.” ― Joyce Rachelle
37. “The most damaging aspect of abuse is the trauma to our hearts and souls, from being betrayed by the people that we love and trust.” – Unknown
38. “The worst feeling in the worst is knowing you’ve been used and lied to by someone you trusted.” – Unknown
Recovery After Betrayal Quotes
39. “Don’t chase people. Be yourself, do your own thing, and work hard. The right people – the ones who really belong in your life – will come to you. And stay.” – Will Smith
40. “Don’t waste words on people who deserve your silence. Sometimes the most powerful thing you can say is nothing at all.” ― Unknown
41. “Even loss and betrayal can bring us awakening.” — Buddha
Related: Am I Being Gaslighted Quiz (& How To Recover From Gaslighting In 10 Steps)
42. “Everyone suffers at least one bad betrayal in their lifetime. It’s what unites us. The trick is not to let it destroy your trust in others when that happens. Don’t let them take that from you.” – Sherrilyn Kenyon
43. “Give yourself time to heal from a challenge you’ve been dealt. Letting go of hurt doesn’t happen overnight. It happens in slow, small steps forward (Plus a few steps backward at times). Be gentle and patient with yourself.” ― Unknown
44. “Healing doesn’t mean the pain never existed. It means the damage no longer controls our lives.” ― Unknown
45. “I am grateful to those who have betrayed me… They thought they were just stabbing me in the back, but they were also cutting me free from their poisonous life.” – Steve Maraboli
46. “I have been stabbed in the back by those I needed the most. I’ve been lied to by those I love. And I have felt alone when I couldn’t afford to be. But at the end of the day, I had to learn to be my own best friend, because there’s going to be days where no one is going to be there for me, but myself.” ― Unknown
47. “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
48. “I’m mature enough to forgive you, but I’m not dumb enough to trust you again.” ― Unknown
49. “Life will knock us down, but we can choose whether or not to stand back up.” – Jackie Chan
50. “Nobody will protect you from your suffering. You can’t cry it away or eat it away or starve it away or walk it away or punch it away or even therapy it away. It’s just there, and you have to survive it. You have to endure it. You have to live through it and love and move on and be better for it. And run as far as you can in the direction of your best and happiest dreams across the bridge that was built by your own desire to heal.” – Cheryl Strayed
Related: How To Heal From Narcissistic Abuse By A Parent? 7 Practical Strategies
51. “Often people that say they “don’t care” actually do. The moment they discuss you with their friends and family, compete with you, bad mouth you to others, or react to anything you do or say is when they give themselves away. You can either be saddened or flattered that you affected someone so much. The perspective is yours to determine.” ― Shannon L. Alder
52. “Some people are in such utter darkness that they will burn you just to see a light. Try not to take it personally.” ― Kamand Kojouri
53. “Sometimes, instead of being hurt, you should look at betrayal as a gift. It makes it that much easier to sweep it up and toss it out with the rest of the trash. And why is that you ask? Because trash starts to stink…and when it does, it has no more value in your life.” – Donna Schoenrock
54. “They can betray me, but I choose not to betray my peace of mind.” – Dodinsky
55. “When someone betrays you, it is a reflection of their character, not yours.” ― Unknown
56. “‘It was a mistake,’ you said. But the cruel thing was, it felt like the mistake was mine, for trusting you.”– David Levithan
57. “A betrayal in a family is much more devastating than a betrayal among friends, or even lovers.”– Ari Aster
58. “A betrayal rarely comes from an enemy. Generally, you are betrayed by those who have the intention to hurt you already.” -Steve Maraboli
59. “A person raised in a healthy family is equipped to live a confident and independent life; someone from an unhealthy family is filled with fear and self-doubt.”– Christina Enevoldsen
Related: Healing From Emotional Abuse In 12 Practical Steps
60. “A real friend is one who walks in when the rest of the world walks out.”– Walter Winchell
61. “A stab from a friend cuts deeper than a stab from a foe.”– Amit Kalantri
62. “A time comes when silence is betrayal.”– Martin Luther King, Jr.
