Quotes About Dysfunctional Families
Enjoy collection of 100 Dysfunctional Families quotes. Download and share images of famous quotes about Dysfunctional Families. Righ click to see and save pictures of Dysfunctional Families quotes that you can use as your wallpaper for free.
As a parent who raised his children in dysfunction, I know the parental wounds my children received were not intentional; often they were my best expression of love, sometimes coming out sideways, not as I intended. ~ David W. Earle
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by David W. Earle Dysfunctional Families quotes by David W. Earle](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-71795.jpg)
The greater the pain associated with love, the more likely a person is to be attracted to others who will inflict this pain…for isn't this what love is? Hurt people tend to hurt other people. ~ David Walton Earle
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by David Walton Earle Dysfunctional Families quotes by David Walton Earle](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-171865.jpg)
It is very difficult to develop a proper sense of self-esteem in a dysfunctional family. Having very little self-worth, looking at one's own character defects becomes so overwhelming there is no room for inward focus. People so afflicted think: "I need to keep you from knowing me. I have already rejected me, but if you knew how flawed I am, you would also reject me…and since this is all I have, I could not stand any more rejection. I am not worthy of someone understanding me so you will not get the chance...so I must judge, reject, attack, and/or find fault with you. I don't accept me so how can I accept you? ~ David Walton Earle
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by David Walton Earle Dysfunctional Families quotes by David Walton Earle](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-309735.jpg)
It is hundreds of tiny threads of memories, which sew people together through the years. Despite, their mental separation they stay woven into that tapestry out of habit, emotion, obsession or fear. ~ Shannon L. Alder
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Shannon L. Alder Dysfunctional Families quotes by Shannon L. Alder](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-422385.jpg)
If I, as a child, claim that something awful has happened - that someone has done something terrible to me - and everyone around me acts as if nothing is the matter, then either I must be crazy, or all of them are. And when you're a kid and your life depends on all these people, there is no choice: of course, I must be crazy. ~ E. Sue Blume
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by E. Sue Blume Dysfunctional Families quotes by E. Sue Blume](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-708265.jpg)
After my parents were dead, I found in a box and in two chests of drawers nothing but hundreds of bright red Alpine caps, I said, nothing but bright red Alpine stockings. Every one of them knitted by my mother. My parents could have gone into the High Alps with these bright red caps and bright red stockings for thousands of years. I burnt every one of those bright red caps and bright red stockings, I said. I put on one of my mother's hundreds of bright red Alpine caps and in this costume burnt all the others, laughing, laughing, continuously laughing, I said.
(Goethe Dies, p.65) ~ Thomas Bernhard
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Thomas Bernhard Dysfunctional Families quotes by Thomas Bernhard](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-1355305.jpg)
People who come from dysfunctional families are not destined for a dysfunctional life. ~ Bo Bennett
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Bo Bennett Dysfunctional Families quotes by Bo Bennett](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-252634.jpg)
I can't love him. I don't. This feeling is not the selfish, grasping need that I've seen tear apart my family, writhing through heir hearts like worms through rotten apples. ~ Rosamund Hodge
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Rosamund Hodge Dysfunctional Families quotes by Rosamund Hodge](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-396704.jpg)
The talked about their messed-up, dysfunctional families, carefully respecting boundaries, never probing too deep in any one sitting. And they always ended up laughing. Even when the subject matter was intense or macabre, Henry's sick and twisted and often politically incorrect sense of humor was infectious ... Gloria laughed more in these first weeks at Oxford then she remembered laughing almost anywhere. ~ Andrea Kayne Kaufman
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Andrea Kayne Kaufman Dysfunctional Families quotes by Andrea Kayne Kaufman](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-867904.jpg)
Persons in dysfunctional families characteristically do not feel because they learned from a young age that not feeling is necessary for psychic survival. Family members generally learn it is too painful to feel the hurt or to experience the fear that comes from feelings of rage, abandonment, moments of terror, and memories of horror. ~ Kathleen Heide
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Kathleen Heide Dysfunctional Families quotes by Kathleen Heide](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-1139394.jpg)
People talk about dysfunctional families; I've never seen any other kind. ~ Sue Grafton
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Sue Grafton Dysfunctional Families quotes by Sue Grafton](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-1276874.jpg)
I've written more about my parents than any writer in the history of the world, and I still return to their mysterious effigies as I try to figure out what it all means - some kind of annunciation or maybe even a summing-up They still exert immense control over me even though they've been dead for so long. But I can conjure up their images without exerting a thimbleful of effort. ~ Pat Conroy
