Tough Love Quotes

“An acquaintance merely enjoys your company, a fair-weather companion flatters when all is well, a true friend has your best interests at heart and the pluck to tell you what you need to hear.”
― E.A. Bucchianeri, Brushstrokes of a Gadfly,

“Because the whole world loves to tell us what we can’t do, that we aren’t good enough. The people in your own house should be on your side. It’s the people who never learn the word impossible who make history, because they’re the ones who keep trying.”
― Leigh Bardugo, Wonder Woman: Warbringer

“Kaderin didn't believe, as a whole, the nymphs were more beautiful than the Valkyrie, but everything about them screamed, "Easy lay! When you don't want to work for it!" And curiously, many males found that more appealing than the Valkyrie's "Do it and die, simian".”
― Kresley Cole, No Rest for the Wicked

“It can’t be done for you; it must be done by you.”
― Frank Sonnenberg, Listen to Your Conscience: That's Why You Have One

“Stop begging God to increase your territory when you can't even maintain the territory you already have. Work with what you got first.”
― Nakia R. Laushaul

“I am so tired of your crap. Do you honestly think you suffer more than everyone else? Do you think you suffer more than I do? Do you think you're the first person to ever have a baby? Or lose someone? Do you think you're some goddamned pioneer when it comes to grief?"
Sadie shifted forward, and he could feel the momentum in their argument. He could feel the cruel thing she was about to say in response to the cruel thing he had said. But the cruel thing did not arrive. Disturbingly, she slumped forward, and started to weep.
He watched her, but he did not go over to her. "Snap out of it, Sadie. Come to the office. We work through our pain. That's what we do. We put the pain into the work, and the work becomes better. But you have to participate. You have to talk to me. You can't ignore me and our company and everything that came before.”
― Gabrielle Zevin, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

“Stand Up High; Fall Down Deep”
― Snow Liber Dionysus

“Mal dragged the last few inches of the sword free of his flesh, wincing at the raw pain. She's stabbed him. She'd f**king pinned him to the wall like a bug. She'd fed from him and used his own blood and power against him. He hadn't seen that coming. He was both affronted by - and admiring of - her resourcefulness.”
― Eve Silver, Sins of the Flesh

“This is trouble with you. You think you want, you don't think you want–always back and forth. Me, when I want, it is with whole heart. I look at wanted thing with eyes straight on. But you! Neither here nor there. Your looking always crooked, from side of eye. It has no power to hold. So wanted thing, it slip away from you.”
― Ruth Ozeki, My Year of Meats

“Go. Quit. Give up the ghost, motherfucker.”
― A.D. Aliwat, In Limbo

“Once someone's hurt you, it's harder to relax around them, harder to think of them as safe to love...”
― Skylar Blue

“Yeah, well, love is a fickle thing, isn't it? One minute you have it, the next it's gone... or someone is trying to say you can't be together because you live in different zip codes.”
― Jen Calonita, Go the Distance

“If his groans are gold stars, I want to paint the fucking sky.”
― Dianna Roman, Tough Love

“Truth—something between fact and faith—leads to God. ‘Love isn’t about rules. It’s a feeling. You know when it’s there and when it’s not, and it can be brought on by different things for different people. That, that’s truth. One’s truth leads to God. Some people see it in kindness, others in tough love, like you’re showing me. Someone’s truth is in what they love.’”
― A.D. Aliwat, In Limbo

“Stop breaking your heart. Learn to love people for who they are and not how you imagined them to be.”
― Kierra C.T. Banks

“The day after you pop up at your distillery alive and kicking, someone will come to finish you off."
"Let them try," Keir shot back. "I can defend myself."
The duke arched a mocking brow. "Impressive. Only a matter of days ago, we were celebrating that you were able to drink through a straw. And now apparently you're well enough for an alley fight."
Keir was instantly hostile.
"I know how to keep up my guard."
"That doesn't matter," Kingston replied. "As soon as your arm muscles fatigue, your elbows will drift outward, and he'll find an opening."
"What would a toff like you know about fighting? Even with my ribs cracked, you couldn't take me down."
The older man's stare was that of a seasoned lion being challenged by a brash cub.
Calmly he picked up a small open pepper cellar from the table and dumped a heap of ground black pepper in the center of Keir's plate.
Perplexed, Keir glanced down at it, as a puff of gray dust floated upward. His nose stung, and in the next breath, he sneezed. A searing bolt of agony shot through his rib cage. "Aghhh! He turned away from his plate and doubled over. "Devil take your sneakit arse!" he managed to gasp.”
― Lisa Kleypas, Devil in Disguise

“Love isn’t about rules. It’s a feeling. You know when it’s there and when it’s not, and it can be brought on by different things for different people. That, that’s truth. One’s truth leads to God. Some people see it in kindness, others in tough love, like you’re showing me. Someone’s truth is in what they love.”
― A.D. Aliwat, In Limbo

“I want to emphasize how important it is to maintain a collaborative relationship even when you’re setting boundaries. Your response must always be expressed in the form of strong, yet empathic, limit-setting boundaries—that is, tough love.”
― Chris Voss, Never Split the Difference: Negotiating As If Your Life Depended On It

“What’s the importance of family, my love?” Mother stroked my hair as I was curled up in her lap. It was late out, the fireplace keeping us warm as an unremarkable movie played in front of us. Dad had just left us a couple of months ago.

I remember my eyes being glued to the television screen as we had the conversation, even though I wasn’t paying attention to it. Even before this was brought up, I wasn’t listening and instead paying attention to the sound of my mother’s heartbeat and the way her breathing moved in sync with it as well as her chest, moving up and down. “I don’t know, momma. So you grow up kind?”

She chuckled, placing her finger on the tip of my nose, “So that you grow up loved.”
― Beariem

“All my life, used the best lotions, finest soaps, nicest oils, and fanciest perfumes to keep my skin nice, only to find out I need thick, hard skin to survive. Oh, the irony.”
― Liz Faublas-Wallace

“They say life is more than money,
Screw LOVE! If there’s no LOVE back!
⋆MillYentei”
― Deshawn Yeldell

“Often when we speak of exercising 'tough love'...we think of it being tough on the adult child, when in reality it's tough on the parent.”
― Bill Taylor

“We must love our adult children enough to let them go. This is what tough love is.

We must hope that their future, as well as ours, can be filled with positive changes and abundant love.”
― Allison Bottke, Setting Boundaries with Your Adult Children: Six Steps to Hope and Healing for Struggling Parents

“If you find yourself thinking: “But whatever I do, no one wants me,” the problem is you”
― Simone Collins, The Pragmatist's Guide to Relationships: Ruthlessly Optimized Strategies for Dating, Sex, and Marriage

“You fed us, washed us, forced that vile medicine down our throats. By sheer force of will you made some of us live who would have died if you hadn't bullied us, threatened us, maybe sweet-talked some of us that I don't know about”
― Maggie Osborne, Silver Lining

“Trust in tough love. You're given the poison but also the antidote. The lessons get sweeter after the sweating.”
― Mitta Xinindlu

“The lessons get sweeter after the sweating.”
― Mitta Xinindlu

“Trust in tough love. You're given the poison but also the antidote.”
― Mitta Xinindlu

“Love without responsibility is murder.”
― Mitta Xinindlu

“Unfortunately, we've rewarded a sort of cowardice by calling it 'kindness', and this has made us utterly spineless when truth finally hits.”
― Criss Jami