Trust is like a mirror, you can fix it if it’s broken, but you can still see the crack in its reflection.
37 Quotes on Trust That Will Make You Think
Trust is a highly valuable asset that can either make or break a person especially the relationships they have with their family and have built with their friends, workplace colleagues, clients, and bosses. Trust is as fragile as glass, in which it is easy to break and very hard to get back.
Here are some of the best quotes around that will help you think about the role of trust in life as well as leadership:
1. “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.” – Warren Buffett
Meaning: It takes a very long time to build a foundation of trust, leadership, and commitment with someone or a group of people in which one undesirable act can change everyone’s view about a person or an organization for the worse.
2. “The glue that holds all relationships together–including the relationship between the leader and the led–is trust, and trust is based on integrity.” – Brian Tracy
Meaning: Trust is like the glue that holds every crucial relationship in place, be it family or business. And trust in business is based on integrity, which is defined by having strong moral principles and above all, being honest.
3. “A single lie discovered is enough to create doubt in every truth expressed.”
Meaning: All it takes is one tiny lie to change your perspective on the person you thought you could trust the most in your life. It may even be possible for you to never trust that person ever again.
4. “We need people in our lives with whom we can be as open as possible. To have real conversations with people may seem like such a simple, obvious suggestion, but it involves courage and risk.” – Thomas Moore
Meaning: This quote couldn’t be as simple and straightforward as it already is. We truly need people with whom we not only can be open with but also have real meaningful conversations with. And though it may seem simple in thought, it is not so much so in practice. That’s because such things require courage and trust as the most essential pieces to make this work.
5. “Self-trust is the essence of heroism” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Meaning: No one else is going to help you get positive results in life but you yourself. Others may not have faith or trust in what you want to do in life, but if you have faith in yourself and stick with it, then it may likely come true.
6. “Trust is like blood pressure. It’s silent, vital to good health, and if abused it can be deadly.” – Frank Sonnenberg, author of Follow Your Conscience
Meaning: Another quote about just how fragile trust can be. Here, it’s both silent and vital to one’s good health and if abused, can be very detrimental.
7. “Don’t trust the person who has broken faith once.” – William Shakespeare
Meaning: Lying can be so disastrous that once it’s done, it can be very hard or even impossible to ever trust the person who did it to you.
8. “Better to trust the man who is frequently in error than the one who is never in doubt.” – Eric Sevareid
Meaning: Trust isn’t perfect. It’s bound to be riddled with mistakes and flaws. But it’s far better to trust someone who acknowledges their flaws than those who never want to.
9. “Trust takes years to build, seconds to break, and forever to repair.” – Unknown
Meaning: Trust is both fragile and expensive in that it takes seconds to break and a long time to rebuild. That’s why you have to be careful with whom you swear your trust to and stay committed to it.
10. “Trust is like a mirror, you can fix it if it’s broken, but you can still see the crack in its reflection.” – Lady Gaga
Meaning: Once a trust with someone is broken, the scars are so deep that they are forever embedded in a person’s mind after being betrayed. Nobody can undo what they have done in the past and must move forward to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
11. “How can people trust the harvest unless they see it sown?” – Mary Renault
Meaning: Believing something blindly may not just fill your head with doubts but also potentially hurt you in the end. You should not exchange feelings of trust or love with anyone unless you are certain they are worthy enough for it.
12. “Ultimately, there can be no complete healing until we have restored our primal trust in life.” – Georg Feuerstein
Meaning: When we have felt the sting of betrayal deep in our hearts, we feel as if we may never trust anyone ever again. But that is only going to further agitate our feelings of depression. So we must re-establish hope and trust in the world if we are to ever able to move on with our lives.
13. “It was a mistake,” you said. But the cruel thing was, it felt like the mistake was mine, for trusting you. – David Levithan
Meaning: This is when we have been betrayed by the person we thought we could trust more than once and it comes to a point where we assume that it is our own fault for trusting that person again in spite of knowing about their past mistakes. It’s always best to keep your guard up before you let anyone get too close to you.
14. “Trust starts with truth and ends with truth.” – Santosh Kalwar
Meaning: This one quote goes to show you how valuable and priceless trust really is. It tells us that no matter what happens, we must always be honest and open about the people we dedicate our love and trust towards.
15. “Trusting is hard. Knowing who to trust, even harder.” – Maria V. Snyder
Meaning: Someone you don’t know will always say they mean well, but it is honoring those very words that will make the ultimate difference. The process could take months, perhaps even years. That’s how hard and strenuous it can be to legitimately earn a person’s trust. Opening your heart to someone very soon will only hurt you in the long-run.
16. “After all, what does being in love mean if you can’t trust a person.” – Evelyn Waugh
Meaning: Love isn’t something that’s only built on hugs, kisses and other intimate acts, but the trust that comes with keeping a relationship strong and alive.
17. “I’m not upset that you lied to me, I’m upset that from now on I can’t believe you.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche
Meaning: A relationship can be so damaged to the point that nothing anyone says can ever fix it or return it to what it once was. And the idea that we were lied to by the person who solemnly swore would never lie to us at all runs too deep that it’s virtually impossible for us to forgive them.
18. “If you give your trust to a person who does not deserve it, you actually give him the power to destroy you.” – Khaled Saad
Meaning: It’s never a good idea to let yourself be vulnerable to someone whom you have not known previously and who could very likely use your secrets to ruin or even destroy your life. If you are certain after some time that you can let them into your personal life, and if they swear to abide by your secrets, then it could be okay for you to open up to them some more. But take it slow before you do.
