205+ EXCLUSIVE Betrayal Quotes in Friendship & Relationships

Betrayal may come in different forms; someone you trust lies to you, cheats on you, abuses you, or hurts you by putting their own self-interest first. When this happens, we should take time to breathe, think, and recover from it. Insightful betrayal quotes will show you the many faces of betrayal from other people who have gone through the same situations and recover from it.

If you’re searching for the saddest quotes ever and encouraging quotes about losing friends that perfectly capture what you’d like to say or just want to feel inspired yourself, browse through an amazing collection of top quotes about losing a loved one, powerful liar quotes and popular cheating quotes.

Betrayal Quotes

Betrayal is about learning not to idealize external sources. – Linda Talley

When someone betrays you, it is a reflection of their character, not yours.

Cheating is directly linked to lack of intelligence, insecurity, low self-esteem, and an overall sense of unhappiness with one’s own life.

Love and marriage are wonderful arenas in which to place a character. We are most likely to risk our morals and beliefs while in love. Betrayal gives tremendous insights into a character as well. – Anita Shreve

The saddest thing about betrayal is that it never comes from your enemies.

It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend. – William Blake

‘It was a mistake,’ you said. But the cruel thing was, it felt like the mistake was mine, for trusting you. – David Levithan

Betrayal can be extremely painful, but it’s up to you how much that pain damages you permanently. – Emily V. Gordon

Everyone suffers at least one bad betrayal in their lifetime. It’s what unites us. The trick is not to let it destroy your trust in others when that happens. Don’t let them take that from you. – Sherrilyn Kenyon

Familial betrayal is, to me, the most heartbreaking kind – because if you can’t trust your family to love you and protect you, who can you really trust? – Alexandra Bracken

For there to be betrayal, there would have to have been trust first. – Suzanne Collins

I used to advertise my loyalty and I don’t believe there is a single person I loved that I didn’t eventually betray. – Albert Camus

Life has taught me that you can’t control someone’s loyalty. No matter how good you are to them, doesn’t mean that they will treat you the same. No matter how much they mean to you, doesn’t mean that they’ll value you the same. Sometimes the people you love the most, turn out to be the people you can trust the least.

We have to distrust each other. It is our only defense against betrayal. – Tennessee Williams

I’m not upset that you lied to me, I’m upset that from now on I can’t believe you. – Friedrich Nietzsche

People are always fascinated by infidelity because, in the end – whether we’ve had direct experience or not – there’s part of you that knows there’s absolutely no more piercing betrayal. People are undone by it. – Junot Diaz

Betrayal is the only truth that sticks. – Arthur Miller

Betrayal is the worst… and the key to moving past it is to identify what led up to it in the first place. – Charles J. Orlando

Tragedy in life normally comes with betrayal and compromise, and trading on your integrity and not having dignity in life. That’s really where failure comes. – Tom Cochrane

Every betrayal contains a perfect moment, a coin stamped heads or tails with salvation on the other side. – Barbara Kingsolver

Nothing hurts more than being disappointed by the single person you thought would never hurt you.

You want to believe that there’s one relationship in life that’s beyond betrayal. A relationship that’s beyond that kind of hurt. And there isn’t. – Caleb Carr

Betrayal can only happen if you love. – John le Carre

To me, the thing that is worse than death is betrayal. You see, I could conceive death, but I could not conceive betrayal. – Malcolm X

Try not to stress over the shady people who betrayed you. I know it hurts but the truth is that they were always shady, they are never going to change, and you are actually much better off now because at least you know who they really are.

Betrayal is one of my biggest fears. Betrayal happens on many different levels all the time, and there is no worse feeling than realizing someone you thought you could trust has gone against you. – Katie Lee

Naturally, when one makes progressive steps, there may be some who see it as a betrayal of their goals and interests. – Louis Farrakhan

Trust is not established in the absence of betrayal, but in those whose betrayal is least. – Wes Fessler

If you’re betrayed, release disappointment at once. By that way, the bitterness has no time to take root. – Toba Beta

There’s a lot of stupid men out there who feel like makeup is a betrayal of the truth, and that is so funny to me. – Katya Zamolodchikova

Betrayal does that betrays the betrayer. – Erica Jong

The worst pain in the world goes beyond the physical. Even further beyond any other emotional pain one can feel. It is the betrayal of a friend. – Heather Brewer

I’m not crying because of you; you’re not worth it. I’m crying because my delusion of who you were was shattered by the truth of who you are. – Steve Maraboli

I know the feeling of confusion and betrayal. I know the feeling of fearing for my life. – Jason Reynolds

All a man can betray is his conscience. – Joseph Conrad

All trust involves vulnerability and risk, and nothing would count as trust if there were no possibility of betrayal. – Robert C. Solomon

You know that you have been stabbed when you feel the deep pain of betrayal. – Les Parrott

Don’t be sorry I trusted you. My mistake, not yours.

