100 Trauma Quotes to Recover from a Challenging Past

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Have you got a part of your past that seems to stick with you?

Trauma comes in many forms or guises and can be like a specter that haunts you or a memory that exerts an incredible influence on your life.

In today’s post, we’ll be digging a little more into trauma and providing you with some quotes to help recover from whatever it is in your past that is still causing you trouble today.

However, before we get to the trauma quotes compilation let’s talk about some common misconceptions about trauma.

Why Read Trauma Quotes

Trauma can cover a broad variety of problems, but it usually boils down to memory or memories of extremely painful or negative emotionally charged moments in your life. It could come from being in a dangerous event or from the loss of someone close to you and all kinds of other experiences.

While trauma can make anyone feel like a prisoner of the past, it is always possible to make some kind of recovery and begin to put these memories to rest.

However, there is no set path to follow and you should always seek help from either a qualified counselor or someone you can talk to (it’s a cliche, but talking through trauma really is the first step to healing).

These trauma quotes can help you understand and fortify yourself mentally, as one of the big problems when dealing with trauma is how it can alter our view of ourselves. Traumatic memories can make someone feel anxious, hopeless, or even like they’re weak – but nothing could be further from the truth.

Trauma doesn’t care how strong or brave you are – just like the flu doesn’t care how fit or healthy you are. Practically any human being exposed to the right conditions can be hurt in this way, and there is nothing wrong with struggling with past pains, either physically or mentally.

100 Trauma Quotes to Recover from a Challenging Past

1. “Parents’ words become their children’s inner voices.” – Emily McIntire
2. “In order to change, people need to become aware of their sensations and the way that their bodies interact with the world around them. Physical self-awareness is the first step in releasing the tyranny of the past.” – Bessel van der Kolk
3. “Real trauma is like a giant hunk of scar tissue that the rest of your life accommodates, grows around.” – Melissa Febos
4. “Love your soul and let go of the past. Past pain is keeping you in pain. You don't have to deteriorate.” – Harbhajan Singh Yogi
5. “We don’t yet know, above all, what the world might be like if children were to grow up without being subjected to humiliation, if parents would respect them and take them seriously as people.” – Alice Miller

6. “One of the hardest things was learning I was worth recovery.” – Demi Lovato
7. “Trauma doesn't disappear when you ignore it.” – Stephanie M. Hutchins
8. “There is such a thing as emotional rubbish; it is produced in the factories of the mind. It consists of pain that has long since passed and is no longer useful. It consists of precautions that were important in the past, but that serve no purpose in the present.” – Paulo Coelho
9. “I've learned more sitting alone in a small room facing a dark wall & myself than anything I ever read” – Bill Shields
10. “The greatest sources of our suffering are the lies we tell ourselves.” – Bessel van der Kolk

11. “The past is far behind. If you still want to look at it, you will painfully stretch your neck muscles. Don't live in the past, leave the past, but learn from it.” – Israelmore Ayivor
12. “Trauma is perhaps the most avoided, ignored, belittled, denied, misunderstood, and untreated cause of human suffering.” – Peter Levine
13. “When a woman finally identifies with her sensuality rather than her trauma, she has at long last discovered the true meaning of self love.” – Lebo Grand
14. “Life is for the living, not the dead, who belong to the past and are at peace and beyond all further pain and suffering.” – Daphne Sheldrick
15. “People are not addicted to alcohol or drugs, they are addicted to escaping reality.” – Unknown
16. “Wounds won’t heal the way you want them to, they heal the way they need to.” – Dele Olanubi
17. “Life is tough, so are you!” – Umme Pritam
18. “Living was a dangerous past-time, and often quite painful – but there was also such joy in living, such beauty, things that one would otherwise never see, never experience, never know. The risk of pain and loss was a part of living.” – Jim Butcher
19. “If storing memories is like putting away groceries, a traumatic event is stored by shoving a bunch of stuff in a cabinet and then any time it gets opened all the stuff falls on your head.” – Unknown
20. “Some people survive and talk about it. Some people survive and go silent. Some people survive and create.” – Nikita Gill
21. “Trauma is a fact of life. It does not, however, have to be a life sentence. Not only can trauma be healed, but with appropriate guidance and support, it can be transformative.” – Peter A. Levine
22. “In order to get past something terrible, sometimes you have to walk through the pain, not around it. It might be messy. It might make you sob. But if you let yourself cry long enough, you finally reach the bottom of your tears.” – Michelle Knight
23. “Hold yourself back, or heal yourself back together. You decide.” – Brittany Burgunder
24. “I’m not lazy. I’m just exhausted from fighting my way through every single day.” – Mimi Love
25. “Childhood trauma does not come in one single package.” – Asa Don Brown