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Pat Conroy Dysfunctional Families quotes by Pat Conroy](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-1293314.jpg)
We are navigating through the unconscious, and this brings us to the occult, something hidden, secret and "difficult to understand." When things bog down, it is time for something else. Therapists need to have a variety of methods and perspectives ready. For example, dysfunctional families create a lot of confusion, havoc and pain. Interlopers, straw men and false gods have usurped the soul's central position - and oftentimes therapists have a chess game on their hands. ~ Stephen Poplin
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Stephen Poplin Dysfunctional Families quotes by Stephen Poplin](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-38659.jpg)
Many Christians say that they get their morality from the Bible, but this cannot be true because as holy books go the Bible is possibly the most unhelpful guide ever written for determining right from wrong. It's chock-full of bizarre stories about dysfunctional families, advice about how to beat your slaves, how to kill your headstrong kids, how to sell your virgin daughters, and other clearly outdated practices that most cultures gave up centuries ago. ~ Michael Shermer
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Michael Shermer Dysfunctional Families quotes by Michael Shermer](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-64719.jpg)
The key problem I encounter working with wounded, depressed, and unhappy people is a lack of connection…starting from a disconnection from themselves and then with others. This is why love often becomes so distorted and destructive. When people experience a disconnection from themselves, they feel it but do not realize the problem. ~ David Walton Earle
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by David Walton Earle Dysfunctional Families quotes by David Walton Earle](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-293429.jpg)
Sexual abuse is also a secret crime, one that usually has no witness. Shame and secrecy keep a child from talking to siblings about the abuse, even if all the children in a family are being sexually assaulted. In contrast, if a child is physically or emotionally abused, the abuse is likely to occur in front of the other children in the family, at least some of the time. The physical and emotional abuse becomes part of the family's explicit history. Sexual abuse does not. ~ Renee Fredrickson
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Renee Fredrickson Dysfunctional Families quotes by Renee Fredrickson](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-440139.jpg)
The entrance into the family of an outside professional with legal authority is always a crisis-ridden event, but it may be the best insurance that the incest will not continue. ~ Janis Tyler Johnson
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Janis Tyler Johnson Dysfunctional Families quotes by Janis Tyler Johnson](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-485789.jpg)
No one escapes some degree of chaos for it is so ever prevalent; it is the human experience. This realization does not mean we can't improve. It does mean we can accept our state of chaos, lighten up on ourselves, have fun, and work on improving…we are a work in progress. Enjoy the journey. ~ David Walton Earle
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by David Walton Earle Dysfunctional Families quotes by David Walton Earle](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-565869.jpg)
Primer of Love [Lesson 40]
Always remember that you are absolutely unique.
Just like everyone else.
~ Margaret Mead
Lesson 40) Lovingly celebrate your partner's peculiarities.
You were brought up by two totally different dysfunctional families. No two sets of alcoholic parents are alike. You each come with your own tics, tacs and oddities. Lovingly accept these differences as aspects of your lover's uniqueness. An aspect is just the other side of the coin of some quality you already love about them. For instance is he barks whenever he urinates, this is simply an aspect of his need to guard over you and protect you from own worst enemy * yourself. If she yells out the name of a previous lover during an orgasm, this is just another aspect ofah, fuck it! * put the down pillow on her sorry face and suffocate the bitch. ~ Beryl Dov
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Beryl Dov Dysfunctional Families quotes by Beryl Dov](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-601539.jpg)
I explain to my patients that abused children often find it hard to disentangle themselves from their dysfunctional families, whereas children grow away from good, loving parents with far less conflict. After all, isn't that the task of a good parent, to enable the child to leave home? ~ Irvin D. Yalom
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Irvin D. Yalom Dysfunctional Families quotes by Irvin D. Yalom](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-768279.jpg)
Being able to say, "No," is a necessary ingredient in a healthy lifestyle. ~ David W. Earle
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by David W. Earle Dysfunctional Families quotes by David W. Earle](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-792319.jpg)
No, I wanted to say, he didn't cut off her hands because he didn't have to, he had cut them off long before, with years of keeping all authority in his own palms, all the rules and all the power and all the answers emanating from him and no one else. And if you don't understand that, if you've never been in such a family, then you can't know the way the mind shackles itself and amputates its own limbs so adeptly that you never think to miss them, never think that you had anything so obscene as choice. ~ Carolina De Robertis
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Carolina De Robertis Dysfunctional Families quotes by Carolina De Robertis](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-928249.jpg)
