This post contains some of the best emotional scars quotes.
Emotional Scars Quotes
1.“Betrayal is a more subtle, twisted feeling than terror. It burns and eats, but terror stabs right through.” ― Wendy Hoffman
2. “Except it lasts longer and leaves deeper scars. A divorce releases the most primitive emotions; the ugliest, raw feelings. Emotionally wounded people do their best to inflict pain upon the other party, but rather than using claws they use divorce lawyers.” — William Shatner
3. “I don’t want people to fall in love with my smile, my face or my body. I am waiting for somebody to love the mess I can be and fall in love with my emotional scars.” ― Karon Waddell
Related: Top 15 Emotional Triggers Quotes
4. “I’ve always felt safer at night. You can be much more forgiving of yourself, not to mention the world and everyone in it, when your shortcomings aren’t threatened by the brazen light of day. And by shortcomings, I mean damage. The scars are still there, but at least they’re easier to hide. I never understood why they shine a fluorescent spotlight in the faces of alleged culprits in old movies to get them to tell the truth. Put me to bed and turn off the lights. I’ll tell you everything. I’ll be who you want me to be, I’ll be honest. I’ll be who I want to be, I’ll be braver. Just don’t ignore me. I really do want to be stronger, sweeter, less afraid all the time. Maybe it’s a within-the-womb thing, but it’s safer in the dark. What they should really warn you about is the light.” ― Anne Clendening
5. “I’d never known that I could feel this broken and whole at once.” ― Rachel L. Schade
“Many people feel like they were born into the wrong family. Nevertheless, adults must take responsiblity for the pain of the past and create a productive life in the present.” ― James P. Krehbiel
6. “Sometimes we must undergo hardships, breakups, and narcissistic wounds, which shatter the flattering image that we had of ourselves, in order to discover two truths: that we are not who we thought we were; and that the loss of a cherished pleasure is not necessarily the loss of true happiness and well-being.” ― Jean-Yves Leloup
7. “The damage and invisible scars of emotional abuse are very difficult to heal, because memories are imprinted on our minds and hearts and it takes time to be restored. Imprints of past traumas do not mean a person cannot change their future beliefs and behaviors. as people, we do not easily forget. However, as we heal, grieve, and let go, we become clear-minded and focused to live restore and emotionally healthy.” ― Dee Brown
8. “The scars from mental cruelty can be as deep and long-lasting as wounds from punches or slaps but are often not as obvious. In fact, even among women who have experienced violence from a partner, half or more report that the man’s emotional abuse is what is causing them the greatest harm.” — Lundy Bancroft
Related: Undermothered: How to Mother Yourself Using These Practical 10 Strategies?
9. “These kinds of wounds can never be seen with the eye. When tears leave scars, they are left on the heart.” – Allison K. Dagney
10. “We’ve been through a lot, and though many of the wounds have healed, the scars they’ve left behind still throb every now and then.” ― Neha Yazmin
“When our emotional health is in a bad state, so is our level of self-esteem. We have to slow down and deal with what is troubling us, so that we can enjoy the simple joy of being happy and at peace with ourselves.” ― Jess C. Scott
11. “Yet emotional abuse still imprinted those invisible scars that would remain in me forever. Within me, there was evidence of love bombs, verbal lashings, and emotional bruises. Defeat from mental mixed martial arts left me stunned.” – Allison K. Dagney
12. “Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.” – Kahlil Gibran
13. “Some people see scars, and it is wounding they remember. To me they are proof of the fact that there is healing.” – Linda Hogan
14. “When I stand before thee at the day’s end, thou shalt see my scars and know that I had my wounds and also my healing.” – Rabindranath Tagore
15. “The wound is the place where the Light enters you.” – Rumi
Related: Why Is Trauma Therapy So Hard? (+Best Trauma Healing Exercises To Support Your Recovery)
