Top 80 Jackson MacKenzie Quotes (2025 Update)
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51. “People cannot go from abusing and manipulating you one day, to magically being healed a week later. This is simply impossible. Especially when this change occurs as a response to possible abandonment or rejection, there’s just no chance this is authentic change.”

— Jackson MacKenzie

52. “This is what happens when you enter the psychopath’s reality – all of their gossip and lies start to distort your own reality. Because here are the two realities you must choose from: The psychopath is normal. Everyone else is jealous, ill-intentioned, and self-serving. The psychopath is jealous, ill-intentioned, and self-serving. Everyone else is normal.”

— Jackson MacKenzie

53. “It would be nearly impossible not to be resentful about this, so please don’t feel any shame or guilt for having a completely normal human reaction to psychological abuse.”

— Jackson MacKenzie

54. “They put forth as little effort as possible and then step it up when you try to disengage.”

— Jackson MacKenzie

55. “When we resolve these old painful beliefs, there is no longer anything to “save” or “be saved from.” We are unconditionally loved and accepted as we are. Participants in the drama triangle are resistant to that idea. Mindfulness and therapy can help us understand why.”

— Jackson MacKenzie

56. “We can always restore that part of ourselves, but we can’t do it when we’re focusing all our energy on the person who abused us. As long as we believe a part of us has been “stolen,” we are distracted from the very tools needed to heal it.”

— Jackson MacKenzie

57. “As we learn that we’re responsible for our own emotions, we become more comfortable with the idea that others are responsible for their own emotions too. With this mind-set, we can finally relax – and begin to heal.”

— Jackson MacKenzie

58. “As you begin to accept the numbness as it is, you form a stronger relationship with your body. You are no longer at war with it, but rather genuinely interested in hearing its message. And even if it refuses to share that message with you, you’re still willing to stay with it. You might grow frustrated and impatient every once in a while, but that’s okay. You can recognize that too, and accept how frustrating it is to be locked out of your own body.”

— Jackson MacKenzie

59. “In the time we spent with the wound, we learned patience and compassion – not the type of savior compassion that can be exploited, but a genuine understanding and empathy for the human condition.”

— Jackson MacKenzie

60. “A lot of cluster-B abuse survivors carry a deep fear that they are the crazy, bad, or evil one. This is the result of a really specific type of gaslighting done by cluster-B disordered individuals.”

— Jackson MacKenzie

61. “You don’t know what you don’t know,” and that’s exactly the problem here. We’re not going to look for another type of love if we don’t even know it exists, or how it feels.”

— Jackson MacKenzie

62. “The recovery process is the beginning of your new life. You’ll look back at old dynamics, wondering how you ever tolerated such toxicity. As I mentioned earlier, you might even feel embarrassed about your past behavior. This regret is your self-respect kicking in, reminding you that you’re different now.”

— Jackson MacKenzie

63. “This is someone who manipulated, lied, abused, and deeply hurt you. As you develop self-respect, you should come to understand that this is all more than enough reason to remove someone from your life – permanently.”

— Jackson MacKenzie

64. “Emotional abusers condition their victims to feel ashamed, inadequate, and unstable. This is because they are cowards, incapable of healthy relationships with strong and self-respecting individuals.”

— Jackson MacKenzie

65. “High-conflict families can also teach codependents how to navigate other people’s feelings in order to avoid discomfort. Especially if a parent is prone to outbursts and rigid rules, children can learn at a young age not to express their needs in order to keep the peace.”

— Jackson MacKenzie

66. “Psychopaths are parasitic, emotionally stunted, and incapable of change. Once this individual is gone from your life, you will find that everything begins to make sense again. The chaos dissipates and your sanity returns. Things will be normal once again.”

— Jackson MacKenzie

67. “As long as we carry toxic shame, it is a literal struggle to exist in our own bodies. We are constantly thrashing about, like a fish out of water, desperately trying to get away from that unbearable sensation. But no matter how hard we try, how much we distract, how much we run – our bodies are always with us, and so is the shame.”