Thomas had a younger sister, Ester, who was a facsimile of the womanizer brother, who had behaviors that mirrored her brother's treatment of women, for she treated men the same way, for the same reasons. The younger sister had raised her sons with a hurtful echo in their minds that said 'men are no good', and because they heard it so much from their mother's mouth, I feared that they would one day believe it to be true. ~ Sara Niles
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Sara Niles Dysfunctional Families quotes by Sara Niles](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-1204049.jpg)
After running from pursuers a good part of my life, I was used to hiding in the shadows. But now, I was trying to save myself from the ultimate bully, my murderous father. ~ David Crow
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by David Crow Dysfunctional Families quotes by David Crow](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-1568389.jpg)
It's the great surprise of my life that I ended up loving [my father] so much. ~ Pat Conroy
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Pat Conroy Dysfunctional Families quotes by Pat Conroy](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-236273.jpg)
Most of our informants [incest survivors] remembered their mothers as weak and powerless, finding their only dignity in martyrdom. ~ Judith Lewis Herman
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Judith Lewis Herman Dysfunctional Families quotes by Judith Lewis Herman](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-388093.jpg)
A family is a social system and if that system is dysfunctional, the ramifications for the children growing up within it are grave. In what is known as generational drug addiction, the adult children of drug addicts and alcoholics are quietly suffering all over the world. By the time the children have grown up, dysfunction has been deeply ingrained in mind, body and brain. ~ Christopher Dines
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Christopher Dines Dysfunctional Families quotes by Christopher Dines](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-427633.jpg)
There's a man with her. He's blonde, balding, harassed-looking, and probably what they call time-poor. Older. He looks at me over the steering wheel and gives a helpless, frustrated gesture, as though I should be able to identify and sympathize with his plight. Then, as the woman starts to open the car door, he stops her with a swift movement. And suddenly they're struggling, locked into a graceless, desperate tussle. I picture the dull, bestial unhappiness of a couple shackled to each other by their mortgage and their children's shareed DNA. ~ Liz Jensen
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Liz Jensen Dysfunctional Families quotes by Liz Jensen](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-447803.jpg)
I used to joke that we had prepared ourselves for a time like this by living with Mother. The problem with such a state of affairs was not that you did not get to do what you wanted
sometimes you did
but the effort to appease or resist the reigning deities left you so exhausted that it prevented you from ever really having fun. To this day having fun, just plain enjoying myself, comes at the cost of a conviction that I have committed an undetected crime. ~ Azar Nafisi
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Azar Nafisi Dysfunctional Families quotes by Azar Nafisi](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-843953.jpg)
Consider letting go of the barriers between yourself and others, let go of the definition our culture has inflicted upon us and allow the best part of ourselves to connect with the wondrous parts of others. Allow yourself to connect in a deeper and more profound way. ~ David W. Earle
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by David W. Earle Dysfunctional Families quotes by David W. Earle](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-1171123.jpg)
Under this aura of perfection he knows how flawed he really is but his intact denial system keeps this awareness suppressed in the far recesses of his mind. ~ David W. Earle
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by David W. Earle Dysfunctional Families quotes by David W. Earle](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-1585483.jpg)
There is an intergenerational reoccurrence rate of 30% in incest. ~ G. Pirooz Sholevar
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by G. Pirooz Sholevar Dysfunctional Families quotes by G. Pirooz Sholevar](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-1588913.jpg)
There's something to that in both directions," said Ekaterin mildly. "Nothing is more guaranteed to make one start acting like a child than to be treated like one. It's so infuriating. It took me the longest time to figure out how to stop falling into that trap."
"Yes, exactly," said Kareen eagerly. "You understand! So - how did you make them stop?"
"You can't make them - whoever your particular them is - do anything, really," said Ekaterin slowly. "Adulthood isn't an award they'll give you for being a good child. You can waste ... years, trying to get someone to give that respect to you, as though it were a sort of promotion or raise in pay. If only you do enough, if only you are good enough. No. You have to just ... take it. Give it to yourself, I suppose. Say, I'm sorry you feel like that, and walk away. But that's hard. ~ Lois McMaster Bujold
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Lois McMaster Bujold Dysfunctional Families quotes by Lois McMaster Bujold](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-747411.jpg)
Dysfunctional families have sired a number of pretty good actors. ~ Gene Hackman
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Gene Hackman Dysfunctional Families quotes by Gene Hackman](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-748021.jpg)
My mother's mouth drops. 'Emmy...don't say those things Emmy. Remember, we don't talk about those things.'
