The Pain of Betrayal: Trust, Friendship, and Deception

This saying perfectly applies to friendships. Despite being a noble and selfless relationship built on trust and security, friendship is not an absolute or invulnerable bond. Betrayal can come from the closest friends, and promises can be broken by the dearest companions, making the pain deep and lasting.

That's why we must always be cautious with the people we form relationships with, no matter how close they seem. People are not always as they portray themselves to be. Often, our trust and faith in our friends blind us to their true actions—how they betray us behind our backs while pretending to be loyal. Some acts of betrayal are obvious, but others go unnoticed and can be just as harmful, if not more.

The following is a collection of quotes from famous figures, compiled by quotefancy.com, that highlight how betrayal happens in friendships and offer practical advice on how to handle it.

How Does Betrayal Between Friends Happen?

"Every betrayal begins with trust." — Martin Luther
"Trust is earned, respect is given, and loyalty is demonstrated. Betrayal of any one of these loses all three." — George Sand
"That’s how betrayal and deceit begin—not with big lies, but with small secrets." — Amy Tan
"Let’s call cheating what it really is: a total betrayal of trust." — Greg Behrendt
"Just because they say they pray for you to your face doesn’t mean they aren’t laughing at your pain behind your back." — Trent Shelton
"Betrayal, abandonment, deceit, and manipulation—they all have different names, but they are the same act." — Bill Cosby
"Confession is not betrayal. What you say or do doesn’t matter; only feelings matter." — Jean-Paul Sartre
"If they could make me stop loving you, that would be the real betrayal." — George Orwell
"Two people who were once so close can become strangers without blame or major betrayal—sometimes, all it takes is a third party’s interference." — Charles Baudelaire
"The betrayal of a friend—perhaps that is the saddest thing in the world." — Warsan Shire
"Some people are willing to betray years of friendship just to get a little spotlight." — Lauren Conrad
"In a worried heart lies the seed of betrayal." — Bruce Springsteen
"In law, a man is guilty when he violates the rights of others. In ethics, he is guilty if he even thinks of betraying his friends." — Immanuel Kant
"A traitor with eyes to see and ears to hear convinces himself that no human can keep a secret. If his lips are silent, he chatters with his fingertips; betrayal oozes from every pore of his being." — Sigmund Freud
"Only when loyalty turns to betrayal, and betrayal into trust, can one become part of the truth." — Rumi
"Believing in absolute principles and following inherited wisdom is not easy. But what’s harder is betraying friends—because betraying them is ultimately betraying yourself." — John Ralston
"A man, despite his bravery and explorations, is usually the loyal one who loves deeply. Women, however, excel at betrayal, torture, and condemnation." — Charles Bukowski
"The most dangerous follower is the one whose rebellion can destroy the whole group; thus, they become the best follower." — Friedrich Nietzsche

How to Deal with Betrayal from Friends

"The punishment of a liar is not that he is not believed, but that he can no longer believe anyone else." — George Bernard Shaw
"We will live and forget both love and betrayal. We will forget what we whispered and what we shouted. Eventually, we even forget who we were." — Joan Didion
"The fewer friends you have, the fewer chances there are for betrayal." — Anne de Bévèré
"Always seek a calmer sky. If betrayal soars, immorality flies above it, and anger flies even higher—then fly above it all, for you are the one piloting your plane." — Marianne Williamson
"Even loss and betrayal can revitalize us." — Alexandre Dumas
"We must avoid trusting each other. It’s our only defense against betrayal." — Tennessee Williams
"Betrayal answers betrayal, and a mask of love is met with the disappearance of love." — Albert Camus
"We quickly forget things we thought we’d never forget—even betrayal. Everything fades." — Émile Zola
"The greatest and most profound experience is being alone with yourself. There, you’ll discover who supports you, who betrays you, who trusts you, and whom you can trust." — Charles Baudelaire
"I couldn’t hurt him enough to make his betrayal stop hurting me. It aches in every part of my body." — Veronica Roth
"Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none." — William Shakespeare
"A promise made is a debt unpaid." — Robert W. Service
"It is more shameful to doubt your friends than to deceive them." — Confucius
"When you find you can’t rely on yourself, you become easy prey for betrayal by friends." — Carl Jung
"I would never betray a friend to serve a cause. Great nations may fall before I would sell out a friend to save them." — Edward Abbey
"But now, joy is gone, and sadness has returned. I feel like sadness is deserved—the price of a betrayal that has not yet been forgotten." — Stephen King
"While some may see overeating as self-indulgence, it is actually a deep form of self-rejection. It is a moment of self-betrayal and punishment, far from self-care." — Marianne Williamson
"My heart is the throne of my beloved. The beloved resides in my heart. Those who break another’s heart will find no shelter in this world or any other." — Yunus Emre
"Losing faith in friendship does not necessarily mean giving up on it." — Jean-Paul Sartre
"When betrayal happens, the universe does not stop. If it did, there would be no ethical standards in the world." — James Baldwin

 

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