75 Inspiring Quotes on Setting Boundaries and Saying 'No'

“Boundaries” have a negative connotation for some people, assuming they stand in the way of progress or inhibit growth. But healthy boundaries can actually help any relationship flourish—and these 75 inspiring boundaries quotes explain why.

Apart from protecting you from toxic, narcissistic and manipulative behavior, boundaries can help you build self-respect, set expectations for how you’d like to be treated, defend your overall wellbeing, and can even help define who is responsible for what in a relationship. 

There are a few tricks to setting these relational parameters that can help make it easier for you. Communicate clearly—be specific, open and honest. Also, set boundaries early. Even if you didn’t establish them early on, the earlier you do the better! Continue reading for quotes about boundaries that may help you set yours.

Related: ‘I’ve Studied Psychology for 20 Years—Here’s the #1 Way to Hold Boundaries With a Narcissist’

75 Boundaries Quotes

1. “If someone throws a fit because you set boundaries, it’s just more evidence the boundary is needed.” — Unknown 

2. “Boundary setting is really a huge part of time management.” ― Jim Loehr

3. “It is necessary, and even vital, to set standards for your life and the people you allow in it.” ― Mandy Hale

4. “There’s boldness in being assertive; there’s strength and confidence.” ― Bryan Cranston

5. “Every woman that finally figured out her worth has picked up her suitcases of pride and boarded a flight to freedom, which landed in the valley of change.” ― Shannon L. Alder

6. “Many of us live in denial of who we truly are because we fear losing someone or something and there are times that if we don’t rock the boat, too often the one we lose is ourselves. It feels good to be accepted, loved, and approved of by others, but often the membership fee to belong to that club is far too high of a price to pay.” ― Dennis Merritt Jones

7. “I’ve worked very hard at understanding myself and learning to be assertive. I’m past the point where I worry about people liking me.” ― Pam Dawber

8. “Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good or ill.” ― Buddha

9. “When trying to teach someone a boundary, they learn less from the enforcement of the boundary and more from the way the boundary was established.” ― Bryant H. McGill

10. “Stop asking why they keep doing it and start asking why you keep allowing it.” — Chase Hill 

11. “The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t being said. The art of reading between the lines is a life long quest of the wise.” ― Shannon L. Alder

12. “When you take the time to actually listen, with humility, to what people have to say, it’s amazing what you can learn.” ― Greg Mortenson

13. “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.” ― Bernard M. Baruch

14. “Why would you continue to compromise something that’s beautiful to create something that is fake?” ― Steve Maraboli

15. “We can say what we need to say. We can gently, but assertively, speak our mind. We do not need to be judgmental, tactless, blaming or cruel when we speak our truths.” ― Melody Beattie

Related: Psychologists Are Begging Families to Recognize the Most Common Form of Gaslighting—Plus, Here’s Exactly How To Respond

16. “What we believe in our heart, we must declare with our mouth.” ― Lailah Gifty Akita

17. “Trust that it is more important to fulfill your authentic desires than listen to your fears. Trust that your intuition is leading you somewhere. Trust that the flow of life contains you, is bigger than you, and will take care of you. If you let it.” ― Vironika Tugaleva

18. “The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say ‘No’ to almost everything.” ― Warren Buffett

19. “A lot of the conflict you have in your life exists simply because you’re not living in alignment; you’re not be being true to yourself.” ― Steve Maraboli

20. “I have always found it odd that people who think passive aggressively ignoring a person is making a point to them. The only point it makes to anyone is your inability to articulate your point of view because deep down you know you can’t win.” ― Shannon L. Alder

21. “To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others.” ― Tony Robbins

22. “You best teach others about healthy boundaries by enforcing yours.” ― Bryant McGill

23. “Families living in dysfunction seldom have healthy boundaries. Dysfunctional families have trouble knowing where they stop and others begin.” ― David W. Earle

24. “Let Life race you out beyond your own boundaries over and over again until you are comfortable with watching the map of normal’s edge disappear behind you. Let Life show you that it is safe to exceed your own expectations and reputation and prove that the only danger in following her into the wilderness is a loss of your own fear. This is when we gain the warrior’s heart, the master’s eye, and the student’s mind. After that, Life holds our hand in every adventure and shows us things not possible before.” ― Jacob Nordby 

25. “Lack of boundaries invites lack of respect.” ― Unknown

26. “The only people who get upset about you setting boundaries are the ones who were benefiting from you having none.” — Unknown

27. “My belief is that communication is the best way to create strong relationships.”  ― Jada Pinkett Smith

28. “I do not agree with what you have to say, but I’ll defend to the death your right to say it.” ― Voltaire

29. “No one will listen to us until we listen to ourselves.” ― Marianne Williamson

30. “Speaking with kindness creates confidence, thinking with kindness creates profoundness, giving with kindness creates love.” ― Lao Tzu

Related: 35 Phrases To Set Boundaries Firmly and Fairly, According to Mental Health Pros

31. “We change our behavior when the pain of staying the same becomes greater than the pain of changing. Consequences give us the pain that motivates us to change.” ― Henry Cloud

32. “You need boundaries… Even in our material creations, boundaries mark the most beautiful of places, between the ocean and the shore, between the mountains and the plains, where the canyon meets the river.” ― Wm. Paul Young

33. “The boundary to what we can accept is the boundary to our freedom.” ― Tara Brach