'Yes Mom. I remember. That's why I'm here, looking like this.'
An orderly knocks on the door and announces that visiting time is over.
My mother and I look at each other awkwardly, and hug.
'I love you,' she says.
'I love you too, Mom.'
'You aren't telling them too much are you?' she asks, afraid.
I sign. 'No Mommy, I'm not.'
She's visibly relieved. She leaves the room.
The orderley comes back and escorts me back into the main room.
I just sit and laugh to myself."
(after Emmy's suicide attempt) ~ The Finer Points of Becoming Machine ~ Emily Andrews
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Emily Andrews Dysfunctional Families quotes by Emily Andrews](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-884631.jpg)
See, I think there are roads that lead us to each other. But in my family, there were no roads - just underground tunnels. I think we all got lost in those underground tunnels. No, not lost. We just lived there. ~ Benjamin Alire Saenz
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Benjamin Alire Saenz Dysfunctional Families quotes by Benjamin Alire Saenz](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-1068501.jpg)
He knows I've seen something in him. Something I recognize, only because it exists in me too. ~ Siobhan Davis
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Siobhan Davis Dysfunctional Families quotes by Siobhan Davis](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-1345661.jpg)
Murry Wilson, to be sure, was a driving force in the Beach Boys' early success, but his greed and vindictiveness deny him any tribute. The most forgiving thing I can say about him is that he was simply an inheritor of his own father's cruelty. My mom, for her part, was always loyal to her brother, as she was grateful for how Murry had protected his siblings against the violence of their father. I wasn't going to sully my mom's devotion to that brother with an explanation of his betrayals against his own family. ~ James S. Hirsch
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by James S. Hirsch Dysfunctional Families quotes by James S. Hirsch](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-1416791.jpg)
We all have rosy memories of a simpler, happy time- a time of homemade apple pie and gingham curtains, a time when Mom understood everything and Dad could fix anything. "Let's get those traditional family values back!" we murmur to each other. Meanwhile, in a simultaneous universe, everyone I know, and every celebrity I don't know, is coming out of the closet to talk about how miserable they are because they grew up in dysfunctional families. ~ Cynthia Heimel
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Cynthia Heimel Dysfunctional Families quotes by Cynthia Heimel](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-370892.jpg)
Consuelo: Away from them, I realised that they formed a circle, or rather a net in which they were enmeshed together. I was the only one out of it. Being near them only made me feel more alone. ~ Oscar Lewis
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Oscar Lewis Dysfunctional Families quotes by Oscar Lewis](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-371852.jpg)
When you journey inwardly exploring yourself, a sense of personal trust begins. ~ David W. Earle
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by David W. Earle Dysfunctional Families quotes by David W. Earle](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-944612.jpg)
Black and white thinking limits understanding and feedback, two necessary ingredients for successful resolution in creative conflict and successful understanding. ~ David W. Earle
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by David W. Earle Dysfunctional Families quotes by David W. Earle](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-1051442.jpg)
As I was growing up, no one in my family got their needs met through respectful negotiation and compromise. ~ Olga Trujillo
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Olga Trujillo Dysfunctional Families quotes by Olga Trujillo](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-1187812.jpg)
I was in denial of the glaring reality that my existence depended on my willingness to comply with the family policy of me earning the splinter of space they granted to me. ~ M. Wakefield
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by M. Wakefield Dysfunctional Families quotes by M. Wakefield](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-1192372.jpg)
Awkward silences rule the world. People are so terrified of awkward silences that they will literally go to war rather than face an awkward silence. ~ Stefan Molyneux
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Stefan Molyneux Dysfunctional Families quotes by Stefan Molyneux](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-1372682.jpg)
Shame is a powerful feeling. There is a tremendous difference between making a mistake and believing you are a mistake...If I don't see myself as being a mistake then it is I who must take responsibility and I am not ready to accept that. ~ David W. Earle
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by David W. Earle Dysfunctional Families quotes by David W. Earle](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-1525122.jpg)
We are in the era of dysfunctional relationships. ~ Steven Magee
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Steven Magee Dysfunctional Families quotes by Steven Magee](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-1539762.jpg)
Many of us live in dysfunctional families, and so even if it's in a fairy tale, or perhaps because it's in a fairy tale, we have a chance to look at that side of our reflected lives differently. ~ Kenneth Branagh
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Kenneth Branagh Dysfunctional Families quotes by Kenneth Branagh](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-178537.jpg)
I wish I'd gotten to know my dad better too," Kent nodded, "because when I did know him, he already wasn't himself. But the thing is, I never blamed him."