Mind what people do, not only what they say, for deeds will betray a lie. – Terry Goodkind

Beware the person that stabs you and then tells the world they’re bleeding! – Jill Blakeway

Trust can be lost within seconds, takes a lifetime to regain, and is never as strong again afterward.

When you betray somebody else, you also betray yourself. – Isaac Bashevis Singer

Forgive yourself for the blindness that put you in the path of those who betrayed you. Sometimes a good heart doesn’t see the bad.

Some people are willing to betray years of friendship just to get a little bit of the spotlight. – Lauren Conrad

Sometimes the people closest to you betray you, and your home isn’t a place you can be happy anymore. – Kristin Cast

Be cautious of who is holding your quarters because as soon as they get four quarters, they will change them for a dollar. – Alexis A. Davis

An honest enemy is always better than a friend who lies. Pay less attention to what people say, and more attention to what they do. Their actions will show you the truth.

Betray a friend, and you’ll often find you have ruined yourself. – Aesop

One should rather die than be betrayed. There is no deceit in death. It delivers precisely what it has promised. Betrayal, though … betrayal is the willful slaughter of hope. – Steven Deitz

It was a mistake, you said. But the cruel thing was, it felt like the mistake was mine, for trusting you. – David Levithan

Life is not about who’s real to your face, it’s about who’s real behind your back.

Trust can take years to build, but only a second to break.

Those who don’t know the value of loyalty can never appreciate the cost of betrayal.

I may be many things, and there are even more I am not, but I would never do to you what you did to me, and I think that says a lot. – Jessica Katoff

He who throws away a friend is as bad as he who throws away his life. – Sophocles

Best Betrayal Quotes

I had to take false steps and go through hard times to come out to where I am now. I can’t imagine living without acting. It’s not easy, and I don’t disrespect anyone who steps out of it after a certain point. Having a family and a house is cool. It’s not a betrayal. But if you’re going to be an actor, it has to be more than a passing interest. – Marylouise Burke

Sometimes, instead of being hurt, you should look at betrayal as a gift. It makes it that much easier to sweep it up and toss it out with the rest of the trash. And why is that you ask? Because trash starts to stink…and when it does, it has no more value in your life. – Donna Schoenrock

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

The three touchstones that woke Buddha up – sickness, old age, and death – are a pretty good place to start when crafting a tragic tale. And if we need to get more specific: heartbreak, destruction, miscomprehension, natural disasters, betrayal, and the waste of human potential. – Paul Di Filippo

One of the hardest lessons in life is letting go. Whether it’s guilt, anger, love, loss or betrayal. Change is never easy. We fight to hold on and we fight to let go. If you’ve been hurt until it breaks your soul into pieces, your perspective in life will definitely change, and no one and nothing in this world could ever hurt you again. – Mareez Reyes

Even the people who betray you are part of the plan. Jesus couldn’t get t the cross without Judas.

There is no greater blessing than a family hand that lifts you from a fall; but there is not lower curse than a family hand that strikes you when you’re down. – Wes Fessler

When you realize you’ve been deeply betrayed, fear really hits you. That’s what you feel first. And then it’s anger and frustration. Then disappointment and disillusionment. – José N. Harris

There is always a lesson of a lifetime to learn in every betrayal. – Edmond Mbiaka

All our experience with history should teach us, when we look back, how badly human wisdom is betrayed when it relies on itself. – Martin Luther

I have never known a more vulgar expression of betrayal and deceit. – Lucien Bouchard

Love is understood, in a historical way, as one of the great human vocations – but its counterspell has always been infidelity. This terrible, terrible betrayal that can tear apart not only another person, not only oneself, but whole families. – Junot Diaz

Love is whatever you can still betray. Betrayal can only happen if you love. – John le Carre

I could become very rich in Guatemala but by the low method of ratifying my title, opening a clinic, and specializing in allergies. To do that would be the most horrible betrayal of the two ‘I’s’ struggling inside me: the socialist and the traveler. – Che Guevara

There are three signs of a hypocrite: when he speaks, he speaks lies, when he makes a promise he breaks it, and when he is trusted he betrays his trust. – Muhammad

For me, I always wonder what’s worse: an emotional betrayal or a physical betrayal? That’s a really tough call. – Hilarie Burton

The fear really hits you. That’s what you feel first. And then it’s the anger and frustration. Part of the problem is how little we understand about the ultimate betrayal of the body when it rebels against itself. – Charles Bronson

The male, for all his bravado and exploration, is the loyal one, the one who generally feels love. The female is skilled at betrayal and torture and damnation. – Charles Bukowski

It’s particularly hard to take being stabbed in the back close to home. There’s always a feeling of betrayal when people of your own group oppose you. – Catharine MacKinnon

Don’t saw off the branch you’re sitting on. – Swedish Proverbs

The real betrayal is forgetting yourself.