19. “I do not trust words. I even question actions. But I never doubt patterns.” – Unknown
Meaning: People may at times be so good at lying that you may never tell it’s a lie. People can also fake their actions just as seamlessly, but the one thing they can’t fake are their patterns. So before you even think about trying to trust someone, pay attention to their patterns and look for any hints that seem odd or controversial. That’s how you can tell someone is taking advantage of you.
20. “The people when rightly and fully trusted will return the trust.” – Abraham Lincoln
Meaning: Such words of wisdom can only be spoken by one who is referred to as ‘Honest Abe.’ If you want people to trust you, you need to be honest and transparent with them first. Don’t expect people to openly throw themselves at you for no reason because then it’s all wrong.
21. “You may be deceived if you trust too much, but you will live in torment unless you trust enough.” – Frank Crane
Meaning: It’s a fair quote that simply means you can’t be too trusting to others unless you want to be deceived just as you should be trusting enough just so you don’t live with regrets. If you trust someone, they may surely return the favor. But keep in mind that the results aren’t always as such.
22. “I’m a good enough person to forgive you, but not stupid enough to trust you again.” – Unknown
Meaning: This quote simply indicates that the damage has been done and it’s time for both people to move on. We may be humble enough to forgive the person who lied to us, but not enough to trust them in our lives again.
23. “Love all, trust a few.” – William Shakespeare
Meaning: Don’t necessarily buy the ‘love all’ aspect of Shakespeare’s quote, but as far as the latter half of it goes, definitely. Nobody should force you to trust anyone, and if they do, chances are that they’re totally lying to you just so they can exploit your weaknesses.
24. “Trust, but verify.” – Ronald Reagan
Meaning: Short sweet and to the point. Behind that cute face is a two-faced, double-crossing, swindling scoundrel who’s ready to do serious damage to your life as soon as you drop your guard.
25. “Never trust someone who lies to you. Never lie to someone who trusts you.” – Deanna Wadsworth
Meaning: Couldn’t be any truer than this. We shouldn’t trust anyone who lies to us just as we shouldn’t lie to the one who trusts us. It’s a fair deal that we must adhere to for as long as we live.
26. “Trust is the lubrication that makes it possible for organizations to work.” – Warren Bennis
Meaning: The only way organizations can achieve the success that they strive for is if they’re completely open and trusting of their entire team. No morally-abiding employee would ever throw themselves for a company that doesn’t have faith in their skills and capabilities.
27. “Trust each other again and again. When the trust level gets high enough, people transcend apparent limits, discovering new and awesome abilities of which they were previously unaware.” – David Armistead
Meaning: A little too specific, but the point has been established. You can’t operate a high-profile organization when you constantly give your employees the thought that you don’t have faith in their abilities. If you put your trust in them, then they may be able to deliver appropriate results. And once your trust in them reaches higher than ever, they can even go past their limits and discover new abilities that they weren’t aware of before.
28. “When you fully trust someone without any doubt, you finally get one of two results: a person for life or a lesson for life.” – Unknown
Meaning: There are two sides to trust. One side gives you a person who will be with you for life and the other side leaves you with a harsh lesson that you will make you stronger than before. The latter lesson is betrayal and it will allow you to be more wary of people before you let them get too close to you.
29. “Tell a lie once, and all your truths become questionable.” – Unknown
Meaning: All it takes is one slip up to ruin everyone’s perception of the person they assumed was authentic and transparent. It’s like the whole country becoming frustrated after finding out that their president had a shady past full of underhanded tactics and wrongdoings.
30. “Trust is like an eraser; it gets smaller and smaller after every mistake” – Unknown
Meaning: Every lie or mistake that a person makes, ruins the overall image of trust that they’ve worked so hard to build for so many years.
31. “It takes two people to make a lie work: the person who tells it, and the one who believes it.” – Jodi Picoult
Meaning: Just pure, unadulterated fact being spoken right here. You know that you have been lied to when the person you swore your trust to never held up their end of the bargain and that you believed them all the way before you even realized the truth.
32. “Love is giving someone the power to destroy you, but trusting them not to.” – Unknown
Meaning: Trust is like a double-edged sword in which you don’t know whether you’re with someone who is going to love you forever or turn their backs on you when you least expect it. There’s no sure of knowing who’s right and who’s a louse, so the best thing you can do is hope or pray that it all turns out alright in the end.
33. “There are only two types of people that tell the truth, the drunk and the angry…” – Unknown
Meaning: If the tirade that Mel Gibson went on in the past is any indication, it should be noted that people only tell the truth when they’re angry or drunk and not when they’re conscious.
34. “My love is unconditional. My trust and my respect are not.” – Unknown
Meaning: You can love someone unconditionally, but it doesn’t necessarily apply when you want to trust or respect someone, especially someone outside your family circle.
35. “Stop asking me to trust you while I’m still coughing up water from the last time you let me drown.” – Unknown
Meaning: Yes, soiling someone’s trust could be like letting someone drown when they needed them the most. So the last thing a liar should do is ask the person they let down to trust them right after such an incident.
36. “The Less You Trust, The Less You Get Hurt.” – Unknown
Meaning: This is so obvious that it should pass off as common sense. The less you open up to people around you, the less likely they’re going to harm or cheat you in the end. Not everyone is going to be warm or inviting to you when you meet them.
37. “When you start to wonder whether you can trust someone or not, that is when you already know you don’t.” – Unknown
Meaning: Trust shouldn’t be like a piece of candy you’re handing on a silver platter. It has to be carefully reserved for when you are 90% sure you can open yourself to the person that you think you can share your secrets with. And when you start having doubts, that is when you’re certain that the person is not worthy of being trusted.
