Codependent Sayings and Quotes

Below you will find our collection of inspirational, wise, and humorous old codependent quotes, codependent sayings, and codependent proverbs, collected over the years from a variety of sources.

Being codependent means that when you die, someone else's life passes before your eyes. Barbara Johnson
I learned again and again in my life, until you get your own act together, you’re not ready for Big Love. What you’re ready for is one of those codependent relationships where you desperately need a partner. Bruce H. Lipton
What's a codependent? The answer's easy. They're some of the most loving, caring people I know. Melody Beattie
Even if the most important person in your world rejects you, you are still real, and you are still okay. Melody Beattie
When a codependent is drowning, somebody else's life flashes before his eyes. Stephen King
A codependent person is one who has let another person's behavior affect him or her, and who is obsessed with controlling that person's behavior. Melody Beattie
Addiction is just a little hiding place where sensitive people can go so we don't have to be touched by love or pain. Glennon Doyle Melton
An over-indulgence of anything, even something as pure as water, can intoxicate. Criss Jami
Addiction is the dominant form of a culture that suffers from a superficial spectacle and celebrity connectivity at its center. It's a form of spiritual emptiness. Cornel West
Codependents are reactionaries. They overreact. They under-react. But rarely do they act. They react to the problems, pains, lives, and behaviors of others. They react to their own problems, pains, and behaviors. Melody Beattie
People use drugs, legal and illegal, because their lives are intolerably painful or dull. They hate their work and find no rest in their leisure. They are estranged from their families and their neighbors. It should tell us something that in healthy societies drug use is celebrative, convivial, and occasional, whereas among us it is lonely, shameful, and addictive. We need drugs, apparently, because we have lost each other. Wendell Berry
Addiction begins with the hope that something ‘out there' can instantly fill up the emptiness inside. Jean Kilbourne
It is one thing to know about your dysfunctional habits but quite another to change them. David W. Earle
In all codependent relationships, the rescuer needs the victim as much as the victim needs the rescuer. Barbara De Angelis
Codependency is about normal behaviors taken too far. It's about crossing lines. Melody Beattie
There's always something in it for the person who is allowing to be taken advantage of. P.A. Speers
But codependency is inappropriate, over-the-top loyalty, caring and supportiveness. David Stafford
Addiction is a relationship, a pathological relationship in which obsession replaces people. Patrick Carnes