63. “A toxic family is even worse than a toxic relationship.”– Rohan Chouhan
64. “Actions not only speak louder than words, they are more difficult to fake.”– Unknown
65. “All trust involves vulnerability and risk, and nothing would count as trust if there were no possibility of betrayal.”– Robert C. Solomon
Related: Top 5 Emotional Incest Signs & How To Heal From It
66. “Always seek less turbulent skies. Hurt. Fly above it. Betrayal. Fly above it. Anger. Fly above it. You are the one who is flying the plane.”– Marianne Williamson
67. “An honest enemy is better than a false friend.”– Greek Proverb
68. “An insincere and evil friend is more to be feared than a wild beast; a wild beast may wound your body, but an evil friend will wound your mind.”– Buddha
69. “Be assured of the fact that the one who has betrayed you once will betray you again if the person gets a chance to do so.” – Johann Caspar Lavater
70.“Be very careful of who you share your problem with, remember that not every friend that smiles at you is your best friend.”– Kemmy Nola
Related: Best Support Groups For Emotional Abuse (Online & In Person)
71. “Being stabbed in the back by your own people is particularly very difficult to handle. A sense of betrayal is always present when a group of your own people disagrees with you.” – Robert Frost
72. “Being unloyal to someone reflects on your personality. Be careful before betraying someone.” – Micheal Bassey Johnson
73. “Betray a friend and you’ll often find you have ruined yourself.”– Aesop
74. “Betrayal in the family is most devastating and heartbreaking than betrayal in friendships. Life is all about who is loyal and real at your back.” – William Penn
Related: Emotional Abuse Test (+Resources For Emotional Abuse Recovery)
75. “Betrayal is like death: you never think it will happen to you.”– Marty Rubin
76. “Betrayal is never easy to handle and cope with when the person who has betrayed you is your own.” – Barbara Kingsolver
77. “Betrayal is the only truth that sticks.”– Arthur Miller
78. “Betrayal is the worst… and the key to moving past it is to identify what led up to it in the first place.”– Charles J. Orlando
79. “Betrayal is, of course, not a failure of trust but a failure of trustworthiness.”– Russell Hardin
80. “Betrayal, in all forms, is painful. It can make you go crazy. But we all have choices on how to deal with it. Do we just go away or stay?”– Anne Curtis
Related: Abuse By Proxy: Top 10 Steps to Protect Yourself from It
81. “Betrayal, in my opinion, is worse than death. I was able to imagine death, but I can never imagine being betrayed by my own people.” – Sara Guren
82. “Betraying someone once can be a mistake. Betraying someone twice is a choice.”– Garima Soni
83. “Betraying yourself is a gateway to harming your future self.”– Angel Moreira
84. “Broken people lead to broken hearts. That’s why it’s so important to heal from one relationship before starting another.”– Mandy Hale
85. “Cutting people out of my life does not mean I hate them, it simply means I respect me.”– Unknown
Related: Can Abusers Change? Top 17 Myths About Abusive Men That Make Women Stay With Abusers
86. “Do you know what love is? I’ll tell you: it is whatever you can still betray.”– John le Carré
87. “Even as your body betrays you, your mind denies it.”– Sara Gruen
88. “Every betrayal starts with trust and love. Betrayal from the family is the ultimate wound.” – Anne Marie Wiesman
89. “Every time your heart is broken, a doorway cracks open to a world full of new beginnings, new opportunities.”– Patti Roberts
90. “Everyone leaves footprints in memory. The ones who betray us stay forever.” –Marty Rubin
91. “False friends are like our shadow, keeping close to us while we walk in the sunshine, but leaving us when we cross into the shade.”– Christian Nevell Bovee
Related: How To Move On From Family Estrangement? (+Estranged Parents Forums And Support Groups)
92. “Familial betrayal is, to me, the most heartbreaking kind – because if you can’t trust your family to love you and protect you, who can you really trust?”– Alexandra Bracken
93. “Families can bring us the greatest joy and the greatest pain that not even a stranger can outdo. Be careful about family betrayals.” – Patrick Carnes
94. “Families can give us all the good memories and sometimes the worst heartaches. It all depends on the situation and moment.” – Charles Dickens
Related: Best 10 Emotional Abuse Books
95. “Family betrayal is the most heartbreaking kind of betrayal for me because if you can’t trust your family members, you can never trust anyone else.” – Alexandra Bracken
96. “Family is supposed to be with us when we are at our lowest. But there is someone who will intentionally betray you in your family just to give peace to their soul.” –Angel Moreira
97. “Family is supposed to make us feel at home. It shatters us when we find out that the people who intend to hurt us are our family members.” – Benjamin Franklin
