All parents cannot be the same as some parents love their children unconditionally while some have a dysfunctional relationship with their kids. Dysfunctional parents are not that uncommon but sometimes the relationship between children and parents can go beyond misunderstandings and make for a damaging, and toxic cycle.
It is not that some parents try to be intentionally bad toward their children; they are just naturally self-centered and have a deep conflict within themselves. For children who still have to deal with their parents’ hurtful and damaging behavior every day, it is difficult to recognize the signs and get out of the cycle.
Here Are Some Revealing Selfish Parents Quotes
1.“It is the selfish parents who are to blame. Pay attention, be involved in your children’s lives. They are your legacy, your only hope.” – Aaron B. Powell
2.“Fear-based parenting is the surest way to create intimidated children.” – Tim Kimmel
3.“If mental abuse was a punishable crime, a lot of parents would be in jail serving a long term.” – Maddy Malhotra
4.“Remember, you are not managing an inconvenience; You are raising a human being.” – Kittie Frantz
5.“If you teach hatred to your children, one day your child will have that hatred reflected back onto them and onto YOU.” – Suzy Kassem
6.“Today’s troubled homes are made by parents who want to have children but don’t want their children to have parents.” – Agona Apell
7.“Wounded parents often unintentionally inflict pain and suffering on their children …” – David W. Earle
8.“No child is born a delinquent. They only became that way if nobody loved them when they were kids.” – Jeannette Walls
9.“Here’s a shock: An adult who still hangs out in skate parks is a bad parent.” – Daniel Tosh
10.“No man should bring children into the world who is unwilling to persevere to the end in their nature and education.” – Plato
11.“If we never have headaches through rebuking our children, we shall have plenty of heartaches when they grow up.” – Charles Haddon Spurgeon
12.“If your parents ignored you, or if they are just not emotionally available, or if they yell a lot, that is a type of trauma.” – Tucker Max
13.“Narcissist parents don’t care about their children’s feelings at all. Only their feelings matter.” – Kim Saeed
14.“Parents. Honestly. Sometimes they really do think the world revolves around them.” – Randa Abdel-Fattah
15.“Leave your pride, ego, and narcissism somewhere else. Reactions from those parts of you will reinforce your children’s most primitive fears.” – Henry Cloud
16.“Narcissist parents want total control. Take back your control. If possible, don’t accept any money, favor, items or anything from them.” – Tina Fuller
17.“Your kids require you most of all to love them for who they are, not to spend your whole time trying to correct them.” – Bill Ayers
18.“The hateful and stinging words of a narcissistic parent can linger in the mind of an adult child long after the adult has left home.” – Shannon Thomas
19.“A narcissistic parent will provoke an independent child to anger in order to feel superior and prove the child’s flaws.” – Shannon Thomas
20.“If we, as mothers, are not careful, we can begin to find our identity in our children and their behavior.” – Sue Detweiler
21.“In the narcissistic parent’s eyes, they do no wrong nor do they feel they should be held accountable for the bad and wrong things that they have done.” – Katherine Childress
22.“Parents wonder why the streams are bitter when they themselves have poisoned the fountain.”- John Locke
23.“To all you parents out there, don’t make your little girls, or little boys, so thirsty for love that they will want to drink water that will poison them.” – Lisa Bedrick
24.“When you grieve toxic, abusive parents, you don’t just grieve the abuse, you grieve everything you didn’t have.” – Lily Hope Lucario
25.“Your children vividly remember every unkind thing you ever did to them, plus a few you really didn’t.” – Mignon McLaughlin
26.“Many children of toxic parents find it exceptionally difficult to identify who they are once they grow up.” – JR Thorpe
27.“Dysfunctional parents let their children know how burdened they have been by their children and how many sacrifices they had to make in order to raise them.” – Dr Marita Sirota
28.“The most loving parents and relatives commit murder with smiles on their faces. They force us to destroy the person we really are: a subtle kind of murder.” – Jim Morrison
29.“Instead of treating your child like how you were treated. Treat them with the same love and attention you wanted from your parents while growing up.” – Jonathan Anthony Burkett
30.“When you have children, there is no room for lies, no room for anything but the truth. Anything other than that is a bad example, I believe.” – Johnny Depp
31.“No one, however powerful and successful, can function as an adult if his parents are not satisfied with him.” – Frank Pittman
32.“What’s so sad is when we’re younger, if you have a bad parent, that is normal to you, and that’s what you think of as healthy.” – Jennifer Lawrence
33.“Most children would rather preserve the fantasy of a loving connection with their fathers and mothers, at all costs, even if it costs them their self-esteem.” – Keith Ablow
34.“When you’re three or seven years old, it’s less frightening to think of yourself as an unlovable, disappointing screw-up than to recognize the fact that you’re living with a monster.” – Keith Ablow
35.“Anyone could father a child. But a good parent puts his child’s needs before his own. A parent should be selfless, not selfish.” — Penelope Ward
36.“You shouldn’t do that. Not to your child. You should carry your own burdens.” – Cassandra Clare
37.“Good parenting gives headaches, but bad parenting gives heartaches.” – Shiv Khera
38.“No, we don’t control who our parents are. We don’t control what color we are. We don’t control what home we are born into. But we control our attitude. We control our work ethic. We control our drive and our commitment.” – Dabo Swinney
39.“Selfish genes actually explain altruistic individuals, and to me that’s crystal-clear.” – Richard Dawkins
40.“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
41.“My dad was not super-intentional in his parenting. He was very self-absorbed. I won’t say mean or selfish per se, but very self-absorbed. I think he was just thinking out loud.” – Angela Duckworth
42.“Dysfunctional parents do not apologize. It is one feature that the children of narcissists would instantly agree on. They will lie and justify themselves, but never accept they did anything wrong.” – Diana Macey
43.“At the end of the day, the most overwhelming key to a child’s success is the positive involvement of parents.” – Jane D. Hull
44.“To be a good father and mother requires that the parents defer many of their own needs and desires in favor of the needs of their children. As a consequence of this sacrifice, conscientious parents develop a nobility of character and learn to put into practice the selfless truths taught by the Savior Himself.” – James E. Faust
45.“Toxic people defy logic. Some are blissfully unaware of the negative impact that they have on those around them, and others seem to derive satisfaction from creating chaos and pushing other people’s buttons.” – Travis Bradberry
46.“I’m worried about parents who aren’t parenting.” – Barbara Bush
47.“Children begin by loving their parents; after a time, they judge them; rarely, if ever, do they forgive them.” – Oscar Wilde
48.“Children learn to smile from their parents.” – Shinichi Suzuki
49.“An unpredictable parent is a fearsome god in the eyes of a child.” – Susan Forward
50.“All of us develop our expectations about how people will treat us based on our relationships with our parents.” – Susan Forward
How to Deal with Selfish Parents
Having selfish and manipulative parents is a problem which afflicts people of all ages, from the little child seeking freedom, to the middle-aged man or woman who wants to be left alone, and even people who are a little older. The problem is particularly felt when you live under the same roof, but things often aren’t easy even when you leave home.
Summary
Dysfunctional parents rely on their children to take care of them, instead of the other way around. It is supposed to be a two-way relationship for adult children and their parents. Selfish parents always put their needs and desires before those of their children’s. The emotional invalidation their children feel in response can lead them to believe that they are crazy for having rational emotional responses. Selfish parents can be abusive as well – not just in the physical sense but emotionally and mentally too. This can make it difficult for their children to reach out for support. If you have a toxic parent or a dysfunctional relationship with your parents, you may have found these selfish parents quotes helpful and enlightening. Remember – you are not alone.
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