Are you with someone who seems to be the cause of the negative energy in your life?
Does this person always drag you down and meddle with your dreams and goals?
If so, then you are probably dealing with someone who is toxic—someone who’s been draining the life out of you.
There are people out there who will make you feel uncomfortable whenever they are around. It is as if they were born to humiliate you, distract you, and get in the way of your success and happiness.
So how do you get rid of them? How do remove them from your life?
In this article, we want to share with you some toxic people quotes that can help you remove that unsought negativity from your life.
We want to help you achieve your highest potential by eliminating one of the major stressors in your life—toxicity.
But before we get to our list of quotes, let us share with you a few more reasons why you should avoid being involved with these people.
Why Avoid Toxic People?
There are two major reasons why you should avoid toxic people: health and happiness. Toxic people create toxic environments, and being surrounded by toxicity can cause you more harm than you might imagine.
When toxic people with crab mentality see others around them advancing, they subconsciously (or even consciously) reach out to hold them back. The video below talks about the crabs in a bucket mentality and the four ways to STOP allowing people to hold you back.
If you want to free yourself from unnecessary stresses and hassles, it would be best to drive out whomever and whatever is pulling you down.
It may seem difficult in the beginning, but it will be worth it in the end. Your own battles are already enough to handle—you don’t need someone else’s baggage as well.
After you successfully remove these people and their negativity from your life, you will be surprised at how healthy and happy you can become. Life can be tough, so you need people who can bring out positivity in you, and not the other way around.
Let’s take a look at some quotes that can help you in your goal of attracting positivity into your life.
101 Toxic People Quotes to Stay Away from Negativity
1. “People inspire you, or they drain you. Pick them wisely.” – Hans F. Hasen
2. “Like arsenic, toxic people will slowly kill you. They kill your positive spirit and play with your mind and emotions. The only cure is to let them go.” – Denisse Lisseth
3. “The less you respond to negative people, the more powerful your life will become.” – Robert E. Baine, Jr.
4. “It's rare for a toxic person to change their behavior. More often, the only thing that varies is their target and the blame they place. Because some toxic people are difficult to identify, keep in mind that a victim mindset is sometimes a red flag.
So, listen when someone talks about their life and circumstances. If the list of people they blame is long… it's probably only a matter of time before you're on that list.” – Steve Maraboli
5. “Keeping bad company is like being in a germ-infested area. You never know what you’ll catch.” – Frank Sonnenberg
6. “I found peace of mind when I walked away from small fights not worth fighting. I stopped fighting for people who gossiped about me. I stopped fighting for those who didn’t respect me. I quit worrying about those who wouldn’t value me for being me.” – Dana Arcuri
7. “Toxic people will pollute everything around them. Don’t hesitate. Fumigate.” – Mandy Hale
8. “It’s one thing if a person owns up to their behavior and makes an effort to change. But if a person disregards your feelings, ignores your boundaries, and continues to treat you in a harmful way, they need to go.” – Daniell Koepke
9. “If you attach to the negative behavior of others it brings you down to their level.” – Guru Singh
10. “Losing will not always amount to a loss, sometimes you have to lose those toxic relationships and bad habits to create a space for better things.” – Gift Gugu Mona
11. “While you can’t control someone’s negative behavior, you can control how long you participate in it.” – Anonymous
12. “If you walked away from a toxic, negative, abusive, one-sided, dead-end low vibrational relationship or friendship — you won.” – Lalah Delia
13. “Life is short. Don’t waste it with negative people who don’t appreciate you. Keep them in your heart but keep them out of your life.” – Anonymous
14. “Don’t waste yourself in rejection, nor bark against the bad, but chant the beauty of the good.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
15. “You lift your spirits by moving away from what upsets you. If the stove is hot, you can’t ask how to touch it but be happy about it.” – Queen Tourmaline
16. “I will not allow anyone to walk in my mind with dirty feet.” – Mahatma Gandhi
17. “When people pressure you to engage in negative decisions and actions, look at them boldly in the eyes and dare them to do good.” – Edmond Mbiaka
18. “Toxic people attach themselves like cinder blocks tied to your ankles, and then invite you for a swim in their poisoned waters.” – John Mark Green
19. “We don’t get to choose our family, but we can choose our friends. With courage, we can weed out narcissistic people. We can focus on those who do appreciate us, love us, and treat us with respect.” – Dana Arcuri
