150+ Selfish Parents Quotes

byAWEB MEDIA GROUP
June 25, 2022

150 Selfish Parents Quotes – Parents are important in the life of every child. They guide and nurture a child into adulthood. It is one of the most tasking jobs in the world, it is full-time with no breaks or vacations. But many parents do not do their job properly and this greatly affects the life of their children negatively.

Many children struggle in their adult years because of the selfish and narcissistic parents they have. In this article, we compiled 105+ selfish parents quotes. Read it to help you understand more about selfish parents and what to avoid in your parenting so as not to be selfish.

150 Selfish Parents Quotes

“As a parent, you should be more concerned with your child’s happiness than your petty insecurities and jealousies.” – Unknown

“Anyone can have a child and call themselves “a parent”. A real parent is someone who puts that child above their own selfish needs and wants.” – Unknown

“Being a selfish parent is a sign of not having learned from experience.” –
“My parents loved us, but I wasn’t always sure they liked us.” – Tahereh Mafi

“Children shouldn’t have to sacrifice so that you can have the life you want. You make sacrifices so your children can have the life that they deserve.” – Unknown

“Selfish parents may someday realize what damage they have done that can never be undone.” – Unknown

“They should love you, just as you are. Parents should love their kids, right?” “You’d think so.” – N.R. Walk

“If mental abuse was a punishable crime, a lot of parents would be in jail serving a long term.” – Maddy Malhotra.
“Many a parent, sad to say, has used their child as an opportunity for them, the parent, to do, through their child, something or some of the things that they, the parent, did not do or did not do successfully.” — Mokokoma Mokhonoana (The Use and Misuse of Children)
“Chronic selfishness and parenting do not go together. Bonded” — Shannon Thomas (Healing from Hidden Abuse: A Journey Through the Stages of Recovery from Psychological Abuse)
“Parents want the best for their children … for themselves.” — Mokokoma Mokhonoana
parents is a selfish move, but sometimes selfishness is justified. What I know is this: When I made the decision to stop speaking to my parents, I made the decision to be happy.” — Jessica Berger Gross (Estranged (Kindle Single))

“Parents forgive their children least readily for the faults they themselves instilled in them.” – Unknown

“Being a parent shouldn’t be when it is convenient for you. It is a 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year commitment.” – Unknown

“They are not sorry for harming you. So, don’t feel guilty for cutting them off.” – John Mark Green
“If you teach hatred to your children, one day your child will have that hatred reflected back onto them and onto YOU.” – Suzy Kassem

“Just remember when you are ignoring your child, you are teaching them to live without you.” – Unknown

“Unfortunately, it’s not until you’ve had children that you discover how selfish you actually are. That’s one of the paradoxical aspects of becoming a parent: at the very same time you realize precisely how selfish you are, you are forced to become less selfish.” — Mark Cleary

“I always told myself my parents loved me. Maybe they do, in their very selfish ways. But they should never have left me alone.” “No,” Zoya agreed gently. A tremor of anger threaded through her words, hard and crisp. “How long have you lived by yourself?” “Since I was fourteen.” — Honor Raconteur (Imagineer (Imagineer #1))
“There are no illegitimate children – only illegitimate parents.” – Leon R. Yankwich

“If mental abuse was a punishable crime, a lot of parents would be in jail serving a long term.” – Maddy Malhotra

“I think we owe it to our children to share our wisdom. If we share our wisdom for the purpose of changing our children, then that’s hitting them over the head with a hammer or shoving something down their throats. If the wisdom turns into advice, that’s selfish. But if we simply share ourselves and let our children know our hearts, then it’s a gift. And I think it’s a gift we’re responsible for giving them.” — Daniel Gottlieb

“Most of us are quite selfish when it comes to our children, you know. We want things from them: love, the satisfaction of seeing them do well, and so on. Plenty of parents don’t think just of their child’s best interest. Oh, they may pay lip service to it, but they really think of themselves, of what they get from parenting.” — Alexander McCall Smith (Emma (The Austen Project, #3))

“Parents listen to your children! Whenever safe, allow them to guide their lives from their authentic selves.” — Jane Wyker (Soul Selfish: The Awakening of a “Good Girl”)

“A good deal of unkindness and selfishness on the part of parents towards children is not generally followed by ill consequences to the parents themselves. They may cast a gloom over their children’s lives for many years without having to suffer anything that will hurt them. I should say, then, that it shows no great moral obliquity on the part of parents if within certain limits they make their children’s lives a burden to them.” — Samuel Butler (The Way of All Flesh (Centaur Classics) [The 100 greatest novels of all time – #74])

“A lot of people who had terrible childhoods have kids to prove that they can do a better job, or to fix some cosmic rift by being the parents they needed to their own children.” — Danielle Henderson (Selfish, Shallow, and Self-Absorbed: Sixteen Writers on The Decision Not To Have Kids)