"Why's that?"
"I suppose because trying to place blame on someone always seemed like an impossible task. Like trying to find the start of something that's actually an endless cycle. I just figured it was better to be hard on myself and to make sure that I was a better person to those I loved. That way I could break the cycle."
Did you hear that, Dad? That's the kind of wisdom older brothers are put on this earth to dispense. ~ Louie Anderson
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Louie Anderson Dysfunctional Families quotes by Louie Anderson](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-519107.jpg)
If we want to improve, first we have to recognize our own maladaptive coping skills, called codependency, then change. ~ David W. Earle
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by David W. Earle Dysfunctional Families quotes by David W. Earle](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-621817.jpg)
In my family, as in all dysfunctional families, instead of parents who act as strong and nurturing role models for their children, you get these needy people who use their children. I was the kid who tried to take on the marriage. ~ John Bradshaw
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by John Bradshaw Dysfunctional Families quotes by John Bradshaw](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-662937.jpg)
Boundary violations are deeply experienced. ~ David W. Earle
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by David W. Earle Dysfunctional Families quotes by David W. Earle](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-842447.jpg)
Mature adults gravitate toward new values and understandings, not just rehashing and blind acceptance of past patterns and previous learning. This is an ongoing process and maturity demands lifelong learners. ~ David W. Earle
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by David W. Earle Dysfunctional Families quotes by David W. Earle](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-901447.jpg)
I'm going to make an exception for you. If you want to study me – every inch of me – I'm willing to be your lab rat."
"Well, I'd need to have research questions if it's going to be a valid scientific endeavor. ~ Rachel Grant
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Rachel Grant Dysfunctional Families quotes by Rachel Grant](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-1387937.jpg)
Sometimes opposites attract, or so they say, but Paloma and Rocío were like arroz and mangú: they didn't really mix well. ~ Raquel Cepeda
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Raquel Cepeda Dysfunctional Families quotes by Raquel Cepeda](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-1408487.jpg)
Perhaps nothing so accurately characterizes dysfunctional families as denial. The denial forces members to keep believing the myths and vital lies in spite of the facts, or to keep expecting that the same behaviors will have different outcomes.
Dad's not an alcoholic because he never drinks in the morning, in spite of the fact that he's drunk every night. ~ John Bradshaw
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by John Bradshaw Dysfunctional Families quotes by John Bradshaw](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-1536327.jpg)
If you are looking for love under rocks or bringing home water moccasins, you might be confusing love and pain. ~ David W. Earle
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by David W. Earle Dysfunctional Families quotes by David W. Earle](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-123846.jpg)
Many of the habits of dysfunctional families use are not from the lack of love but are the result of fear. Knowing the love-limiting habits and behaviors of dysfunctional families is a wonderful beginning to lower the fear, allowing us to be real, allowing us all to learn how to love better. ~ David W. Earle
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by David W. Earle Dysfunctional Families quotes by David W. Earle](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-472606.jpg)
When I learned about the gray existing between the black and white of absolute terms, I began to experience more peace. The more I expanded my gray areas (more than 50 shades), the more peace I experienced in my life. ~ David W. Earle
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by David W. Earle Dysfunctional Families quotes by David W. Earle](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-835616.jpg)
An overwhelming majority of us come from dysfunctional families in which we were taught we were not okay, where we were shamed, verbally and/or physically abused, and emotionally neglected even as (we) were taught to believe that we were loved. ~ Bell Hooks
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Bell Hooks Dysfunctional Families quotes by Bell Hooks](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-1291116.jpg)
Oh save your nagging for your husband, I'm going out. I have things to do before I go to New York. ~ Evelyn Smith
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Evelyn Smith Dysfunctional Families quotes by Evelyn Smith](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-1411786.jpg)
Being judgmental is a form of attack keeping others off balance. ~ David W. Earle
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by David W. Earle Dysfunctional Families quotes by David W. Earle](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-1550446.jpg)
Adults who were hurt as children inevitably exhibit a peculiar strength, a profound inner wisdom, and a remarkable creativity and insight. Deep within them - just beneath the wound - lies a profound spiritual vitality, a quiet knowing, a way of perceiving what is beautiful, right, and true. Since their early experiences were so dark and painful, they have spent much of their lives in search of the gentleness, love, and peace they have only imagined in the privacy of their own hearts. ~ Wayne Muller
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Wayne Muller Dysfunctional Families quotes by Wayne Muller](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-6048.jpg)
And could you, from a place of love, actually stand up and, use force, to give someone back, the suffering, they were trying to put on you? Would I do it? Maybe it would even be, an act of fierce compassion, as Enso Roshi sometimes talked about, to not take it any more. To not cow down, anymore. To let my father know, the tyrant, the aggressor, that if he hits me, I'm going to hit back, and hard. ~ T. Scott McLeod
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by T. Scott McLeod Dysfunctional Families quotes by T. Scott McLeod](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-198128.jpg)
We therapists hear many stories of how people have been victimized, how they've had a succession of bad breaks and are product of 'dysfunctional' homes. On good days I'm sympathetic and try to hear them out, to encourage catharsis for their pain, then gradually lead them into problem-solving mode.
