130 Narcissist Quotes to Help You Deal with Emotional Abuse

Now a days, we hear the term narcissist thrown around a lot, especially when it comes to relationships. Narcissism (or narcissistic personality disorder) involves unacceptable manipulative behavior to control others. Narcissism (also termed as gaslighting) is not a totally uncommon characteristic or condition. You may find narcissists/gaslighters everywhere; political leaders, social media influencer, news anchors, celebrities, neighbors, a close friend, boss, subordinates, colleagues, siblings, parents or other close relations – anyone of these people surrounding you is in the position to gaslight you. In this post we are going to share with you narcissist quotes. If you’re dealing with a narcissist or someone with NPD, these narcissist quotes and quotes about narcissism will help you to deal with this emotional abuse.

Narcissist quotes

1. “Narcissism is a powerful form of emotional abuse. This sophisticated emotional abuse tactic makes victims question their own sanity.” ~ Invajy

2. “Projection is narcissist’s signature technique.” ~ Invajy

3. “A narcissist paints a picture of themselves as being the victim or innocent in all aspects. They will be offended by the truth. But what is done in the dark will come to light. Time has a way of showing people’s true colors.” ~ Karla Grimes

4. “Narcissist try to convince you that in world no one other cares for your except him/her. The abuser may manipulate you to feel unlovable and not worthy resulting into cutting ties with friends and family.” ~ Invajy

5. “Narcissists burn your sanity, erode your self-esteem, and make you doubt your own judgments and perceptions.” ~ Invajy

6. “Narcissists are inherently manipulative, they gaslight you with such stealth as to make you feel that you are the one that’s letting them down.” ~ Invajy
7. “And we need to know what it is to be human if we are to avoid becoming narcissists.” ~ Alexander Lowen
8. “A narcissist’s criticism is their autobiography.” ~ M. Wakefield
9. “Gaslighting is mind control to make victims doubt their reality.” ~ Tracy A. Malone
10. “Narcissism is voluntary blindness, an agreement not to look beneath the surface.” ~ Sam Keen

Also Read:

• Gaslighting : An emotional abuse to burn your sanity
• How to Deal with Emotional Abuse?

Quotes about narcissist

11. “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
12. “Gaslighters deliberately play subtle mind games and psychological manipulations; which are carried out gradually in stages.” ~ Invajy
13. “Narcissus weeps to find that his Image does not return his love.” ~ Mason Cooley
14. “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. “Don’t set yourself on fire to keep someone else warm.” ~ Anonymous
16. “Narcissist: a more polite term for a self-serving, manipulative, evil jerk with no soul and no compassion.” ~ Anonymous
17. Babies cry to get their needs met. Narcissists are great actors and often use tears as a tool of manipulations, this is an abuse tactic! Do not allow them to let this work as guilt, they are acting!” ~ Tracy Malone
18. “Children of narcissists learn that love is abuse. The narcissist teaches them that if someone displeases you, it is okay to harm them and call it love.” ~ M. Wakefield
19. “Americans are experiencing an epidemic in narcissistic behavior in a culture that is intrinsically self-conscious and selfish, and citizens are encouraged to pursue happiness and instant gratification of their personal desires.” ~ Kilroy J. Oldster
20. “That which he projects ahead of him as his ideal, is merely his substitute for the lost narcissism of his childhood – the time when he was his own ideal.” ~ Sigmund Freud

Narcissists quotes

21. “Toxic people make you think you’re holding a grudge when you’re really holding a boundary.” ~ Mel Robins
22. “As individuals and as a nation, we now suffer from social narcissism. The beloved echo of our ancestors, the virgin America, has been abandoned. We have now fallen in love with our own image, with images of our making, which turn out to be images of ourselves.” ~ Daniel J. Boorstin
23. “Half the harm that is done in this world is due to people who want to feel important … They justify it because they are absorbed in the endless struggle to think well of themselves.” ~ T.S. Eliot
24. “We are to give (and take) true love without falling into the narcissistic habit of only trying to take it in.” ~ Criss Jami
25. “I spend my life constantly calling in ‘imaginary’ debts that aren’t owed to me in order to avoid the ‘real’ debts that I owe to others, and so everybody ends up bankrupt.” ~ Craig D. Lounsbrough
26. “No other being is lesser human than the one who thinks of others as such.” ~ Abhijit Naskar
27. “The worst lies were the lies I told myself about the lies others told me.” ~ Alice Little
28. “Half the pain in human life comes from gazing in mirrors.” ~ Marty Rubin
29. “When people are driving themselves crazy, they have neuroses or psychoses. When they drive other people crazy, they have personality disorders.” ~ Albert J. Bernstein
30. “For the most part people are not curious except about themselves.” ~ John Steinbeck