98. “Find yourself friends who will talk shit to your face but stand up for you behind your back.”– Dan Go
Related: Healing From Childhood Emotional Neglect In 6 Steps (+FREE Worksheets PDF)
99. “For there to be betrayal, there would have to have been trust first.”– Suzanne Collins
100. “Have enough courage to trust love one more time and always one more time.”– Maya Angelou
101. “He who throws away a friend is as bad as he who throws away his life.”– Sophocles
102. “I believe if you want to be trusted, you have to trust first. If you do that, you will be betrayed sometimes. But the value of engendering trust is greater than the cost of being betrayed sometimes.”– Mark Leslie
103. “I could never hurt him enough to make his betrayal stop hurting. And it hurts, in every part of my body.”– Veronica Roth
104. “I didn’t stop loving you. That was the thing. Even after what you did.”– Unknown
Related: Childhood Emotional Neglect Test
105. “I don’t understand how your own family members can betray you more than an unknown stranger could.” – William Shakespeare
106. “I don’t hate liars. I just disrespect them, because they disrespect themselves in the first place.”– Revaz Eristavi
107. “I have never known a more vulgar expression of betrayal and deceit.”– Lucien Bouchard
108. “I lay it down as a fact that if all men knew what others say of them, there would not be four friends in the world.”– Blaise Pascal
109. “I used to advertise my loyalty and I don’t believe there is a single person I loved that I didn’t eventually betray.”– Albert Camus
110. “I was never one to patiently pick up broken fragments and glue them together again and tell myself that the mended whole was as good as new. What is broken is broken, and I’d rather remember it as it was at its best than mend it and see the broken pieces as long as I lived.”– Margaret Mitchell
111. “I was wrong to assume my family was the best one in the world. You all proved me wrong. Thank you from the heart.” – William Butler Yeats
112. “I wish the pain of betrayal was as easy to ignore as the red flags that forewarned of it.”– Steve Maraboli
Related: Best 5 Books For Childhood Emotional Neglect
113. “I’m not crying because of you; you’re not worth it. I’m crying because my delusion of who you were was shattered by the truth of who you are.”– Steve Maraboli
114. “If someone betrays you once, it’s their fault. If they betray you twice, it’s your fault.”– Eleanor Roosevelt
115. “If you’re betrayed, release disappointment at once. By that way, the bitterness has no time to take root.”– Toba Beta
116. “I’m not really sure why. But… do you stop loving someone just because they betray you? I don’t think so. That’s what makes the betrayal hurt so much – pain, frustration, anger… and I still loved her. I still do.”– Brandon Sanderson
117. “I’m not upset that you lied to me, I’m upset that from now on I can’t believe you.”– Friedrich Nietzsche
118. “In life, you can trust anyone, but once the trust is shattered by someone you love the most, it is very difficult to trust someone again.” – Maya Angelou
Related: Emotionally Unavailable Parents Test (+FREE Worksheets)
119. “It hurts me badly whenever I think about what my family members have done to me. I am not like before anymore.” –Samantha Young
120. “It hurts the most when you find out that your family member has betrayed you.” – Anonymous
121. “It is funny to think how the ones whom you thought could never hurt you are the ones to backstab you when they find a perfect opportunity.” –Sushan Sharma
122. “It is hard to trust someone, especially when the ones you trusted the most and consider your own people are the ones who backstab you.” – Jennifer J. Freyd
123. “It is not about who is really in front of everyone, and it is all about who stays crystal real behind your back.” – Veronica Roth
124. “It’s a shame when the people who promise to take care of you and protect you from every difficulty are the ones who backstab you.” – Autumn Kohler
125. “It’s particularly hard to take being stabbed in the back close to home. There’s always a feeling of betrayal when people of your own group oppose you.”– Catharine MacKinnon
126. “Just because they have got the family tag, doesn’t mean that they can hurt you, abuse you, and betray you.” – Edgar Allan Poe
Related: Top 8 Dysfunctional Family Roles
127. “Just because you loved a fake person does not mean your love was not real.”– Steph Feels
128. “Liars often set their own traps.”– Aesop
129. “Life is too short for fake butter or fake people.”– Karen Salmansohn
130. “Love and marriage are wonderful arenas in which to place a character. We are most likely to risk our morals and beliefs while in love. Betrayal gives tremendous insights into a character as well.”– Anita Shreve
131. “Love them from a distance. But don’t let them come closer to you and abuse you again.” – Emily Dickinson
132. “Naturally, when one makes progressive steps, there may be some who see it as a betrayal of their goals and interests.”