But some days I mutter to myself, that if another patient comes in the door and says one word about being the product of a dysfunctional family, I'm going to stand up and do something dysfunctional to them.
ALL families are dysfunctional at times. And the biography is filled with stories of people who overcome the most miserable environments. ~ Alan Loy McGinnis
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Alan Loy McGinnis Dysfunctional Families quotes by Alan Loy McGinnis](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-223308.jpg)
But what happens to the girl with no positive parental examples?
What happens to the girl with the cold mother who
conditioned herself to bury her emotions?
And what happens to the girl with the father who
is an example of who not to marry? ~ LaTasha “Tacha B.” Braxton
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by LaTasha “Tacha B.” Braxton Dysfunctional Families quotes by LaTasha “Tacha B.” Braxton](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-740278.jpg)
Teenagers can spot hypocrisy a mile away and here I was telling them how to cope when they witnessed the shambles of my own life and how I was living. ~ David W. Earle
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by David W. Earle Dysfunctional Families quotes by David W. Earle](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-884678.jpg)
Sitting on the hot seat of change requires much courage, patience, and persistence. ~ David W. Earle
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by David W. Earle Dysfunctional Families quotes by David W. Earle](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-975768.jpg)
If no one has boundaries…how can there be any transgression? ~ David Walton Earle
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by David Walton Earle Dysfunctional Families quotes by David Walton Earle](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-1027448.jpg)
We don't have hardly anything"
"We gotta make do with what the land gives us ~ Ania Ahlborn
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Ania Ahlborn Dysfunctional Families quotes by Ania Ahlborn](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-1124308.jpg)
There are orphanages," he exclaimed to himself, "for children who have lost their parents--oh! why, why, why, are there no harbours of refuge for grown men who have not yet lost them? ~ Samuel Butler
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Samuel Butler Dysfunctional Families quotes by Samuel Butler](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-1367788.jpg)
A family can be the bane of one's existence. A family can also be most of the meaning of one's existence. I don't know whether my family is bane or meaning, but they have surely gone away and left a large hole in my heart. ~ Keri Hulme
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Keri Hulme Dysfunctional Families quotes by Keri Hulme](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-89480.jpg)
All people cross the line from childhood to adulthood with a secondhand opinion of who they are. Without any questioning, we take as truth whatever our parents and other influentials have said about us during our childhood, whether these messages are communicated verbally, physically, or silently. ~ Heyward Bruce Ewart III
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Heyward Bruce Ewart III Dysfunctional Families quotes by Heyward Bruce Ewart III](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-198370.jpg)
In functional families the roles are chosen and are flexible. The members have the choice of giving up the roles. In dysfunctional families the roles are rigid. ~ John Bradshaw
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by John Bradshaw Dysfunctional Families quotes by John Bradshaw](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-200380.jpg)
My sister only has one side of the story but she is sure that she knows the whole story because that is how the dysfunctional system works. We don't question everyone or even consider that there may be another side to the story but instead automatically believe the one who has the most power in the relationship. ~ Darlene Ouimet
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Darlene Ouimet Dysfunctional Families quotes by Darlene Ouimet](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-221060.jpg)
I always hear people talk about 'dysfunctional families.' It annoys me, because it makes you think that somewhere there's this magical family where everyone gets along, and no one ever screams things they don't mean, and there's never a time when sharp objects should be hidden. Well, I'm sorry, but that family doesn't exist. And if you find some neighbors that seem to be the grinning model of 'function,' trust me - that's the family that will get arrested for smuggling arms in their SUV between soccer games.