Quotes about narcissists

31. “The narcissist is like a bucket with a hole in the bottom: No matter how much you put in, you can never fill it up. The phrase “I never feel like I am enough” is the mantra of the person in the narcissistic relationship. That’s because to your narcissistic partner, you are not. No one is. Nothing is.” ~ Dr. Ramani Durvasula
32. “Hate is the complement of fear and narcissists like being feared. It imbues them with an intoxicating sensation of omnipotence.” ~ Sam Vaknin
33. “Love is intermittent reinforcement with spouses and children alike. The child is love-bombed when the narcissist feels the child reflects their false self. The moment the child fails to do so, the narcissistic parent blithely discards them.” ~ M. Wakefield
34. “I like to be admired from afar, and then complimented up close.” ~ Gena Showalter
35. “Even though friends say they are interested in your life, they never really want to talk about you as much as you want them to.” ~ Charise Mericle Harper
36. “When a toxic person can no longer control you, they will try to control how others see you. The misinformation will feel unfair, but stay above it, trusting that other people will eventually see the truth just like you did.” – Jill Blakeway
37. “Please repair your narcissism before you start loving your neighbor as yourself.” ~ Charles F. Glassman
38. “Emotionally, narcissists are like brick walls who see and hear others but fail to understand or relate to them. As a result of their emotional shallowness, narcissists are essentially devoid of all empathy or compassion for other people. Lacking empathy, a narcissist is a very destructive and dangerous person to be around.” ~ Mateo Sol
39. “I understand perfectly because I’m in love with myself. The fact that I’m not transfixed in front of the nearest mirror takes a great deal of self-control.” ~ Anne Rice
40. “Narcissists have poor self-esteem, but they are typically very successful. They feel entitled; they’re self-important; they crave admiration and lack empathy. They are also exploitative and envious. The malignant types never forget a slight. They may kill you ten years later for cutting them off in traffic. But they act perfectly normal while plotting their revenge.” ~ Janet M. Tavakoli

Narcissism quotes

41. “The ‘I’ is the ego that we must avoid at any cost, if we truly wish to be different from narcissists. Instead of using ‘I’ repeatedly, it would be wise to replace it with ‘we’.” ~ Mwanandeke Kindembo
42. “Withhold admiration from a narcissist and be disliked. Give it and be treated with indifference.” ~ Mason Cooley
43. “I wish that people would stop destroying other people just because they were once destroyed.” ~ Karen Salmansohn
44. “Narcissists would rather lie and humiliate you than to admit that they were in the wrong.” ~ Mitta Xinindlu
45. “Narcissists withhold affection to punish you. Withhold attention to get revenge. And withhold an emotional empathetic response to make you feel insecure.” ~ Alice Little
46. “When the healthy pursuit of self-interest and self-realization turns into self-absorption, other people can lose their intrinsic value in our eyes and become mere means to the fulfillment of our needs and desires.” ~ P.M. Forni
47. “Relationships with narcissists are held in place by hope of a ‘someday better,’ with little evidence to support it will ever arrive.” ~  Ramani Durvasula
48. “The spirit of arrogance most definitely makes you shine. It paints a bright red target on your own forehead.” ~ Criss Jami
49. “Sadly, when many individuals realize that the narcissist is insecure and isn’t reassured, they try harder to love this person. Additionally, the narcissist blames his/her behavior on something that you are or aren’t doing, and a hooked person we may try to ‘do it better’ or ‘get it right.’ Your increased efforts to love and fix the narcissist only lines you up for more abuse.” ~ Melanie Tonia Evans
50. “The lion is most handsome when looking for food.” ~ Rumi