Muhammad is more human, more self-doubting, even self-tortured at times. His story is full of adventure, intrigue, betrayal. – Deepak Chopra

Don’t bite the hand that feeds you. – English Proverbs

The knives of betrayal and drama cut deep and hurt… but they also trim away the nonsense and reveal your true friends. – Steve Maraboli

Rather than writing about international events, I write about individual lives. There is elation and sadness, death and birth, love and jealousy, co-operation and betrayal. All the great emotional transactions that happen wherever people come together. – Tom Drury

There is nothing worse than betraying yourself. – Oprah

The Bible is very resonant. It has everything: creation, betrayal, lust, poetry, prophecy, sacrifice. All great things are in the Bible, and all great writers have drawn from it and more than people realize, whether Shakespeare, Herman Melville or Bob Dylan. – Patti Smith

Silence is a true friend who never betrays. – Confucius

Pleasure which must be enjoyed at the expense of another’s pain, can never be such as a worthy mind can fully delight in. – Samuel Johnson

It’s hard to tell who has your back, from who has it long enough just to stab you in it. – Nicole Richie

He, who had done more than any human being to draw her out of the caves of her secret, folded life, now threw her down into deeper recesses of fear and doubt. The fall was greater than she had ever known, because she had ventured so far into emotion and had abandoned herself to it. – Anaïs Nin

You can’t betray yourself too often, or you become somebody else. – Ed Harris

When you care about someone, you can’t just turn that off because you learn they betrayed you. – Paula Stokes

There is nothing in which people more betray their character than in what they laugh at. – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Anyone who hasn’t experienced the ecstasy of betrayal knows nothing about ecstasy at all. – Jean Genet

Backstabbers specialize in saying the wrong thing at the wrong time to the wrong person. – Les Parrott

Just because they say they’re praying for you in your face, doesn’t mean they aren’t laughing at your struggle behind your back. – Trent Shelton

False friends are like our shadow, keeping close to us while we walk in the sunshine, but leaving us when we cross into the shade. – Christian Nevell Bovee

Grow a thick skin – a very thick skin. And watch your back. For every back, there is a knife. – Lily Chatterjee

Dealing with backstabbers, there was one thing I learned. They’re only powerful when you got your back turned. – Eminem

To betray, you must first belong. – Kim Philby

Betrayal causes wounded feelings. May quotes about backstabbing help you recover and move forward even after someone close to you has ever broken your trust.

Famous Quotes on Betrayal

A fraudulent intent, however carefully concealed at the outset, will generally, in the end, betray itself. – Titus Livius

To love without criticism is to be betrayed. – Djuna Barnes

He who advises you to be reserved to your friends wishes to betray you without witnesses. – Don J. Manuel

The thorn from the bush one has planted, nourished and pruned pricks more deeply and draws more blood. – Maya Angelou

Only trust thyself, and another shall not betray thee. – William Penn

When someone breaks your trust don’t feel stupid for trusting them. You didn’t do anything wrong they’re just an untrustworthy person. – Sonya Parker

In life you can easily trust someone, but once the trust is broken, it’s very difficult to trust anyone again. – Sushan Sharma

It’s a shame that the very people who you protect are the first ones to turn their backs on you. – Autumn Kohler

There are only really a few stories to tell in the end, and betrayal and the failure of love is one of those good stories to tell. – Sean Lennon

Tales of power and ambition and intrigue and betrayal and desire – when you’re telling those in a big way, you automatically want to go to Shakespeare. – Beau Willimon

Betrayal is my favorite subject. – Norman Jewison

When I was 15, I made a solo record. It made Artie very unhappy. He looked upon it as something of a betrayal. – Paul Simon

You see that’s what I think is such a terrible, terrible betrayal, the trust that people have in government. – Ralph Steadman

When marketers influence habits, they influence peoples’ self-identity. And so, when a group or company does something that doesn’t correspond to our core values, it feels like a betrayal. – Charles Duhigg

Poor people and working people have not been the focus of the Obama administration. That for me is not just a disappointment but a kind of betrayal. – Cornel West

For too long, musicians have been the greatest enemy of music. Their lack of desire to proselytize is a kind of betrayal. – Charles Hazlewood