The best you can really hope for is a family where everyone's problems, big and small, work together. Kind of like an orchestra where every instrument is out of tune, in exactly the same way, so you don't really notice. ~ Neal Shusterman
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Neal Shusterman Dysfunctional Families quotes by Neal Shusterman](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-248780.jpg)
When it comes to dysfunctional families," he said,"I'll put mine up against anyone's, anytime ~ Jayne Castle
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Jayne Castle Dysfunctional Families quotes by Jayne Castle](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-266220.jpg)
What are humans meant to do; why are we here? Are we a mutation on the earth destroying its host? Are we a cancer destined to kill what supports us? I think not. So exploring this question is a powerful exercise in meaning; what is the meaning of human existence? ~ David W. Earle
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by David W. Earle Dysfunctional Families quotes by David W. Earle](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-380590.jpg)
A woman in Charlotte approached me and said that she's tired of the dysfunction in my novels. I told her I was sorry, but that is how the world has presented itself to me throughout my life. ~ Pat Conroy
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Pat Conroy Dysfunctional Families quotes by Pat Conroy](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-414240.jpg)
When faced with choosing between attributing their pain to "being crazy" and having had abusive parents, clients will choose "crazy" most of the time. Dora, a 38-year-old, was profoundly abused by multiple family perpetrators and has grappled with cutting and eating disordered behaviors for most of her life. She poignantly echoed this dilemma in her therapy:
I hate it when we talk about my family as "dysfunctional" or "abusive." Think about what you are asking me to accept - that my parents didn't love me, care about me, or protect me. If I have to choose between "being abused" or "being sick and crazy," it's less painful to see myself as nuts than to imagine my parents as evil. ~ Lisa Ferentz
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Lisa Ferentz Dysfunctional Families quotes by Lisa Ferentz](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-482840.jpg)
Well, while I didn't have the more extreme experiences of some of my characters, I didn't exactly come from the most normal of households. Or rather, it was normal, in that dysfunctional families appear to be the norm. ~ Charles De Lint
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Charles De Lint Dysfunctional Families quotes by Charles De Lint](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-867630.jpg)
You can deny him, he thought, watching his father across the table. You can hate him, love him, pity him, never speak to or look at him in the eye again, never deign even to be in his crabbed and bitter presence, but you're still stuck with the son of a bitch. One way or another he'll always be your daddy, not even all-powerful death was going to change that. ~ Ben Fountain
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Ben Fountain Dysfunctional Families quotes by Ben Fountain](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-958890.jpg)
You were tossed away like a pair of beautiful, brand new shoes that did not quite fit. ~ Donna K. Childree
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Donna K. Childree Dysfunctional Families quotes by Donna K. Childree](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-1011870.jpg)
How ironic that our family should be a safe haven. Our parents and siblings are supposed to love us, accept us, and care for us. They should protect us and support us. Sometimes, our home is where we find the deepest heartaches. ~ Dana Arcuri
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Dana Arcuri Dysfunctional Families quotes by Dana Arcuri](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-1168340.jpg)
...the state of perfection is an elusive goal; demanding something so obscure as almost unattainable and can become a compulsive, crazy making squirrel-on-a-wheel way of living. ~ David W. Earle
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by David W. Earle Dysfunctional Families quotes by David W. Earle](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-1169080.jpg)
When you wear a mask, you are not real. ~ David W. Earle
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by David W. Earle Dysfunctional Families quotes by David W. Earle](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-1372650.jpg)
You think you have a handle on God, the Universe, and the Great White Light until you go home for Thanksgiving. In an hour, you realize how far you've got to go and who is the real turkey. ~ Shirley Maclaine
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Shirley Maclaine Dysfunctional Families quotes by Shirley Maclaine](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-1398730.jpg)
Many of us from dysfunctional families are struggling. We need more help, it takes a village and we're trying to find ours. We are looking to family and possibly some friends who are still displaying destructive patterns of behavior that we don't want passed on to our children.
How do we break the cycle?
It starts with us, we have to create new circles and change the people we surround ourselves with.