20. “Don’t let toxic people infect you with the fear of giving and receiving one of the most powerful forces in this world… LOVE!” – Yvonne Pierre
21. “An entire sea of water can’t sink a ship unless it gets inside the ship. Similarly, the negativity of the world can’t put you down unless you allow it to get inside you.” – Goi Nasu
22. “You own everything that happened to you. Tell your stories. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better.” – Anne Lamott
23. “As important as it is to learn how to deal with different kinds of people, truly toxic people will never be worth your time and energy – and they take a lot of each. Toxic people create unnecessary complexity, strife, and, worst of all, stress.” – Travis Bradberry
24. “When you notice someone does something toxic the first time, don’t wait for the second time before you address it.” – Shahida Arabi
25. “Letting go of toxic people in your life is a big step in loving yourself.” – Hussein Nishah
26. “My encouragement: delete the energy vampires from your life, clean out all complexity, build a team around you that frees you to fly, remove anything toxic, and cherish simplicity. Because that’s where genius lives.” – Robin S. Sharma
27. “Every day you must unlearn the ways that hold you back. You must rid yourself of negativity, so you can learn to fly.” – Leon Brown
28. “Don’t let people get the best of you they can say what they want but don’t let that distract you from achieving your goals.” – Alcurtis Turner
29. “Until you let go of all the toxic people in your life you will never be able to grow into your fullest potential. Let them go so you can grow.” – DLQ
30. “Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too can become great.” – Mark Twain
31. “Letting go means to come to the realization that some people are a part of your history, but not a part of your destiny.” – Steve Maraboli
32. “People appear like angels until you hear them speak. You must not rush to judge people by the color of their cloaks, but by the content of their words!” – Israelmore Ayivo
33. “Cutting people out of your life doesn’t mean you hate them, it simply means you respect yourself. Not everyone is meant to stay.” – Anonymous
34. “As you remove toxic people from your life, you free up space and emotional energy for positive, healthy relationships.” – John Mark Green
35. “You will find that it is necessary to let things go; simply for the reason that they are heavy. So let them go, let go of them. I tie no weights to my ankles.” – C. JoyBell C.
36. “We all have those toxic people around us that make our lives miserable… The day we take them out from our lives, we will all become better people; including them…” – Rodolfo Peon
37. “Letting go doesn’t mean that you don’t care about someone anymore. It’s just realizing that the only person you really have control over is yourself.” – Deborah Reber
38. “Every day you must unlearn the ways that hold you back. You must rid yourself of negativity, so you can learn to fly.” – Leon Brown
39. “Poisonous relationships can alter our perception. You can spend many years thinking you’re worthless. But you’re not worthless. You’re underappreciated.” – Steve Maraboli
40. “If a person finds negative people in his life, then he needs to mend his own nature than that of others, for his own basic grounding decides the level of acidic or toxicity surrounding him.” – Anuj Somany
41. “Pay no attention to toxic words. What people say is often a reflection of themselves, not you.” – Christian Baloga
42. “Let go of negative people. They only show up to share complaints, problems, disastrous stories, fear, and judgment on others. If somebody is looking for a bin to throw all their trash into, make sure it’s not in your mind.” – Dalai Lama
43. “You create more space in your life when you turn your excess baggage to garbage.” – Chinonye J. Chidolue
44. “Save your skin from the corrosive acids from the mouths of toxic people. Someone who just helped you to speak evil about another person can later help another person to speak evil about you.” – Israelmore Ayivor
45. “Yes, the people around us can be insensitive, narcissistic, toxic, and sometimes even abusive, but it is up to us to take that energy on or let it flow through us. No one is responsible for taking away our happiness but us.” – Aletheia Luna
46. “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
47. “When being in a toxic relationship in life at times you may have to step outside yourself, to see yourself, so you can find yourself and love yourself again.” – Angel Moreira
48. “I found peace of mind when I walked away from small fights not worth fighting. I stopped fighting for people who gossiped about me. I stopped fighting for those who didn't respect me. I quit worrying about those who wouldn't value me for being me.” – Dana Arcuri
49. “If someone thinks you’re being dramatic or selfish, then they obviously haven’t walked a mile in your shoes. It’s not important for you to explain yourself. You get a pass here. Don’t let anyone else try to saddle you with guilt or shame. If you need your space, take it.” – Sarah Newman
50. “The idea is quite simple, stay a light year away from people who make you feel less about yourself.” – Mohith Agadi