26. “If we do not acknowledge our collective trauma, how can we ever heal from it? When we speak, when we share, we can change things. Maybe even change the world.” – Seth King
27. “When you can tell your story and it doesn’t make you cry, you know you have healed.” – Karen Salmansohn
28. “When angry, count to four; when very angry, swear.” – Mark Twain
29. “Perhaps what you miss about them never really existed. Perhaps what you miss about them is all that you hoped for.” – Nida Awadia
30. “If you stay in the company of anger, pain, or hurt, happiness will find someone else to visit. Make the choice to view all of your past relationships as a gift. Throw out what hasn't worked in the past and incorporate new concepts. Focus on being happy.” – Kristen Crockett
31. “Talking openly about your mental illness is not seeking attention, it’s seeking help.” – Unknown
32. “Any character that has a reference or baggage or emotional trauma, I personally feel, leaves an impact.” – Mohit Raina
33. “I was a sponge filled to capacity with the putrid gray water of all of those who had hurt me. I wondered if, like a sponge, I could be wrung out and I wouldn’t have to carry it anymore.” – Elle Mitchell
34. “No one ever stops to think I might have lived through experiences that have left me wary of opening myself up.” – Matt Cain
35. “Bad habits are easy to develop but difficult to live with. Good habits are difficult to develop, but easy to live with. If you are willing to be uncomfortable for little while, so you can press past the initial pain of change, in the long run, your life will be much better.” – Joel Osteen

Bad habits are easy to develop but difficult to live with. Good habits are difficult to develop, but easy to live with. If you are willing to be uncomfortable for little while, so you can press past the initial pain of change, in the long run, your life will be much better.” – Joel Osteen

36. “Inmost suffering, by its very nature, is highly discomforting and thus it thrusts one out of the comfort zone of shallowness and into a much deeper region of self-reflection.” – Derya Sefer
37. “I'm an idiot for trying to avoid these feelings because they have caused me pain in the past.” – Kellyn Roth
38. “When all you know is fight or flight, red flags, and butterflies all feel the same.” – Cindy Cherie
39. “Someone who has experienced trauma also has gifts to offer all of us – in their depth, their knowledge of our universal vulnerability, and their experience of the power of compassion.” – Sharon Salzberg
40. “We invent what we need to get us by, but in doing so we are really continuing to hold on to the pain of yesterday.” – Stephen Richards
41. “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
42. “Trauma fractures comprehension as a pebble shatters a windshield. The wound at the site of impact spreads across the field of vision, obscuring reality and challenging belief.” – Jane Leavy
43. “I refuse to let the standards of evil people chip away at my capacity for integrity.” – Stefan Molyneux
44. “Life has let me down several times, that I have learnt to cope with my pain in different situations while at the same time, learning through comparing my past problems and the current obstacles am facing.” – Auliq Ice
45. “Instead of being ashamed of what you’ve been through, be proud of what you have overcome.” – Dr. Phil