– Louis Farrakhanb
133. “Not everyone who extends their hands wants to help you. Sometimes the mask comes off faster than you can expect.” – Terry Goodman
134. “Nothing hurts more than being hurt by the single person you thought would never hurt you but was the first one to grab the chance to betray you.” – Samuel Zulu
135. “Only those whom you trust get the unauthorized right to betray you.” – Susan Elizabeth Phillips
136. “Only those you trust can betray you.”– Terry Goodkind
Related: Am I The Scapegoat Child Quiz
137. “People lie, cheat and bully one another and then wonder why they’re unhappy.”– Marty Rubin
138. “Pleasure which must be enjoyed at the expense of another’s pain, can never be such as a worthy mind can fully delight in.”– Samuel Johnson
139. “Self interest determines loyalty or betrayal.”– James Cook
140. “Shattered legs may heal in time, but some betrayals fester and poison the soul.”– George R.R. Martin
141. “So this was your betrayal. This betrayal didn’t hurt me, and it has made me numb. I think I can never trust you the same way as I used to do before.” – Adam Levin
142. “Some of the hardest people to cut off ties from are your family members. But sometimes they need to go to maintain peace and calmness in life.” – Emily Bronte
143. “Some of the most poisonous people come disguised as friends.”– Unknown
144. “Some people are willing to betray years of friendship just to get a little bit of the spotlight.”– Lauren Conrad
145. “Some people can betray you for no reason and just to get some limelight on their personality. Betrayal hurts most when it is done by your close family members.” – Catharine MacKinnon
146. “Some people will never be by your side forever. They are just loyal because they need you. As soon as their need disappears, their loyalty shifts.” – Christine Feehan
Related: Am I The Black Sheep Of The Family Quiz
147. “Sometimes blood is not as thick as you think it to be. Families will stab you faster in the back than a friend will.” – Amit Abraham
148. “Sometimes it’s better to keep silent when you are hurt by your own people. If your love was not enough, your words would never matter.” – Charles Dickens
149. “Sometimes the most poisonous and dangerous people come disguised as your family members. Be careful.” – Maya Angelou
150. “Sometimes the people closest to you betray you, and your home isn’t a place you can be happy anymore.”– Kristin Cast
151. “Sometimes the people closest to you will hurt you more, betray you, and your home will no longer be your safe place. It is hard to accept, but it is true.” – Chrisper Malamsha
Related: Top +25 Things Abusers Say To Their Victims
152. “Sometimes when the people you love hurt you the most. It’s better to stay quiet because, if your love wasn’t enough… Do you think your words will matter?”– Unknown
153. “Sometimes you have to try and ignore the people who hurt you. Betrayers can never be forgotten but can be forgiven.” – Terry Goodkind
154. “Sometimes you must forgive the one who backstabs you from back because they are your own people.” – Jill Blakeway
155. “Sometimes, only feelings is what you seem to be made of. Let it be and you’ll soon cool off.”– Unknown
156. “Stab the body and it heals, but injure the heart and the wound lasts a lifetime.”– Mineko Iwasaki
157. “That’s the thing about trust. It’s like broken glass. You can put it back together, but the cracks are always visible–like scars that never fully heal.”– Hope Collier
Related: Covert Verbal Abuse: What Is It & How To Recover From Verbal Abuse
158. “The fact that so many successful politicians are such shameless liars is not only a reflection on them, it is also a reflection on us. When the people want the impossible, only liars can satisfy.”– Thomas Sowell
159. “The moment of betrayal is the worst, the moment when you know beyond any doubt that you’ve been betrayed: that some other human being has wished you that much evil.”– Margaret Atwood
160. “The most painful aspect of abuse is the heartache to our souls and hearts from being betrayed by those people whom we love and trust more than anyone.” – Clarissa Burton
162. “The saddest thing that can happen to anyone is when their family members betray them for some other outsiders. It is one of the worst feelings.” – Robert Frost
163. “There are only really a few stories to tell in the end, and betrayal and the failure of love is one of those good stories to tell.” – Sean Lennon
164. “There is always a lesson of a lifetime to learn in every betrayal.”– Edmond Mbiaka
165. “There is no greater blessing than a blessed family that lifts you when you fall. There is no lower curse than a family that leaves you when you are down.” – Mark Twain
Related: Top 35 Blame Shifting Phrases
166. “There’s a lot of stupid men out there who feel like makeup is a betrayal of the truth, and that is so funny to me.”– Katya Zamolodchikova
167. “They always say to put your family first. But they are the first to get you hurt. It is strange, but it is a fact.” – William Shakespeare
168. “They say family’s first, but family is the first to get you hurt.”– Chrisper Malamsha
