Torshclusspanik

Here’s a list of common sayings that can be weaponized against Complex PTSD survivors and others in distress, often invalidating their experiences or reinforcing harmful narratives:

1. “Everything happens for a reason.”

Implies suffering has a predetermined purpose, disregarding systemic failures and personal violations.

2. “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.”

Minimizes trauma and its lasting effects.

3. “It’s all in your head.”

Dismisses the real, physiological impacts of trauma.

4. “You attract what you put out into the universe.”

Blames survivors for their suffering.

5. “Just let it go.”

Oversimplifies healing and disregards the complexity of trauma recovery.

6. “Karma will take care of it.”

Suggests justice is inevitable when reality often proves otherwise.

7. “If you dwell on it, you’ll never heal.”

Pressures survivors to suppress their pain rather than process it.

8. “Other people have it worse.”

Invalidates individual suffering by forcing comparison.

9. “God/the universe doesn’t give you more than you can handle.”

Suggests trauma is a test rather than unjust harm.

10. “You need to forgive to move on.”

Pressures survivors into premature or forced forgiveness.

11. “You’re only hurting yourself by holding onto anger.”

Frames justifiable anger as self-destructive.

12. “No one can hurt you unless you let them.”

Blames the survivor rather than the perpetrator.

13. “You just need to be more positive.”

Dismisses the deep neurophysiological impacts of trauma.

14. “Don’t be a victim.”

Weaponizes self-reliance against those seeking accountability.

15. “You should be grateful it wasn’t worse.”

Forces toxic gratitude rather than allowing space for grief and rage.

16. “That’s just the way the world works.”

Normalizes injustice and discourages action against it.

17. “Time heals all wounds.”

Implies that trauma naturally resolves without active support.

18. “You just need to try harder.”

Suggests that struggling with trauma is a failure of effort rather than a legitimate condition.

19. “You should be over it by now.”

Imposes an arbitrary timeline on healing.

20. “It could’ve been a lot worse.”

Minimizes suffering and invalidates the severity of trauma.

We want a clear purpose, a reason we are here, and some kind of final answer about what it all means. But when we look at the universe, it does not give us those answers. It does not explain itself. It does not promise meaning. That clash between our need for meaning and the silence of the universe is what Camus called the absurd.

Some people try to solve this discomfort by insisting there must be a grand purpose behind everything. Camus thought that can be a way of avoiding the uncomfortable truth that there may not be any built in cosmic meaning. In that sense, obsessing over finding ultimate purpose could be a distraction from facing reality as it is.

ㅤ

“If I had more time, I would do the thing.”

ㅤ

“If I could just have that, then my life would be amazing.”

ㅤ

“If I tell them this, then they will finally change.”

ㅤ

“Everything is perfect/ruined.”

ㅤ

“I can’t live without the thing.”

ㅤ

1. "He who shakes his neighbor's house will have his own house shaken." (Swiss Proverb)

2. "If a person eats his fill, he cannot taste the bread." (Scottish Proverb)

3. "If you don't know how to smile, don't open a shop." (Chinese Proverb)

4. "Good looks are the strongest recommendation." (English Proverb)

5. "Doing good deeds without expectation of reward is like pouring perfume into the sea." (Polish Proverb)

6. "To know the progress of a nation, look at its women." (French Proverb)

7. "We often see things differently because we only read the title." (American Proverb)

8. "Other people's mistakes are always clearer than our own." (Russian Proverb)

9. "Contentment is half of happiness." (Italian Proverb)

10. "Every man creates his own destiny." (English Proverb)

11. "Adorn your mind with knowledge, not your body with jewels." (Chinese Proverb)

12. "Self-love is the child of ignorance." (Spanish Proverb)

13. "Love that depends on gifts is always hungry." (English Proverb)

14. "Beware of the woman who talks about her virtues and the man who talks about his honesty." (French Proverb)

15. "Love your wife and confide in your mother." (Irish Proverb)

16. "Make your child a prince for five years, a slave for ten years, and a friend thereafter." (Hindi Proverb)

17. "Being human is easy; being a man is difficult." (Russian Proverb)

18. "My family taught me to speak, and people taught me to be silent." (Czechoslovak Proverb)

19. "He who looks at people with knowledge hates them; he who looks at them with reality forgives them." (Italian Proverb)

20. "Anger is a strong wind that blows out the lamp of reason." (American Proverb)

21. "Those who give should not speak of their giving; those who receive should." (Portuguese Proverb)

22. "A large tree gives more shade but fewer fruits." (Italian Proverb)

23. "Put your worries in a torn pocket." (Chinese Proverb)

24. "Eating too much is more harmful than hunger." (German Proverb)

25. "Plow every day, eat every day." (Egyptian Proverb)

26. "O man, do not forget death, for it will not forget you." (Turkish Proverb)

27. "The pleasure of revenge lasts a moment; the comfort of forgiveness lasts forever." (Spanish Proverb)

28. "Love and fragrance cannot be hidden." (Chinese Proverb)

29. "He whose pocket is empty should make his tongue sweet." (Malaysian Proverb)

30. "Small drops of water can also make a river." (Japanese Proverb)

31. "God feeds the birds, but they must fly to find food." (Dutch Proverb)

32. "Love lasts as long as there is money." (French Proverb)

33. "He who lends money to a friend loses both." (French Proverb)

34. "He who marries a beautiful woman needs more than two eyes." (English Proverb)

35. "He who has a thorn in his back always fears the fire." (French Proverb)

36. "He who resolves to reach his goal considers every obstacle insignificant." (French Proverb)

37. "He who thinks himself a sheep will be eaten by the wolf." (French Proverb)

38." Don't be frog in a well"( indian proverb)

39."Ajmal al-ashya' ma la yu'rafu qimatuha illa ba'da zuhuriha."

Translation: "The most beautiful things are those whose value is not known until they are lost."(Arab proverb)

40." When life gives you lemons' make lemonade"( American proverb)

41." (Khet ke har poday ko paani ki zaroorat nahi hoti)Translation: "Not every plant in the field needs water."(Pakistani proverb)

42."Bagai aur dengan tebing."

Translation: "Like a bamboo and its riverbank."

Meaning: This proverb highlights the importance of mutual support and interdependence. Just as a bamboo tree relies on the riverbank for stability, and the riverbank relies on the bamboo for protection from erosion, people in a community rely on each other for support and strength.

43.: "He who eats from the flour of his own soul, dies before he dies."(Egypt proverb)

Meaning: This proverb warns against selfishness and greed. It suggests that when you prioritize your own interests at the expense of others, you ultimately harm yourself and lose your sense of purpose.

44.""When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers."(African proverb)

45."A fair dinkum effort will get you a fair dinkum result."(Australian proverb)

46."Ang hindi marunong lumingon sa pinanggalingan, hindi makakarating sa paroroonan."( Phillipine pr0verb)

Translation: "He who does not know how to look back at where he came from, will never reach his destination.

47. "Actions speak louder than words."

. "All's fair in love and war."

. "Blood is thicker than water."

. "Don't count your chickens before they hatch."

. "Don't cry over spilt milk."

. "Give someone an inch and they'll take a mile."

. "Practice what you preach."

. "The pot calling the kettle black."

. "When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

(British proverb)

48. Here's a Somali proverb: “Afkaaga waa afkayga".

Translated, it means: “Your words are your mirror.”

49."कहिले पनि नखाऊने, कहिले पनि टाउको चाट्ने"

Translated, it means:

"Don't scratch when there's no itch, and don't lick your head when there's no oil."(Nipali proverb)

.