— Jackson MacKenzie

68. “He or she was only an illusion, a mask the psychopath created in order to mirror and manipulate you. As crushingly hard as it is and as much as it hurts, the only way to find freedom is to stop believing in that illusion.”

— Jackson MacKenzie

69. “With toxic shame, that’s not what happens. Imagine instead that you told the little kid it was his fault. Imagine you said, “You’re bad and defective, and that’s why your dad ignores you. Your feelings are wrong and you are wrong.” The kid then spends a lifetime trying to prove himself and his worth, so his dad will finally acknowledge his existence.”

— Jackson MacKenzie

70. “Triggers are our key back to the core wound.”

— Jackson MacKenzie

71. “They don’t feel bad for saying or thinking that. They don’t feel obligated to keep seeing that person just because the person acts nice or loving.”

— Jackson MacKenzie

72. “Instead, they used words and promises to brainwash you into giving, giving, and more giving. So when they not only don’t appreciate it – but actually destroy you – you’re left feeling broken and empty.”

— Jackson MacKenzie

73. “When you stop avoiding and resisting that truth, you can finally acknowledge and heal it. Life becomes so much calmer. It is no longer a manic search for meaning, filled with shaky declarations of personality and passions. Your identity is no longer a never-ending quest to prove “I am,” but rather an exploration into your suffering so that you can let go of what you “are not.” Once you do that, your true self comes rushing back in at last.”

— Jackson MacKenzie

74. “Psychopaths are cunning, cold, and very aware of their own behavior. They take on three different personas in order to make you doubt your own sanity!”

— Jackson MacKenzie

75. “Start healing those wounds and understand that your insecurities were manufactured. You were not yourself – you were manipulated. The real you is kind, loving, open-minded, and compassionate. You do not need to question these things anymore.”

— Jackson MacKenzie

76. “Avoid those who tell you how nice they are, how generous they are, how successful they are, how honest they are, and how important they are. Instead, search for the quiet ones who show these qualities every day through their actions.”

— Jackson MacKenzie

77. “We need to stop telling ourselves we’re different for doing and feeling what everyone else does.”

— Jackson MacKenzie

78. “Codependents tend to carry a huge sense of over-responsibility for others, and deep down believe that everything is their fault.”

— Jackson MacKenzie

79. “You can spend a lifetime trying to “heal” or “soothe” toxic shame, but this is not the best approach, because toxic shame is a false message absorbed from external events.”

— Jackson MacKenzie

80. “We can notice when that nasty self-doubting voice comes out, and we can acknowledge it rather than try to escape from it.”

— Jackson MacKenzie

81. “Instead of feeling shameful like most normal people would, when the psychopath cheats they actually go out of their way to ensure you know about their infidelities – without ever admitting to them, of course.”

— Jackson MacKenzie

82. “They are blocked away from the reasonable part of themselves that could simply say, “Hey, this is a problem and I can fix it.” Instead, it takes them down an intolerable path of “This is a problem and it’s all my fault because I’m a horrible human being with no hope of redemption.” That is not a sustainable sensation to sit with, so instead, it all gets numbed away – as does any hope of fixing the problem.”

— Jackson MacKenzie

83. “Untreated personality disordered individuals are masters at pity stories and making themselves seem like the sympathetic victim, even when they’re the ones causing harm. They often present a childlike innocence to the world, while they are abusing and manipulating you behind closed doors.”

— Jackson MacKenzie

84. “Especially if a parent is prone to outbursts and rigid rules, children can learn at a young age not to express their needs in order to keep the peace.”

— Jackson MacKenzie

85. “The issue isn’t that you “missed” something – the issue is that you continually second-guess yourself, which causes you to stay in situations that others wouldn’t tolerate.”

— Jackson MacKenzie