“It is a selfish – selfish world – you know why – because nature teaches selfishness, parents teach selfishness, teachers teach selfishness – and by the time a child full of human potential grows up to be an adult, they are no longer human, they end up as modern savage in fancy rags.” — Abhijit Naskar (Şehit Sevda Society: Even in Death I Shall Live)

“But you go into parenting hoping, maybe selfishly, that your kid will love the thing you love, and you can share that with them.” — Rachel Lynn Solomon (The Ex Talk)

“Both of her parents were, in her estimation, selfish beings, and she vowed not to be like them and not to allow her sisters to be, either.” — Lucy Marin (Her Sisterly Love: A Pride & Prejudice Variation)

“The accusations of being selfish, narcissistic, or self-centered cause adult children of narcissists to fear setting boundaries with others. Since narcissistic parents condition their children to associate any form of healthy boundary-setting with punishment and projection, their children grow up believing that standing up for themselves is an inherently selfish act.” — Shahida Arabi (Healing the Adult Children of Narcissists: Essays on The Invisible War Zone and Exercises for Recovery)

“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

“It’s not the children who sacrifice for your betterment; it’s you to sacrifice for their betterment.” – Anonymous

“Don’t make your selfishness ruin your child’s life.”- Anonymous

“Never substitute ‘presence’ with ‘presents’. Presents can spoil your child, but your presence will make them a true human being.”- Anonymous
“A good parent never uses their child for their happiness.”- Anonymous
“Put your child’s likes before your selfishness.”- Anonymous
“As a parent, you should be more concerned with your child’s happiness than your petty insecurities and jealousies.” – Unknown
“In the minds of my parents, they are the victims; I am the abuser.” – Christina Enevoldsen
“Parents wonder why the streams are bitter when they themselves have poisoned the fountain.”- John Locke
“Anyone can have a child and call themselves “a parent”. A real parent is someone who puts that child above their own selfish needs and wants.” – Unknown
“Being a selfish parent is a sign of not having learned from experience.” –
“My parents loved us, but I wasn’t always sure they liked us.” – Tahereh Mafi
“Children shouldn’t have to sacrifice so that you can have the life you want. You make sacrifices so your children can have the life that they deserve.” – Unknown
“Parents forgive their children least readily for the faults they themselves instilled in them.” – Unknown
“Being a parent shouldn’t be when it is convenient for you. It is a 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year commitment.” – Unknown
“They are not sorry for harming you. So, don’t feel guilty for cutting them off.” – John Mark Green
“Just remember when you are ignoring your child, you are teaching them to live without you.” – Unknown
“Selfish parents may someday realize what damage they have done that can never be undone.” – Unknown
“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
“They should love you, just as you are. Parents should love their kids, right?” “You’d think so.” – N.R. Walker
“If mental abuse was a punishable crime, a lot of parents would be in jail serving a long term.” – Maddy Malhotra
“Today’s troubled homes are made by parents who want to have children but don’t want their children to have parents.” – Agona Apell
“Wounded parents often unintentionally inflict pain and suffering on their children …” – David W. Earle
“I’m worried about parents who aren’t parenting.” – Barbara Bush
“They should love you, just as you are. Parents should love their kids, right?” “You’d think so.” – N.R. Walker
“Being a parent does not give you an excuse for bad manners.” – Rosalind Wiseman
“Fear-based parenting is the surest way to create intimidated children.” – Tim Kimmel
“Good parenting gives headaches, but bad parenting gives heartaches.” – Shiv Khera
“We raise predators by treating children as prey.” – Stefan Molyneux
“Remember, you are not managing an inconvenience; You are raising a human being.” – Kittie Frantz
“If you teach hatred to your children, one day your child will have that hatred reflected back onto them and onto YOU.” – Suzy Kassem
“You shouldn’t do that. Not to your child. You should carry your own burdens.” – Cassandra Clare
“No child is born a delinquent. They only became that way if nobody loved them when they were kids.” – Jeannette Walls
“Here’s a shock: An adult who still hangs out in skate parks is a bad parent.” – Daniel Tosh
“No man should bring children into the world who is unwilling to persevere to the end in their nature and education.” – Plato

“If we never have headaches through rebuking our children, we shall have plenty of heartaches when they grow up.” – Charles Haddon Spurgeon