Narcissist quotes

51. “To love oneself is the beginning of a life-long romance.” ~ Oscar Wilde
52. “Relationship with a narcissist in a nutshell: You will go from being the perfect love of their life, to nothing you do is ever good enough. You will give your everything and they will take it all and give you less and less in return. You will end up depleted, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and probably financially, and then get blamed for it.” ~ Bree Bonchay
53. “He’s satisfied with himself. If you have a soul you can’t be satisfied.” ~ Graham Greene
54. “I am a recovering narcissist. I thought narcissism was about self-love till someone told me there is a flip side to it. It is actually drearier than self-love; it is unrequited self-love.” ~ Emily Levine
55. “How many narcissists does it take to screw in a lightbulb? None, they don’t use lightbulbs, they use gaslighting!” ~ Anonymous
56. “If you want to go from being adored to devalued in the blink of an eye, simply insult the narcissist.” ~ Tigress Luv
57. “Everyone thinks they’re entitled to their 15 minutes of fame. And it’s that narcissism that makes people, who have no business writing a book, think they can write a book.” ~ Oliver Markus Malloy
58. “But both the narcissist and his partner do not really consider each other. Trapped in the moves of an all-consuming dance macabre, they follow the motions morbidly – semiconscious, desensitized, exhausted, and concerned only with survival.” ~ Sam Vaknin
59. “Realize that narcissists have an addiction disorder. They are strongly addicted to feeling significant. Like any addict they will do whatever it takes to get this feeling often. That is why they are manipulative and future fakers. They promise change, but can’t deliver if it interferes with their addiction. That is why they secure back up supply.” ~ Shannon L. Alder
60. “Observe well how the word ‘narcissism’ is often used into marriages. The victims are often those who have separated with their significant other, rather than being on good terms with them. Therefore, we must dig deeper to the core of the word and discover its true meaning. In return, we will get a glimpse of our mentality and the main attributes that drive us to label each other with that conflicted word.” ~ Mwanandeke Kindembo

Narcissist quotes

61. “Parents are supposed to give the child back to herself with love. If they’ve got duct tape over their eyes because of narcissism, it doesn’t happen.” ~ Jane Fonda
62. “In this situation, what we call natural ethics has nothing to offer but the narcissistic satisfaction of being able to think one is better than others. This is where ethics based on religion enters the scene with its promises of a better life hereafter. I am inclined to think that, for as long as virtue goes unrewarded here below, ethics will preach in vain.” ~ Sigmund Freud
63. “Since narcissists deep down feel themselves to be faultless, it is inevitable that when they are in conflict with the world they will invariably perceive the conflict as the world’s fault.” ~  Scott Peck
64. “How starved you must have been that my heart became a meal for your ego.” ~ Amanda Torroni
65. “No matter how socially skilled an extreme narcissist is, he has a major attachment dysfunction. The extreme narcissist is frozen in childhood.” ~ Samuel Lopez de Victoria
66. “I wonder if the course of narcissism through the ages would have been any different had Narcissus first peered into a cesspool. He probably did.” ~ Frank O’Hara
67. “Pathological narcissists can lose touch with reality in subtle ways that become extremely dangerous over time. When they can’t let go of their need to be admired or recognized, they have to bend or invent a reality in which they remain special despite all messages to the contrary.” ~ Bandy X Lee
68. “What are narcissists looking for, after all? Just someone at their level that they can feel superior to.” ~ Luigina Sgarro
69. “Love doesn’t die a natural death. Love has to be killed, either by neglect or narcissism.” ~ Frank Salvato
70. “Where there is much pride or much vanity, there will also be much revengefulness.” ~ Arthur Schopenhauer

