10 Quotes About Bullying To Heal And Empower You

Almost all of us have been a victim of bullying at one time or another. And some of us have even been the one who bullied — sometimes knowingly, and sometimes because we were too young, ignorant, or in too much pain ourselves to know better. And if we’ve been the victim of bullying, how can he heal? The scars of bullying truly can take years or decades to fade, and sometimes they stay with us forever. Sometimes nothing helps to put things in perspective like the advice of someone who has been there or a quote about bullying from someone who has made it out the other side.

It goes without saying that bullying in any form is wrong, and that we all need to do our best to create a world where empathy and inclusiveness is the norm. But how can we do that? What steps can we take as citizens to lessen the bullying that happens to children, teens — and yes, even adults?

Empathy Is The Antidote to Bullying

It’s all about empathy. We need to create more opportunities to teach empathy to our children – and to each other as well. We need to have compassion for ourselves as victims of bullying (no matter how long ago it occurred) and remember that harm caused by others may hurt us, but it can’t define us.

We need to stand up to bullies and find the courage within ourselves to defend the defenseless. And — as tough as it may seem — we also need to have empathy for bullies themselves as much as possible. Typically people bully others because of an emptiness or pain they experience themselves — and although their behavior is never acceptable, if we are able to treat the mental health of those who bully, we may be able to decrease bullying behavior.

The problem of bullying runs deep and is multi-faceted for sure. And putting an end to it is definitely an uphill battle. Let these wise quotes about bullying serve as important reminders and encouragement as we all work together to end bullying.

10 Validating, Inspirational Quotes About Bullying

1. “For me, I am driven by two main philosophies: know more today about the world than I knew yesterday and lessen the suffering of others. You’d be surprised how far that gets you.” – Neil deGrasse Tyson, astrophysicist, writer, and science communicator
2. “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou, poet, memoirist, Civil Rights activist
3. “We focus so much on our differences, and that is creating, I think, a lot of chaos and negativity and bullying in the world. And I think if everybody focused on what we all have in common – which is – we all want to be happy.” – Ellen DeGeneres, comedian, TV host, writer, and actress
4. “One’s dignity may be assaulted, vandalized and cruelly mocked, but it can never be taken away unless it is surrendered.” – Michael J. Fox, actor and activist
5. “I wish every day could be Halloween. We could all wear masks all the time. Then we could walk around and get to know each other before we got to see what we looked like under the masks.” – R.J. Palacio, author; quote from her book, Wonder
6. “If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse, and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.” – Desmond Tutu, South African theologian and anti-apartheid, human rights activist
7. “Every time you post something online, you have a choice. You can either make it something that adds to the happiness levels in the world—or you can make it something that takes away.” – Zoe Sugg, fashion and beauty Vlogger and writer
8. “Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.” – Judy Garland, actress and singer
9. “Don’t you ever let a soul in the world tell you that you can’t be exactly who you are.” – Lady Gaga, singer-songwriter and actress
10. “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying ‘I will try again tomorrow.’” – Mary Anne Radmacher, writer

Bullying: There Is Hope For The Future

When I was a kid, open discussions about bullying weren’t frequent at all. We all knew bullying was happening, but we had to swallow our pain, keep our mouths shut, or use our fists to attack the problem. Nowadays, conversations about bullying are much more frequent. It’s not necessarily that incidences of bullying have increased, but our awareness of it certainly has, and that is absolutely a good thing.

So let’s have hope that fewer of us will stay silent about bullying, that the problem will continue be addressed head-on, that far fewer of us will be bullied or becomes bullies ourselves — and most of all, that we can all begin to heal and help create a kinder, gentler, more tolerant world for the next generation.