51. “It’s awfully hard to be happy when you feel you’re not worthy enough for those feelings. You’ve been knocked down so many times happiness to you is an unnatural state of mind. Lose the fake smile, get up and get rid of the toxic reasons you’re unhappy, no matter, who, or what’s standing in your way. Time to get real!” – Ron Baratono
52. “Real love moves freely in both directions. Don’t waste your time on anything else.” – Cheryl Strayed
53. “There are many good seeds in you. Therefore you must avoid every bad soil in the world.” – Israelmore Ayivor
54. “Don’t settle for a relationship that won’t let you be yourself.” – Oprah Winfrey
55. “Don’t confuse “familiar” with “acceptable”. Toxic relationships can fool you like that.” – Steve Maraboli
56. “Stop letting people who do so little for you control so much of your mind, feelings, and emotions.” – Will Smith
57. “There’s folks you just don’t need. You’re better off without ‘em. Your life is just a little better because they ain’t in it.” – William Gay
58. “Stack all the rocks you want, but if you don’t let go of the toxic people and behaviors in your life, nothing will change.” – Steve Maraboli
59. “Don’t let negative and toxic people rent space in your head. Raise the rent and kick them out.” – Robert Tew
60. “Negative people need drama like oxygen. Stay positive, it will take their breath away.” – Unknown
61. “Love yourself first, and everything else falls into line.” – Lucille Ball
62. “A lot of people who have experienced trauma at the hands of people they’ve trusted take responsibility, and that is what’s toxic.” – Hannah Gadsby
63. “Entitlement is an expression of conditional love. Nobody is ever entitled to your love. You always have a right to protect your mental, emotional, and physical well-being by removing yourself from toxic people and circumstances.” – Dr. Janice Anderson & Kiersten Anderson
64. “People who try to bring you down every day aren’t important in your life, so you better treat their opinions as such.” – Terry Mark
65. “Fire false friends as early as possible. Do it before they dig out the dream seeds you’ve planted! The earlier, the better; the quicker, the safer!” – Israelmore Ayivor
66. “No matter how valuable you are and your ideas, fools will certainly play both of you down, so exclude yourselves from the inflammatory environs of fools.” – Michael Bassey Johnson
67. “Avoid negative people, for they are the greatest destroyers of self-confidence and self-esteem. Surround yourself with people who bring out the best in you!” – Auliq Ice
68. “My father once said, ‘If you’re in the desert and you’re dying of thirst, are you going to drink a glass of blood or are you going to drink a glass of water?’ I think what he was trying to say, interesting coming from my blood father, is sometimes there are people in your family that can be toxic.” – Nicolas Cage
69. “Negative people can only infest you with discouragements when they find you around… Just get lost and get saved!” – Israelmore Ayivor
70. “Sometimes there are things in life that aren’t meant to stay. Sometimes, change may not be what we want. Sometimes change is what we need.” – Don Bolena Jr.
71. “The people in your life will either help you shake hands with yourself or they’ll teach you what you don’t want. Everyone, eventually, does one or the other. All pain transforms into learning. All love transforms to self-awareness.” – Vironika Tugaleva
72. “It is really exhausting to live in a dictatorship of ‘Me’, which is basically a tyranny of others.” – Stefan Molyneux
73. “If you accept the expectations of others, especially negative ones, then you never will change the outcome.” – Michael Jordan
74. “The friends who would forsake you for choosing to live a positive life would also leave you if you find yourself going through some painful consequences due to some negative decisions and actions.” – Edmond Mbiaka
75. “Because at some point you have to realize that some people can stay in your heart but not in your life.” – Sandi Lynn
76. “We do not have to be mental health professionals to identify the traits of the possible sociopaths among us.” – P.A. Speers
77. “These are the attributes of Bullshit people; they will…blur your imagination, take your endowments for a piece of debris, make you ridiculous, and most importantly, you got to send them to the recycle bin.” – Michael Bassey Johnson
78. “If a negative viewer looks at you with an ugly fiendish eye, find a way and pluck off his eyes, or better still, protect your good image.” – Michael Bassey Johnson
79. “Everybody has bad relationships, and, at the end of the day, they are just a great way to set yourself up for a good relationship.” – Anne Hathaway
80. “Don’t ever stop believing in your own transformation. It is still happening even on days you may not realize it or feel like it.” – Lalah Delia
81. “There are people who break you down by just being them. They need not do anything. Dissociate.” – Malebo Sephodi
82. “I have found the best way to deal with a toxic person is to not respond in any other way than monotone voice and a businesslike manner.” – Jen Grice
83. “No matter how much you love the person, you cannot change them. You may influence them; but at the end of the day, they must decide for themselves.” – Robert E. Baines Jr.