Toxic narcissist quotes

71. “I don’t care what you think unless it is about me.” ~ Kurt Cobain
72. “For some, life may be a playground to undermine the brainwaves of others or simply a vainglorious game with an armory of theatrics, illustrating only bleak self-deception, haughty narcissism and dim deficiency in empathy.” ~ Erik Pevernagie
73. “Healthy levels of narcissism and self-enhancement are necessary, with a low level of self-enhancement being detrimental to our wellbeing and success.” ~ Theresa Jackson
74. “Narcissism falls along the axis of what psychologists call personality disorders . . . but by most measures, narcissism is one of the worst, if only because the narcissists themselves are so clueless.” ~ Jeffrey Kluger
75. “The narcissist would love nothing more than to know you are eating uncooked Top Ramen out of a dumpster for dinner tonight while wearing yesterday’s underwear.” ~ Tina Swithin
76. “Ego is borne of the need to ‘prove’ oneself instead of making the choice to ‘be’ oneself.”~ Craig D. Lounsbrough
77. “The only crime is pride.” ~ Sophocles
78. “I have a very simple question to people who seem to suffer from excessive narcissism: Please name three other persons who are smarter and more capable than you, in the field you work in. In most cases they are utterly unable to answer that question honestly.” ~ Ingo Molnar
79. “For all his inner suffering, the narcissist has many traits that make for success in bureaucratic institutions, which put premium on the manipulation of interpersonal relations, discourage the formation of deep personal attachments, and at the same time provide the narcissist with the approval he needs in order to validate his self-esteem.” ~ Christopher Lasch
80. “You consider yourself your most fascinating subject.” ~ Britt Bennett

Narcissistic abuse quotes

81. “Narcissus does not fall in love with his reflection because it is beautiful, but because it is his. If it were his beauty that enthralled him, he would be set free in a few years by its fading.” ~ W.H. Auden
82. “The narcissist devours people, consumes their output, and casts the empty, writhing shells aside.” ~ Sam Vaknin
83. “Narcissistic abuse is not just that someone dumped you or who you had a little tiff with them. NA is psychological abuse and brainwashing using intermittent reward and punishment, coercive control and withholding normal empathetic, emotional reactions to lower your self esteem.” ~ Alice Little
84. “Narcissistic love is riding on the rollercoaster of disaster filled with a heart full of tears.”~ Sheree Griffin
85. “But that’s the thing about narcissists. They can try to fool you, with all their heart, but in the end, they’re just fooling themselves.” ~ Ellie Fox
86. “Some people seem like a bright light during your darkest moment… a beautiful refuge… but it’s a trap… there is only more pain there. Now that I think about it… I imagine that’s what bugs feel like when they fly into the zapper.” ~ Steve Maraboli
87. “Being a control freak is a weakness, not a strength. If you can’t allow others to shine, you’re exhibiting signs of narcissism and showing a lack of self-confidence. It is isolation through ego.” ~ Stewart Stafford
88. “She could feel him, glaring at her with a psychotic look in his eyes, taking pleasure in her suffering, using it to fuel his next move.” ~ Arti Manani
89. “Anybody who wishes to go beyond the free-will of another person is already practising narcissistic characteristics.” ~ Mwanandeke Kindembo
90. “There was nothing more unattractive than narcissism, she thought: nothing could transform beauty into a cloying, unattractive quality than that self-conscious appreciation of self.” ~ Alexander McCall Smith

Narcissistic relationship Quotes

91. “Love without sacrifice is like theft.” ~ Nassim Nicholas Taleb
92. “I loved myself and since I loved me, I loved him because I realized he was good for me. A type of self worth, a type of narcissistic love.” ~ Dominic Riccitello
93. “A culture of narcissism is not a place where love can flourish. The emergence of “me” culture is a direct response to our nation’s failure tot truly actualize the vision of democracy. While emotional needs are difficult, and often impossible to satisfy, material desires are easier to fulfill.” ~ Bell Hooks
94. “Daughters of narcissistic mothers absorb the message “I am valued for what I do, rather than for who I am.” ~ Karyl McBride
95. “Nobody can be kinder than the narcissist while you react to life on his terms.” ~ Elizabeth Bowen
96. “Every generation narcissistically believes they are the greatest generation.” ~ Brien Pittman
97. “Beware of narcissistic people. They’ll tell everyone you’re crazy, only to cover up their trickery. ” ~ Mitta Xinindlu
98. “An abuser’s psychological diagnosis isn’t the problem. Their sense of entitlement is.” ~ Caroline Abbott
99. “I’m too ugly to be a narcissist.” ~ Mitch Albom
100. “Self-love for ever creeps out, like a snake, to sting anything which happens … to stumble upon it.” ~ George Gordon Noel Byron