“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
“Did you have parents or just some people who thought they should own somebody?” – Catherine Lacey
“Narcissist parents don’t care about their children’s feelings at all. Only their feelings matter.” -Kim Saeed
“Don’t try to make children grow up to be like you, or they may do it.” – Russell Baker
“Parents. Honestly. Sometimes they really do think the world revolves around them.” – Randa Abdel-Fattah
“A person can’t pick up their children and just squeeze them to which-a-way they want them to be.” – Carson McCullers
“Leave your pride, ego, and narcissism somewhere else. Reactions from those parts of you will reinforce your children’s most primitive fears.” – Henry Cloud
“People tend to raise the child inside of them rather than the child in front of them.” – Joe Newman
“Narcissist parents want total control. Take back your control. If possible, don’t accept any money, favor, items or anything from them.” – Tina Fuller
“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
“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
“Narcissist parents do not know their children; they aren’t interested in what they have to say unless it affects them.” – Tina Fuller
“A narcissistic parent will provoke an independent child to anger in order to feel superior and prove the child’s flaws.” – Shannon Thomas
“A narcissist parent is easily frustrated by a healthy independent child that they can’t control through parental emotional manipulation.” – Shannon Thomas
“If we, as mothers, are not careful, we can begin to find our identity in our children and their behavior.” – Sue Detweiler
“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

“Do your kids see your kindness, or are you always telling them NO?” – Brenda M. McGraw
“It has been my observation that parents kill more dreams than anybody.” – Spike Lee
“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
“You must let go of the responsibility for the painful events of your childhood and put it where it belongs.” – Susan Forward

More Selfish Parents Quotes

“Do your kids see your kindness, or are you always telling them NO?” – Brenda M. McGraw
“It has been my observation that parents kill more dreams than anybody.” – Spike Lee
“In the minds of my parents, they are the victims; I am the abuser.” – Christina Enevoldsen
“Parents wonder why the streams are bitter when they themselves have poisoned the fountain.”- John Locke
“You must let go of the responsibility for the painful events of your childhood and put it where it belongs.” – Susan Forward

“In troubled families, abuse and neglect are permitted. It’s talking about them that is forbidden.” – Marcia Sirota
“When you grieve toxic, abusive parents, you don’t just grieve the abuse, you grieve everything you didn’t have.” – Lily Hope Lucario
“My parents loved us, but I wasn’t always sure they liked us.” – Tahereh Maf
“Your children vividly remember every unkind thing you ever did to them, plus a few you really didn’t.” – Mignon McLaughlin
“I built up so much hatred for my parents, like so much anger for the life they had given me.” – Tana Mongeau
“The toxic parent sees the child as a threat to their ego and having the child overshadow the parent is not an option in their mind.” – Shannon Thomas
“Many children of toxic parents find it exceptionally difficult to identify who they are once they grow up.” – JR Thorpe
“Dysfunctional parents let their children know how burdened they have been by their children and how many sacrifices they had to make to raise them.” – Dr. Marita Sirota
“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
“When a child does bad things, the parents are always going to love their child even if they do something bad.” – Selena
“Don’t you just love children? If they’re not disappointing you, they’re dead.” – Shawn Wickersheim
“If you bungle raising your children, I don’t think whatever else you do matters very much.” – Jackie Kennedy
“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
“My dad had limitations. That’s what my good-hearted mom always told us. He had limitations, but he meant no harm. It was kind of her to say, but he did harm.” – Gillian Flynn
“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
“Your children vividly remember every unkind thing you ever did to them, plus a few you really didn’t.” – Mignon McLaughlin
“They are not sorry for harming you. So, don’t feel guilty for cutting them off.” – John Mark Green
“No one, however powerful and successful, can function as an adult if his parents are not satisfied with him.” – Frank Pittman
“An unpredictable parent is a fearsome god in the eyes of a child.” – Susan Forward
“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
“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
“I never had a speech from my father ‘this is what you must do or shouldn’t do’ but I just learned to be led by example. My father wasn’t perfect.” – Adam Sandler
“My dad taught me everything I know. Unfortunately, he didn’t teach me everything he knows.” – Al Unser
“Being a parent is easy but being a good parent is tough as it requires a lot of dedication and goodwill.”- Anonymous
“If you want to live in your child’s memory, you must have to live in their lives today.”- Anonymous
“Being a selfish parent is the biggest crime you can do to your child.”- Anonymous
“When you’re three or seven years old, it’s less frightening to think of yourself as an unlovable, disappointing screwup than to recognize the fact that you’re living with a monster.” – Keith Ablow
“If parents wish to preserve childhood for their own children, they must conceive of parenting as an act of rebellion against culture.” – Neil Postman
“Selfishness is like a disease that suffocates our capacity to love. While love asks us to deny ourselves for the sake of another, selfishness demands we put ourselves first at their expense. When we choose to be self-centered, we become less kind and content—more needy, sensitive, and demanding. More unsatisfiable. Moodiness and impatience, laziness and irresponsibility, are only selfishness in disguise.” — Stephen Kendrick (The Love Dare for Parents)