Difficult Emotions: Betrayal Quotes

Explore quotes that reflect the sting of broken trust and the complex aftermath of betrayal. Thoughtful lines highlight disillusionment, boundaries, and the slow rebuilding of confidence. Themes include loyalty, self-protection, and choosing whom to trust again. Whether you are processing recent hurt or seeking perspective, these voices offer clarity, caution, and resilience. Find words that name the rupture, honor self-respect, and encourage wiser connections.

Similar topics:Anger Anxiety Fear Loneliness Sadness

"The trust of the innocent is the liar's most useful tool"

Stephen King, Author

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"Trust dies but mistrust blossoms"

Sophocles, Author

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"I have learned to hate all traitors, and there is no disease that I spit on more than treachery"

Aeschylus, Playwright

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"But this is a true saying among men: the gifts of enemies are no gifts and profitless"

Sophocles, Author

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"He that has eyes to see and ears to hear may convince himself that no mortal can keep a secret. If his lips are silent, he chatters with his fingertips; betrayal oozes out of him at every pore"

Sigmund Freud, Psychologist

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"A traitor is everyone who does not agree with me"

George III, Royalty

"Enemies' gifts are no gifts and do no good"

Sophocles, Author

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"I trust no one, not even myself"

Joseph Stalin, Leader

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"Men are only as loyal as their options"

Bill Maher, Comedian

"Love is a game in which one always cheats"

Honore de Balzac, Novelist

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"Am I a fool? I don't think I'm a fool. But I think I sure was fooled"

Kenneth Lay, Businessman

"I'd rather betray the world than let the world betray me"

Cao Cao, Statesman

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"The vanity of being known to be trusted with a secret is generally one of the chief motives to disclose it"

Samuel Johnson, Author

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"To love without criticism is to be betrayed"

Djuna Barnes, Novelist

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"I gave 'em a sword. And they stuck it in, and they twisted it with relish. And I guess if I had been in their position, I'd have done the same thing"

Richard M. Nixon, President

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"Hollywood is a place where a man can get stabbed in the back while climbing a ladder"

William Faulkner, Novelist

"Fool that I was, upon my eagle's wings I bore this wren, till I was tired with soaring, and now he mounts above me"

John Dryden, Poet

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"Love is whatever you can still betray. Betrayal can only happen if you love"

John Le Carre, Author

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"Is it possible to succeed without any act of betrayal?"

Jean Renoir, Director

"The more hidden the venom, the more dangerous it is"

Marguerite de Valois, Royalty

"On that road of the informer, it is always night. I cannot ever inform against anyone without feeling something die within me. I inform without pleasure, because it is necessary"

Whittaker Chambers, Writer

"The snake will always bite back"

Jake Roberts, Celebrity

"Men's vows are women's traitors!"

William Shakespeare, Dramatist

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"All of my misfortunes come from having thought too well of my fellows"

Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Philosopher

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"Sometimes we are less unhappy in being deceived by those we love, than in being undeceived by them"

Lord Byron, Poet

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"In politics it is necessary either to betray one's country or the electorate. I prefer to betray the electorate"

Charles de Gaulle, Leader

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"Our most bitter enemies are our own kith and kin. Kings have no brothers, no sons, no mother!"

Honore de Balzac, Novelist

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"The cruelest lies are often told in silence"

Robert Louis Stevenson, Writer

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"We have to distrust each other. It is our only defense against betrayal"

Tennessee Williams, Dramatist

"I hate the idea of causes, and if I had to choose between betraying my country and betraying my friend, I hope I should have the guts to betray my country"

E. M. Forster, Novelist

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"Betrayal is the only truth that sticks"

Arthur Miller, Playwright

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"A woman's best love letters are always written to the man she is betraying"

Lawrence Durrell, Writer

"This principle is old, but true as fate, Kings may love treason, but the traitor hate"

Thomas Dekker, Dramatist

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"The lovesick, the betrayed, and the jealous all smell alike"

Sidonie Gabrielle Colette, Novelist

"Better to be occasionally cheated than perpetually suspicious"

B. C. Forbes, Journalist

"Anyone who hasn't experienced the ecstasy of betrayal knows nothing about ecstasy at all"

Jean Genet, Dramatist

"The coward's weapon, poison"

John Fletcher, Dramatist

"What girls do to each other is beyond description. No chinese torture comes close"

Tori Amos, Musician

"Silence is sometimes the severest criticism"

Charles Buxton, Public Servant

"Fire and swords are slow engines of destruction, compared to the tongue of a Gossip"

Richard Steele, Dramatist

Small: Richard Steele

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