It's not easy letting go but necessary for our personal growth and well being, as well as generations to come. Our children will embrace what we accept as the norm because they are looking
to us for guidance and direction. We set the tone for what's okay acceptable and unacceptable.
We are the leaders and they will follow suit. ~ Tanesia Harris
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Tanesia Harris Dysfunctional Families quotes by Tanesia Harris](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-1595700.jpg)
The importance of heart health became very real for me when my father died of heart disease seven years ago. Having experienced the loss first hand, I am inspired to do everything I can to break the cycle and prevent families from losing loved ones to this preventable disease. ~ Monica Potter
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Monica Potter Dysfunctional Families quotes by Monica Potter](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-812017.jpg)
In every major war we have fought in the 19th and 20th centuries. Americans have been asked to pay higher taxes - and nonessential programs have been cut - to support the military effort. Yet during this Iraq war, taxes have been lowered and domestic spending has climbed. In contrast to World War I, World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam, for most Americans this conflict has entailed no economic sacrifice. The only people really sacrificing for this war are the troops and their families. ~ Robert Hormats
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Robert Hormats Dysfunctional Families quotes by Robert Hormats](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-1564352.jpg)
We need to empower all women, both financially and socially, to give them the tools to support themselves and their families. We need to start seeing them as contributors to society, as assets, not as objects of pity or, even worse, objects of shame. ~ Cherie Blair
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Cherie Blair Dysfunctional Families quotes by Cherie Blair](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-194980.jpg)
All organizations have habits and cultures. The question is whether they are designed deliberately, or allowed to form without guidance. Dysfunctional cultures tend to come from the latter. Organizational ~ Edify.me
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Edify.me Dysfunctional Families quotes by Edify.me](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-1207426.jpg)
In the weeks after the flood, the Humane Society of the United States organized the biggest animal rescue in history. Hundreds of volunteers from all over the country came to New Orleans. They broke into boarded-up houses, plucked dogs and cats from rooftops and trees, and even rescued pigs and goats. Many animals were reunited with their owners. Others were sent to shelters across America to be adopted by new families. ~ Lauren Tarshis
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Lauren Tarshis Dysfunctional Families quotes by Lauren Tarshis](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-904516.jpg)
"Religion" can no more be equated with what goes on in churches than "education" can be reduced to what happens in schools or "health care" restricted to what doctors do to patients in clinics. The vast majority of healing and learning goes on among parents and children and families and friends, far from the portals of any school or hospital. The same is true for religion. It is going on around us all the time. Religion is larger and more pervasive than churches. ~ Harvey Cox
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Harvey Cox Dysfunctional Families quotes by Harvey Cox](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-1465598.jpg)
Some families you were born into. Others you mad along the way. ~ Nicki Pau Preto
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Nicki Pau Preto Dysfunctional Families quotes by Nicki Pau Preto](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-1546926.jpg)
I do think that families are the most beautiful things in all the world! ~ Louisa May Alcott
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Louisa May Alcott Dysfunctional Families quotes by Louisa May Alcott](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-571552.jpg)
The children of the white families in town were not permitted to associate with me, because my father was committing the then unpardonable crime, in Southern eyes, of educating negroes. ~ Lee De Forest
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Lee De Forest Dysfunctional Families quotes by Lee De Forest](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-455770.jpg)
L.A. prides itself on newness or being the last frontier or just not liking old things and tearing them down to build new things. But Malibu history is interesting to me. My mom's family was one of the early families in California, so there's history going back to the 1840s or '50s. ~ Kim Gordon
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Kim Gordon Dysfunctional Families quotes by Kim Gordon](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-741152.jpg)
When personal incomes are taxed 50, 60 or 70 percent. People begin to ask themselves why they should work six, eight or nine months of the entire year for the government, and only six, four or three months for themselves and their families. If they lose the whole dollar when they lose, but can keep only a fraction of it when they win, they decide that it is foolish to take risks with their capital. ~ Henry Hazlitt
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Henry Hazlitt Dysfunctional Families quotes by Henry Hazlitt](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-717470.jpg)
The word's out: I'm a woman, and I'm going to have trouble backing off on that. I am what I am. I'll go out and talk to people about what's happening to their families, and when I do that, I'm a mother. I'm a grandmother. ~ Elizabeth Warren
![Dysfunctional Families quotes by Elizabeth Warren Dysfunctional Families quotes by Elizabeth Warren](https://palmquotes.com/topic/dysfunctional-families-quotes-1440337.jpg)