When you’re out of sight for as long as I was, there’s a funny feeling of betrayal that comes over people when they see you again. – Esther Williams

The issue of the Betrayal was so central to that, I felt the need to comment upon it. My choices were to ignore the games and put them ‘outside’ of continuity or to integrate them. I chose the latter. – Raymond E. Feist

I go to movies expecting to have a whole experience. If I want a movie that doesn’t end, I’ll go to a French movie. That’s a betrayal of trust to me. A movie has to be complete within itself; it can’t just build off the first one or play variations. – Joss Whedon

Slavery was the betrayal of the American Promise at the moment that promise was made. – Steve Erickson

Deep down, my mom had long suspected I was gay. Much of her anger and hurt came from her sense of betrayal that she was the last to be told. – Chaz Bono

I knew they would kill me when they found out but, he struggled for words, releasing a sharp breath. I think I realized that I would rather die because I betrayed them, than live because I betrayed you. – Marissa Meyer

Stab the body and it heals but injure the heart and the wound lasts a lifetime. – Mineko Iwasaki

I could never hurt him enough to make his betrayal stop hurting. And it hurts, in every part of my body. – Veronica Roth

You are going to break your promise. I understand. And I hold my hands over the ears of my heart, so that I will not hate you. – Catherynne M. Valente

A true gentleman is one that apologizes anyways, even though he has not offended a lady intentionally. He is in a class all of his own because he knows the value of a woman’s heart. – Shannon L. Alder

Do you believe a man can truly love a woman and constantly betray her? Never mind physically but betray her in his mind, in the very poetry of his soul. Well, it’s not easy but men do it all the time. – Mario Puzo

Betrayal is common for men with no conscience. – Toba Beta

Confession is not betrayal. What you say or do doesn’t matter; only feelings matter. If they could make me stop loving, you-that would be the real betrayal. – George Orwell

We met less than a week ago and, in that time, I’ve done nothing but lie and cheat and betray you. I know. But if you give me a chance…all I want is to protect you. To be near you. For as long as I’m able. – Marissa Meyer

I’m not really sure why. But do you stop loving someone just because they betray you? I don’t think so. That’s what makes the betrayal hurt so much – pain, frustration, anger… and I still loved her. I still do. – Brandon Sanderson

When no one you know tells the truth, you learn to see under the surface. – Cassandra Clare

Betrayal is never easy to handle and there is no right way to accept it. – Christine Feehan

It’s effortless to let go of self-absorbed people. It’s challenging to let go of someone you care about and it’s exceedingly difficult to let go of an ideal and a belief in someone because what exacerbates the disappointment of finding out they weren’t who they presented themselves to be, is the betrayal of it. – Donna Lynn Hope

Even as your body betrays you, your mind denies it. – Sara Gruen

Fool me once, shame on me. Fool me twice, I deserved to get fucked over. – Derekica Snake

Pride had kept her running when love had betrayed her. – Susan Elizabeth Phillips

I was torn between holding o to what you promised and accepting the reality of you not being able to deliver. – R.H Sin

You can’t fix yourself while holding on to the person who broke you. – R.H Sin

Three things cannot be long hidden; the sun, the moon, and the truth. – Confucius

The betrayal of trust carries a heavy taboo. – Aldrich Ames

If you spend your time hoping someone will suffer the consequences for what they did to your heart, then you’re allowing them to hurt you a second time in your mind. – Shannon L. Alder

Everyone goes through difficult times. Any type of betrayal can cause emotional distress and can leave deep wounds. When you’re dealing with betrayal, you should allow yourself for emotional recovery and start to work toward a tomorrow that will be better than yesterday. Also, depressing quotes can make you feel better.

Friendship Betrayal Quotes

The lesser the friends, the lesser the chances of betrayal. – Tupac Shakur

An honest enemy is better than a false friend. When in doubt, pay more attention to what people do and less to what they say. Actions not only speak louder than words, they are more difficult to fake. – Zero Dean

Friends are supposed to be there for you when you cry, not the reason you cry.

True love and loyal friends are two of the hardest things to find.

There is a big difference between being betrayed by an enemy and being betrayed by a friend. The latter hurts more.

I didn’t lose a friend, I just realized I never had one.

Some of the most poisonous people come disguised as friends.

Better to have an enemy who slaps you in the face than a friend who stabs you in the back.

I’d rather have no friends than fake ones.

We’re not friends, we’re not enemies, we’re just strangers with some memories.

Hell is being betrayed by a trusted friend.

You don’t lose friends, you just learn who your real friends are.

Friendship is not capable of ending for if it ends it is only because it never existed.

Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.

Then you should have died! Died, rather than betray your friends, as we would have done for you! – J. K. Rowling

Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none. – William Shakespeare

Be careful who you tell your feelings to because some people are waiting for the opportunity to use them against you.

There’s ways you can trust an enemy you can’t always trust a friend. An enemy’s never going to betray your trust. – Daniel Abraham

It is more shameful to distrust our friends than to be deceived by them. – Confucius

The worst feeling in the world is knowing you’ve been used and lied to by someone you trusted.

Don’t fear the enemy that attacks you, but the fake friend that hugs you.

The biggest mistake I made in life is trusting one person who has betrayed me multiple times. I wish I wasn’t this nice.

When your so called friends say they have your back, make sure they’re not holding a knife.

They can betray me but I choose not to betray my peace of mind. – Dodinsky

Shattered legs may heal in time, but some betrayals fester and poison the soul. – George R.R. Martin

Breaking someone’s trust is like crumpling up a perfect piece of paper. You can smooth it over but it’s never going to be the same again.

When someone betrays me or lies to me, I never try to get even. I just change their role in my life.

When you trust and offer all your loyalty, it’s hard to get over being betrayed. A friend’s betrayal can break your heart but quotes about fake friends will empower you to know your worth and remove toxic people from your life.

Betrayal Quotes in Relationship

What had seemed like love was betrayal.

I didn’t fall in love with you, I fell in love with the person you pretended to be.

You knew exactly what you were doing. That’s what hurts the most.

It was never my enemies I had to watch out for. It was the ones screaming I love you.

Don’t feel sad over someone who gave up on you, feel sorry for them because they gave up on someone who would have never gave up on them.

Love grows where trust is laid, and love dies where trust in betrayed.

I wish I could give you my pain just for one moment. Not to hurt you, but so that you could finally understand how much you hurt me.

She’s in love with the way he used to be. She’s in love with the person he never truly was. – R.H Sin

Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we don’t know how to replenish its source. It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals. It dies of illness and wounds; it dies of weariness, of witherings, of tarnishings. – Anais Nin

I trusted you, but now your words mean nothing because your actions spoke the truth.

I loved you at your darkest though you crucified me at mine. – Lennon Hodson

Forgive yourself for the blindness that let others betray you. Sometimes a good heart doesn’t see the bad.

Betrayal answers betrayal, the mask of love is answered by the disappearance of love. – Albert Camus

Love comes to those who still hope after disappointment, who still believes after betrayal, and who still love after they’ve been hurt.

I broke my own heart loving you.

The lovesick, the betrayed, and the jealous all smell alike. – Sidonie Gabrielle Colette

Once you realize you deserve better, letting go will be the best decision ever.

Shame, blame, disrespect, betrayal, and the withholding of affection damage the roots from which love grows. Love can only survive these injuries if they are acknowledged, healed, and rare. – Brene Brow

I tried to keep us together, but you were so busy keeping secrets.

Why would you do that to me after I gave you everything that I had?

I reward loyalty with loyalty and disloyalty with distance.

I have been constantly betrayed and deceived all my life. – Taylor Caldwell

Forgiveness doesn’t excuse their behavior. Forgiveness prevents their behavior from destroying your heart.

Feelings of betrayal is unpleasant but unavoidable. It’s hard to get over being betrayed, but hurting quotes inspire you to heal and move on through the pain.

Sad Betrayed Quotes

Sometimes the person you’d take a bullet for is behind the trigger.

Each betrayal begins with trust. – Martin Luther

Betrayal doesn’t only break your heart but also darkens your soul. You’ll never forget the pain like a fog that forever lingers in the depths of your mind.

Even loss and betrayal can bring us awakening. – Buddha

The worst mistake a man can make is to betray a woman who actually fought the world for him and stood by him and supported him when he was going through the worst in his life.

The worst kind of hurt is betrayal, because it means that someone will willing to hurt you just to make themselves feel better.

It is better to have an enemy who honestly says they hate you.

Is it possible to succeed without any act of betrayal? – Jean Renoir

Sometimes you don’t need to hear their excuses or what they have to say for themselves because their actions already spoke the truth.

Betrayal is so emotionally charged because the act of betrayal violates a couple’s core agreement- the promise to care for each other and keep each other safe.

That was how dishonesty and betrayal started, not in big lies but in small secrets. – Amy Tan

It’s hard to trust somebody when the one person who you completely opened up to is the person who later completely betrayed you.

Trust is earned, respect is given, and loyalty is demonstrated. Betrayal of any one of those is to lose all three. – Ziad K. Abdelnour

I regret opening up to some people, they didn’t deserve to know me like that.