169. “To know the good from the bad, study a man or woman’s history of actions, not their record of intentions.”– Suzy Kassem
170. “Trying to make sense of crazy will simply drive you crazy. Let it go.”– Karen Salmansohn
171. “We have all felt betrayed at one point or another. But we must move on. Because time waits for no woman or man.”– Unknown
172. “We have to distrust each other. It is our only defense against betrayal.”– Tennessee Williams
173. “When people cheat in any arena, they diminish themselves – they threaten their own self-esteem and their relationships with others by undermining the trust they have in their ability to succeed and in their ability to be true.”– Cheryl Hughes
174. “When someone breaks your trust don’t feel stupid for trusting them. You didn’t do anything wrong they’re just an untrustworthy person.”– Sonya Parker
175. “When you betray somebody else, you also betray yourself.”– Isaac Bashevis Singer
Related: Am I Being Verbally Abused Quiz
176. “When your ears hear one thing, but your eyes see another…use your brain.”– Frank Sonnenberg
177. “Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters.”– Albert Einstein
178. “You can either give negativity power over your life or you can choose happiness instead.”– Anais Nin
179. “You can forgive a person for their mistake. But you can never forget how he has betrayed you.” – Janet Morris
180. “You can recover from a lot of things. But recovering from betrays given by your own family members takes a lot of time to heal.” – Dean Cavanagh
181. “You carry a different wound when you are being betrayed by your people.” – Paula Stokes
182. “You don’t know the actual meaning of hate until and unless you experience family betrayal.” – Robert Frost
183. “You don’t lose friends because real friends can never be lost. You lose people masquerading as friends, and you’re better for it.”– Mandy Hale
184. “You may be deceived if you trust too much, but you will live in torment if you don’t trust enough.” – Frank Crane
Related: Emotional Abuse In Relationships Quiz
185. “You need a lot of things in any organization, but one of the critical things is trust. When you lose trust and you feel betrayed, and it’s not a matter of judgment.”– Arthur Blank
186. “You said it was a mistake of yours to betray me. But I feel I made the mistake of trusting you so much.” – David Levithan
187. “You teach me now how cruel you’ve been—cruel and false. Why did you despise me? Why did you betray your own heart, Cathy? I have not one word of comfort.” – Emily Brontë
188. “You want to believe that there’s one relationship in life that’s beyond betrayal. A relationship that’s beyond that kind of hurt. And there isn’t.”– Caleb Carr
189. “Your feelings matter. Just as much as anyone else’s.”– Unknown
190. “It’s hard to tell who has your back, from who has it long enough just to stab you in it.” – Nicole Richie
191. Trust, once lost, could not be easily found. Not in a year, perhaps not even in a lifetime.” – J.E.B. Spredemann
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192. “Even as your body betrays you, your mind denies it.” – Sara Gruen
193. “Only those you trust can betray you.” – Terry Goodkind
194. “When you care about someone, you can’t just turn that off because you learn they betrayed you.” – Paula Stokes
195. “It’s a shame that the very people who you protect are the first ones to turn there backs on you.” – Autumn Kohler
196. “We are not wounded so deeply when betrayed by the things we hope for as when betrayed by things we try our best to despise. In such betrayal comes the dagger in the back.” – Yukio Mishima
Related: Personal Bill of Rights (+PDF Download)
197. “One should rather die than be betrayed. There is no deceit in death. It delivers precisely what it has promised. Betrayal, though, is the willful slaughter of hope.” – Steven Deitz
198. “The point was to learn what it was we feared more: being misunderstood or being betrayed.” – Adam Levin
199. “I think there are two different oceans, the one that plays with you in the summer, and the one that gets so mad in the winter.” – Jodi Picoult
200. “Grow a thick skin, a very thick skin. And watch your back. For every back, there is a knife.” – Lily Chatterjee
Related: Take The Childhood Trauma Test (ACE Score Test)
Conclusion
Significant relationships in our lives are held together by deep emotional bonds.
This makes betrayal within those relationships so harshly painful and so hard to overcome.
It’s important to validate your pain and give yourself space to feel it and heal it.
References
- Betrayal trauma – Wikipedia
- Betrayal Trauma: Signs, Recovery & Getting Help (choosingtherapy.com)
- Betrayal Trauma: Signs and How to Start Healing (healthline.com)
- Betrayal Trauma – an overview | ScienceDirect Topics
- Definition of Betrayal Trauma Theory (uoregon.edu)
- (PDF) The Impact of Betrayal Trauma on the Tendency to Trust (researchgate.net)
- Betrayal trauma: relationship to physical health, psychological distress, and a written disclosure intervention – PubMed (nih.gov)