16. “Some parents abandon their children physically through death, prolonged illness, or divorce (leaving the home and seldom if ever seeing them again), or by shipping them off to boarding school. Other parents abandon their children emotionally (by being emotionally unavailable, by punishing their children with silence or rejection). Both forms of abandonment are devastating to a child, usually creating emotional scars that do not heal without professional intervention.” – Beverly Engel
17. “Children who grow up with a tyrant for a parent will feel weakened from their encounters with their parents and will inevitably have deep emotional scars from the experience.” – Beverly Engel
18. “There are thousands of people who were emotionally abused, neglected, or smothered by their parents or other significant caretakers when they were growing up. Many of these people do not realize they were abused or neglected, and they continue to suffer from myriad problems throughout their lives because they are not getting the help they need.” – Beverly Engel
19. “Many suffer from a distorted body image and from negative feelings concerning their bodies, but they do not understand that the cause may be negative parental messages, emotional abuse, or neglect.” – Beverly Engel
Related: Top 5 Emotional Incest Signs & How To Heal From It
20. “Childhood neglect and emotional abuse cause many of the most serious problems people suffer from today. This is not a revelation to most professionals or to many who suffer from its effects, but in spite of this knowledge, there is insufficient help for the survivors of these types of abuse.” – Beverly Engel
21. “Those who were emotionally abused or neglected also tend to suffer from eating disorders. Many overeat as a way of soothing themselves, while others overeat out of self-loathing. On the other end of the spectrum, many become anorexic as a way of gaining a sense of control because they feel overly controlled by their parents.” – Beverly Engel
22. “Negative parental behavior and messages can have a profound effect on our self-image and self-esteem. This is especially true of survivors of emotional abuse, neglect, or smothering as a child.” – Beverly Engel
Related: Best Support Groups For Emotional Abuse (Online & In Person)
23. “Children know (either consciously or unconsciously) that their parents are the source of all physical and emotional nourishment, so parental approval feels like a matter of life or death to them. Therefore, when they are scolded or spanked they feel the withdrawal of parental approval very acutely because it carries with it the horrible risk of losing all support.” – Beverly Engel
24. “The primary way that children are affected by emotional abuse and neglect is that their self-image becomes distorted, they lack a strong sense of self, they develop extremely low self-esteem, and their emotional development is thwarted. Emotional abuse and neglect create a distorted view of oneself as unacceptable, unlovable, or “less than” others. Emotional abuse, neglect, and smothering can also create self-hatred in a child.” – Beverly Engel
25. “Early emotional deprivation often produces babies who grow into anxious and insecure children who are slow to develop or who have low self-esteem. This is particularly true of babies who were given inadequate amounts of physical touch and holding.” – Beverly Engel
Related: Best 10 Emotional Abuse Books
26. “Emotional abuse often includes communicating to a child, either verbally or nonverbally, that he or she is unlovable, ugly, stupid, or wicked. Both neglect and emotional abuse can cause children to search within themselves for the faults that merit their parents’ bad treatment. Such internalized rejection can take a heavy toll on a child’s developing self, leading to poor self-image and low self-esteem.” – Beverly Engel
27. “Emotional abuse is like water dripping every day on a stone, leaving a depression, eroding the personality by an unrelenting accumulation of incidents that humiliate or ridicule or dismiss. Emotional abuse is air and piercing vibration.” – Louise M. Wisechild
28. “Emotional abuse can feel physical even though no hand has been raised. The perpetrator may seem fragile and pathetic but still be vicious.” – Louise M. Wisechild
29. “Childhood emotional abuse can define us when we are young, debilitate us as we grow older, and spread like a virus as we take its phrases and turn them on others.” – Louise M. Wisechild
30. “Emotional abuse is the core of all forms of abuse, and the long-term effects of child abuse and neglect generally stem from the emotional aspects of abuse.” – Beverly Engel
Related: Best 5 Books For Childhood Emotional Neglect