Gaslighting Quotes

101. “In a narcissist’s world you are not their one and only. You are an extension of that person and last place in their mind, while they secure back up narcissistic supply.” ~ Shannon L. Alder
102. “Here too, we can see that not being open to learning something new does not automatically make someone a narcissist. In fact, a narcissist is required to be more knowledgeable in many fields; mostly in psychology.” ~ Mwanandeke Kindembo
103. “You might as well bang your head into a brick wall if you expect the narcissist to be reasonable, empathetic or human in any way. If you sense or witness any of these traits, there is an ulterior motive. When the narcissist is being nice, it’s because they have something to gain.” ~ Tina Swithin
104. “White feminist narcissism has no truck with the idea that we are anything but victims.” ~ Alison Phipps
105. “Every narcissist is a hero and a legend in his own mind.” ~ Oscar Auliq-Ice
106. “Some people think that the world revolves around them but even the Sun is not the center of the Universe.” ~ Halle Teart
107. “Narcissists are emotional porcupines, watch out for the quills!” ~ Tracy A. Malone
108. “The ultimate obscenity is not caring, not doing something about what you feel, not feeling! Just drawing back and drawing in, becoming narcissistic.” ~ Rod Serling
109. “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
110. “The question ‘How are you (doing)?’ is the most common way of indirectly saying ‘Ask me how I am (doing)’.” ~ Mokokoma Mokhonoana

Karma narcissist quotes

111. “Out of all the addictions in the world, Attention is slowly but surely becoming one of the most dangerous.” ~ Saahil Prem
112. “It is not love that should be depicted as blind, but self-love.” ~ Voltaire
113. “Narcissism and self-deception are survival mechanisms without which many of us might just jump off a bridge.” – Todd Solondz
114. “When narcissists behave in an exhibitionistic manner, they are seeking the same sort of admiration as toddlers, and for the same reasons. They want attention. Some examples include inappropriate dress, talking too loudly, or gesturing in expansive and space-intruding ways.” ~ Mark Ettensohn
115. “His arrogance is going to bury whatever parts of him which survived the death of his pretentiousness.” ~ Niedria Dionne Kenny
116. “The main priority of everyone surrounding a highly narcissistic person is to ensure that they are looking after themselves, maintaining their own mental and physical health and wellbeing, before looking after the narcissist.” ~ Theresa Jackson
117. “Individuality should not translate to narcissism. Realizing the strength of individuality is an accomplishment while being narcissistic is a failure.” ~ Amitav Chowdhury
118. “For someone as amazing as you, attention is like food, and you’re always hungry.” ~ Seth McDonough
119. “By aggrandizing one’s own abilities and achievements, the grandiose person remains out of touch with who they truly are and as such, remains prone to crossing the boundaries of others.” ~ Steven Franssen
120. “A man who loves others based solely on how they make him feel, or what they do for him, is really not loving others at all – but loving only himself.” ~ Criss Jami

Quotes about narcissism

121. “The biggest impediment to loving life is our inflated egos. Only by suppressing our ego and controlling our selfish thoughts can we truly comprehend the immaculate beauty of every day unfolding before us.” ~ Kilroy J. Oldster
122. “No one has probably helped me more with my narcissism than my dog.” ~ Tucker Max
123. “Narcissists, however, are similar to a spider that has built a web for its prey to bring itself.” ~ Mwanandeke Kindembo
124. “But the line between moral behavior and narcissistic self-righteousness is thin and difficult to discern.” ~ Dean Koontz
125. “I was trapped in an awful spiral of insecure narcissism.” ~ Amy Poehler
126. “Yes, Eleanor loathed herself and yet required praise, which she then never believed.” ~ Hanif Kureishi
127. “Don’t confuse between self-love and narcissism. Self- love is making yourself your number one priority but narcissism is start enforcing that priority over others. First one is healthy; second one is not. First one is for your mental healthiness and well-being while the second one is to mess up with other peoples’ peace of mind to serve your own needs.” ~ Gracia Hunter
128. “Narcissism is, indeed, the new world order.” ~  Ramani Durvasula
129. “You give up your narcissism, your egotism. That’s how you achieve chemistry.” ~ Nick Nolte
130. “A Narcissist will never admit they have a problem, if confronted with their own bad behavior they will do their very best to make people believe they are the victim.” ~ Harvey Stuarts

Thank you for reading this. Over to you now. Which Narcissist Quotes did you like in the above list? Please let us know your favorite Narcissist Quotes in the comments section.

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