34. “The more severe the dysfunction you experienced growing up, the more difficult boundaries are for you.” ― David W. Earle 

35. “Any problem, big or small, within a family, always seems to start with bad communication. Someone isn’t listening.” ― Emma Thompson

36. “When we change the way we communicate, we change society.” ― Clay Shirky

37. “When you give yourself permission to communicate what matters to you in every situation you will have peace despite rejection or disapproval. Putting a voice to your soul helps you to let go of the negative energy of fear and regret.” ― Shannon L. Alder

38. “You never know when a moment and a few sincere words can have an impact on a life.” ― Zig Ziglar

39. “Boundaries and risk management are very important parts of living a healthy and positive life.” ― Bryant McGill

40. “If you want more time, freedom and energy, start saying no.” — @bemorewithless on Instagram 

41. “When the trust account is high, communication is easy, instant, and effective.” ― Stephen R. Covey

42. “The only real conflict you will ever have in your life won’t be with others, but with yourself.” ― Shannon L. Alder

43. “The real art of conversation is not only to say the right thing at the right time, but also to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.” ― Dorothy Nevill

44. “A broken soul doesn’t invest in boundaries because the world has crossed them, without mercy.” ― Shannon L. Alder

45. “Being able to say “No” is a necessary ingredient in a healthy lifestyle.” ― David W. Earle

46. “Staying silent is like a slow growing cancer to the soul. There is nothing intelligent about not standing up for yourself. You may not win every battle. However, everyone will at least know what you stood for – You.” ― Shannon L. Alder 

47. “I encourage people to remember that ‘No’ is a complete sentence.” ― Gavin de Becker

48. “It is a mistake to look at someone who is self-assertive and say, ‘It’s easy for her, she has good self-esteem.’ One of the ways you build self-esteem is by being self-assertive when it is not easy to do so. There are always times when self-assertiveness requires courage, no matter how high your self-esteem.” ― Nathaniel Branden

49. “Givers need to set limits because takers rarely do.” ― Rachel Wolchin

50. “Half the world is composed of people who have something to say and can’t, and the other half who have nothing to say and keep on saying it.” ― Robert Frost

51. “There are two circumstances that lead to arrogance: one is when you’re wrong and you can’t face it; the other is when you’re right and nobody else can face it.” ― Criss Jami

52. “Only the truth of who you are, if realized, will set you free.” ― Eckhart Tolle

53. “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.” ― George Bernard Shaw

54. “Good communication is as stimulating as black coffee, and just as hard to sleep after.” ― Anne Morrow Lindbergh

55. “When people set boundaries with you, it’s their attempt to continue the relationship with you. It’s not an attempt to hurt you.” — Elizabeth Earnshaw 

Related: How to Spot the 5 Tell-Tale Signs of a Toxic Friendship

56. “Boundaries represent awareness, knowing what the limits are and then respecting those limits.” ― David W. Earle

57. “When you open your mind, you open new doors to new possibilities for yourself and new opportunities to help others.” ― Roy Bennett

58. “We try so hard to make ourselves lovable, and yet each layer of this mask puts another wall around us – a wall that keeps love out.” ― Vironika Tugaleva

59. “By no longer relying on approval from others for (false) reassurance or acceptance, you access a Divine channel of freedom.” ― Maria Flynn

60. “People who violate your boundaries are thieves. They steal time that doesn’t belong to them.” ― Elizabeth Grace Saunders

61. “A friend is one that knows you as you are, understands where you have been, accepts what you have become, and still, gently allows you to grow.” ― William Shakespeare

62. “Individuals set boundaries to feel safe, respected, and heard.” ― Pamela Cummins

63. “You have the right to say ‘No’ without feeling guilty.” ― Manuel J. Smith

64. “Confidence is knowing who you are and not changing it a bit because of someone’s version of your reality is not their reality.” ― Shannon L. Alder

65. “The opposite of self-assertiveness is self-abnegation; abandoning or submerging your personal values, judgment, and interests. Some people tell themselves this is a virtue. It is a “virtue” that corrodes self-esteem.” ― Nathaniel Branden

Related: 5 Phrases to Counter (Unjustified) Criticism, According to a Therapist

66. “When we fail to set boundaries and hold people accountable, we feel used and mistreated.” ― Brené Brown

67. “Being accommodating can be nice. Auto accommodating is just exhausting.” — Terri Cole 

68. “It’s a fact that you’re going to have a different opinion or view on certain topics or issues. You need stand your ground by sharing your view.” ― Michael Barbarulo

69. “Embrace the possibility of a fulfilled dream.” ― Lailah Gifty Akita

70. “Speak in your own voice about the things that matter to you.” ― Marty Rubin

71. “How would your life be different if you approached all relationships with authenticity and honesty? Let today be the day you dedicate yourself to building relationships on the solid foundation of truth and authenticity.” ― Steve Maraboli

72. “Many times in life I’ve regretted the things I’ve said without thinking. But I’ve never regretted the things I said nearly as much as the words I left unspoken.” ― Lisa Kleypas

73. “First learn the meaning of what you say, and then speak.” ― Epictetus

74. “Honoring your own boundaries is the clearest message to others to honor them, too.” ― Gina Greenlee

75. “Setting boundaries is a way of caring for myself. It doesn’t make me mean, selfish, or uncaring (just) because I don’t do things your way. I care about me, too.” ― Christine Morgan

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