84. “Let negative people live their negative lives with their negative minds.” – Moosa Rahat
85. “Sometimes it’s better to end something and try to start something new than imprison yourself in hoping for the impossible.” – Karen Salmansohn
86. “If it comes, let it come. If it goes, it’s ok, let it go. Let things come and go. Stay calm, don’t let anything disturb your peace, and carry on.” – Germany Kent
87. “The best emotional relief is not venting our problems, that only fuels the pain. It is focusing on something else, taking control of our lives, and staying away from people that keep reminding us about our problems.” – Rodolfo Peon
88. “It’s amazing how quickly things can turn around when you remove toxic people from your life.” – Robert Tew
89. “You don’t have to live happily ever after with every single person in your life in order to live happily ever after. Some unfortunate endings are necessary.” – Joyce Rachelle
90. “Life is too short to hang around people who are causing you to compromise. Pulling you down. Your time is too valuable to waste it with people who don’t have a dream. People that aren’t going anywhere.” – Joel Osteen
91. “I am worth more than these excuses. I am worth more than this inconsistent, unhealthy, disappointing dynamic. I am worthy of finding someone that is never going to allow us to settle into this toxic, distorted version of love.” – Liz Newman
92. “Never rely on another person to make you feel whole.” – Karen Salmansohn
93. “What’s more toxic than what they have done, think, or have said about you is how you let your mind receive it. In a world as ours filled with so much noise and hate, what suffers the most is our minds. Know when to keep your mind shut!” – Chinonye J. Chidolue
94. “Weeding out the harmful influences should become the norm, not the exception.” – Carlos Wallace
95. “Forgiveness is a personal process that doesn’t depend on us having direct contact with the people who have hurt us.” – Sharon Salzberg
96. “Many people get into a relationship as a way to compensate for something they lack or hate within themselves. This is a one-way ticket to a toxic relationship because it makes your love conditional – you will love your partner as long as they help you feel better about yourself.” – Mark Manson
97. “I’ve found the most tragic aspect of losing loved ones wasn’t the big boom of the fallout, but realizing later how much healthier I was without them.” – Maggie Young
98. “Surround yourself with positive people who believe in your dreams, encourage your ideas, support your ambitions, and bring out the best in you.” – Roy Bennett
99. “Don’t let toxic people sabotage your happiness, ruin your positive attitude, contaminate your mind or destroy your self-confidence. Instead, surround yourself with generous, positive, and nurturing people who will lift you up.” – Farshad Asl
100. “Remember… whoever is trying to bring you down is already below you.” – Ziad K. Abdelnour
101. “The wrong person will give you less than what you’re worth but that doesn’t mean that you have to accept it.” – Sonya Parker
Final Thoughts on Toxic People Quotes
It is not always easy to let go of people you’ve been with for a very long time, especially if they have become part of your daily routine. However, it is also not easy to live a life that is full of negativity just because of these people.
We hope that, through the quotes we shared above, you were able to find a few ways to avoid or detach yourself from everything that has been keeping your life unhappy.
You deserve a life full of bliss and contentment. You deserve to be surrounded by people who genuinely care.
And if you want more eye-opening quotes, be sure to check out these blog posts:
- 73 Haters Quotes for Dealing with Negative People
- 67 Unappreciated Quotes for When You Don’t Feel Recognized
- 105 Loneliness Quotes for When You Feel Sad or Alone
Finally, if you want to use these quotes to make a lasting change to your life, then check out and recite these 57 affirmations for success.