46. “You are stronger than you think. You have gotten through every bad day in your life, and you are undefeated.” – Unknown
47. “The paradox of trauma is that it has both the power to destroy and the power to transform and resurrect.” – Peter A. Levine
48. “There is nothing in this world that can trouble you as much as your own unguarded thoughts.” – Unknown
49. “I’m still coping with my trauma, but coping by trying to find different ways to heal it rather than hide it.” – Clemantine Wamariya
50. “Mental anguish always results from the avoidance of legitimate suffering.” – Stefan Molyneux
51. “Healing from trauma can also mean strength and joy. The goal of healing is not a papering-over of changes in an effort to preserve or present things as normal. It is to acknowledge and wear your new life – warts, wisdom, and all – with courage.” – Catherine Woodiwiss
52. “In times of pain, when the future is too terrifying to contemplate and the past too painful to remember, I have learned to pay attention to right now. The precise moment I was in was always the only safe place for me.” – Julia Cameron
53. “I won’t let pain, turn my heart into something ugly. I will show you that surviving can be beautiful.” – Christy Ann Martine
54. “Trauma is personal. It does not disappear if it is not validated. When it is ignored or invalidated the silent screams continue internally heard only by the one held captive.” – Danielle Bernock
55. “Mindfulness allows you to face the past with courage, whether it is scarred with pain or caressed with joy, and it gently holds you in the safe haven of the present without allowing you to become overwhelmed with what may or may not be waiting in the future.” – Deborah A. Beasley
56. “People are afraid to heal because their entire identity is centered around the trauma they’ve experienced. They have no idea who they are outside of trauma and that unknown is terrifying.” – Ebonee Davis
57. “Trauma is hell on earth. Trauma resolved is a gift from the gods.” – Peter A. Levine
58. “If someone else’s reaction seems out of proportion to the situation, it usually means that something else was triggered.” – Dr. Lauren Fogel
59. “Most people have no imagination. If they could imagine the sufferings of others, they would not make them suffer so.” – Anna Funder
60. “I live in the present moment and easily release all past pain.” – Louise Hay

61. “I had been fortified by trauma, the way a bone, once broken, grows back stronger than it had been.” – Charles Blow
62. “In many cases, people hold on so tightly to their past pains to avoid letting go of the “excuses” and the fear of having to be accountable for their life.” – Yvonne Pierre
63. “We don’t heal in isolation, but in community.” – S. Kelley Harrell
64. “All emotions, even those that are suppressed and unexpressed, have physical effects. Unexpressed emotions tend to stay in the body like small ticking time bombs—they are illnesses in incubation.” – Marilyn Van M. Derbur
65. “For us to move forward, we have to develop the courage to forward what is behind…the hurt/pain and unpleasant memories that haunt us in the dark moments.” – Kemi Sogunle
66. “Instead of saying ‘I’m damaged, I’m broken, I have trust issues.” I say “I’m healing, I’m rediscovering myself, I’m starting over.” – Horacio Jones
67. “Unlike other forms of psychological disorders, the core issue in trauma is reality.” – Bessel A. van der Kolk
68. “There's no weakness as great as false strength.” – Stefan Molyneux
69. “After all, when a stone is dropped into a pond, the water continues quivering even after the stone has sunk to the bottom.” – Arthur Golden
70. “Deep connection is the antidote to madness.” – Stefan Molyneux
71. “There are wounds that never show on the body that are deeper and more hurtful than anything that bleeds.” – Laurell K. Hamilton

There are wounds that never show on the body that are deeper and more hurtful than anything that bleeds.” – Laurell K. Hamilton

72. “What we change inwardly will change outer reality.” – Plutarch
73. “Commit to the healing path and trust the process.” – Rosenna Bakari
74. “No experience is a cause of success or failure. We do not suffer from the shock of our experiences, so-called trauma – but we make out of them just what suits our purposes.” – Alfred Adler
75. “When you can tell your story and it doesn’t make you cry, you know you have healed.” – Karen Salmansohn
76. “Some people’s lives seem to flow in a narrative; mine had many stops and starts. That’s what trauma does. It interrupts the plot. You can’t process it because it doesn’t fit with what came before or what comes afterwards.” – Jessica Stern
77. “We cannot attain true peace of mind merely by seeking our own salvation while remaining indifferent to the welfare of others.” – Philip Kapleau
78. “Violence is violence. Trauma is trauma. And we are taught to downplay it, even think about it as child's play.” – Tarana Burke
79. “No person can escape Einsteinian relativity, and no soldier or veteran can escape the trauma of war's dislocation.” – Joe Haldeman
80. “Emotional connection is crucial to healing. In fact, trauma experts overwhelmingly agree that the best predictor of the impact of any trauma is not the severity of the event, but whether we can seek and take comfort from others.” – Sue Johnson
81. “Most incarcerated women have stories that are similar to mine. They suffered great trauma as children.” – Susan Burton
82. “I decided a very long time ago that I would refuse to be defined by trauma and would only be defined by success, when and where it comes.” – Rege-Jean Page
83. “Behavior is the language of trauma. Children will show you before they tell you that they are in distress.” – Micere Keels
84. “The personality formed in an environment of coercive control is not well adapted to adult life. The survivor is left with fundamental problems in basic trust, autonomy, and initiative.” – Shaili Jain & Judith Herman
85. “If we commit ourselves to staying right where we are, then our experience becomes very vivid. Things become very clear when there is nowhere to escape.” – Pema Chödrön

86. “Children don’t get traumatized because they are hurt. They get traumatized because they’re alone with the hurt.” – Dr. Gabor Mate
87. “Afterward, there was that long, crowded pause in which everyone decides that although they are very shaken, and possibly upside down, they are, to their surprise, still alive.” – Terry Pratchett
88. “There is nothing in this world that can trouble you as much as your own thoughts.” – Unknown
89. A lot of us have a trauma response of over-explaining and taking you away from what you're actually feeling. – Aimee Lou Wood
90. “Your mind is the basis of everything you experience and of every contribution you make to the lives of others. Given this fact, it makes sense to train it.” – Sam Harris
91. “People change two ways — with slow persistent pressure, or with a single and sudden traumatic experience.” – Ben Mikaelson
92. “You can’t patch a wounded soul with a bandaid.” – Michael Connelly
93. “Just as the body goes into shock after a physical trauma, so does the human psyche go into shock after the impact of a major loss.” – Anne Grant
94. “Dance has a transformative effect on bodily trauma.” – Eve Ensler
95. “Recovery is about progression, not perfection.” – Unknown
96. “The key, taught the Buddha, lies in not taking trauma personally. When it’s seen as a natural reflection of the chaotic universe of which we are a part, it loses its edge and can become a deeper object of mindfulness.” – Mark Epstein
97. “Nine times out of ten, the story behind the misbehavior won’t make you angry; it will break your heart.” – Annette Breaux
98. “Healing is not an overnight process. It is a daily cleansing of pain, it is a daily healing of your life.” – Leon Brown
99. “You can only lose what you cling to.” – Buddha
100. “Whether we like it or not, change comes, and the greater the resistance, the greater the pain. Buddhism perceives the beauty of change, for life is like music in this: if any note or phrase is held for longer than its appointed time, the melody is lost.” – Alan Watts

Final Thoughts on Trauma Quotes

That brings us to the end of our list. We hope these trauma quotes can provide some help in your path to recovery. While it’s not easy to put a challenging past behind you it is always possible to take the first steps toward recovery.

If conventional therapy doesn’t work then you can always explore other options to express your emotions and communicate what happened. Take a look at these 35 affirmations for letting go of the past and moving forward and help yourself take a step towards recovery.

And if you want more inspirational quotes, be sure to check out these blog posts:

• 45 Toxic Family Quotes to Heal & Let Go of Your Pain
• 75 Gaslighting Quotes to Deal with Narcissistic Manipulators
• 75 Keep Pushing Quotes So You Can Move Forward

Finally, if you want to use these quotes to make a lasting change to your life, then check out and recite these 57 affirmations for success.