Trust is the glue that binds relationships. Without trust, it’s nearly impossible for any relationship to last.
These trust quotes show that our whole world is built around our ability to trust others.
We all have our own handful of beliefs about trust — especially when it comes to love. We wonder if we should trust someone from the start until they give us a reason not to, or if it’s better to hold back until our trust has been earned.
It can be hard to choose which way to go. If you hold back trust in a relationship, you send a message that you aren’t willing to open up to your partner, but if you give trust blindly without really knowing who a person is first, there’s a good chance of getting hurt.
The bottom line is that trust is something internal and personal to you, and before you can really trust someone else in a relationship — whether a higher power or a human being — you need to trust yourself.
Trust issues can lead you to believe you will never love again, or that you can’t fully let go to trust others. The reason that pain hurts so deeply is that there is a small part of you that feels like you’ve failed yourself.
Trust in love means being able to trust people using your inner self-confidence to perceive when someone is unsafe. Slowly, you will be able to decide to trust again and build stronger, more trusting relationships the way you always hoped.
In the spirit of moving forward, here are the best trust quotes that remind us what’s really important.
Quotes About Trust
1. “Without trust, there can be no genuine peace. Neither in politics nor the quiet individuality of the heart and spirit.” — Timothy Zahn
2. “Learning to trust is one of life’s most difficult tasks.” — Isaac Watts
3. “If we truly trust no one, we cannot survive.” — Megan Whalen Turner
4. “Trust has no gradient.” — Toba Beta
5. “Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.” — Buddha
6. “You have to trust or you’re only living half a life.” — J.D. Robb
7. “Trustful people are the pure at heart, as they are moved by the zeal of their own trustworthiness.” — Criss Jami
8. “If we do not trust one another, we are already defeated.” — Alison Croggon
9. “I’d rather hear an ugly truth, rather than an obscure lie.” — Ana Monnar
10. “Consistency is the true foundation of trust. Either keep your promises or do not make them.” — Roy T. Bennett
11. “Being trustworthy requires: Doing the right thing. And doing things right.” — Don Peppers
12. “Wisdom is found only in truth.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
13. “Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters.” — Albert Einstein
14. “None of us knows what might happen even the next minute, yet still we go forward. Because we trust. Because we have Faith.” — Paolo Coelho
15. “You may be deceived if you trust too much, but you will live in torment unless you trust enough.” — Frank Crane
16. “The easiest way to gain someone’s trust is to deserve it. This should be pretty easy, assuming you’re just being you and being real. Minimal effort too.” — Ashley Lorenzana
17. “I wanted to explain that trusting is harder than being trusted.” — Simon Van Booy
Trust Quotes for Relationships
18. “When you can’t believe your eyes, you can always trust your heart. Love makes anything possible.”
19. “Trust is the fruit of a relationship in which you know you are loved.” — William P. Young
20. “Trust is built when someone is vulnerable and not taken advantage of.” — Bob Vanourek
21. “Love is supposed to be based on trust, and trust on love, it’s something rare and beautiful when people can confide in each other without fearing what the other person will think.” — E.A. Bucchianeri
22. “Whether it’s friendship or relationship, all bonds are built on trust. Without it, you have nothing.”
23. “Loving someone is giving them the power to break your heart, but trusting them not to.” — Julianna Moore
24. “To be trusted is a greater compliment than being loved.” — George MacDonald
25. “Relationships should be built on trust and truth.” — Sophie Kinsella
26. “Without trust, it’s only a matter of time before relationships crumble.”
27. “Love cannot live where there is no trust.” — Edith Hamilton
28. “Trust is the glue of life. It’s the most essential ingredient in effective communication.” — Stephen Covey
29. “When an individual trusts another sufficiently to expose the true self — the deepest fears, the hidden desires — a powerful intimacy is born.” — Sarah Pekkanen
30. “In a relationship, trust is more important than love. It will enhance your love.”
31. “Trust and faith bring joy to life and help relationships grow to their maximum potential.” — Joyce Meyer
32. “I don’t trust people who don’t love themselves and tell me, ‘I love you.’ … There is an African saying which is: Be careful when a naked person offers you a shirt.” — Maya Angelou
33. “After all, trust is greater than love, and to truly trust another human being is rare. Love can exist without trust, but trust cannot exist without love.” — Sammy Sutton
34. “Trust is one of the most important things in a relationship. It won’t work if you don’t trust each other.”
35. “Trust. It is like placing a blade in someone’s hand and setting the very point to your heart.” — Cassandra Clare
36. “Have enough courage to trust love one more time and always one more time.” — Maya Angelou
37. “What is love after all but trusting in the unknown.” — Marty Rubin
38. “’I trust you’ is better than ‘I love you’ because you may not always trust the person you love but you can always love the person you trust.”
39. “Love meant jumping off a cliff and trusting that a certain person would be there to catch you at the bottom.” — Jodi Picoult
40. “Trust is not an obsession, it’s an extension of love. When we truly love someone, we give them our heart to hold in their hands. And when that love is returned, that very trust is balm to our souls.” — Julie Lessman
41. “Love is not really a mystery. It is a process like anything else. A process that requires trust, effort, focus, and commitment by two willing partners.” — Elizabeth Bourgeret
42. “The best proof of love is trust.”
43. “Trusting is hard. Knowing who to trust, even harder.” — Maria V. Snyder
44. “Two people can only live as one when each is prepared to give and receive trust and understanding. Above that lies respect. Without respect for how the other feels, no marriage is worthwhile.” — Helen Hollick
45. “It does not matter if you’re 16 or 21, looking for love or finding the perfect guy is not something you need to be worried about. Love finds you when you are ready. Things come to you when you least expect them. So keep doing what you love and make it a point to smile every day. Love is just around the corner. Trust the Universe.” — Vaishnavi Hajari
46. “When the trust is high, communication is easy, instant, and effective.” — Stephen Covey
47. “After all … what does being in love mean if you can’t trust a person.” — Evelyn Waugh
48. “Love and trust are so powerful. They can literally change the fate of a person.” Tasha Hoggatt
49. “We’re never so vulnerable than when we trust someone — but paradoxically, if we cannot trust, neither can we find love or joy.” — Frank Crane
50. “Communication + Trust = A relationship that will last a lifetime.”
Broken Trust Quotes
51. “I’m not upset that you lied to me, I’m upset that from now on I can’t believe you.” — Friedrich Nietzsche
52. “Don’t trust the person who has broken faith once.” — William Shakespeare
53. “Sometimes, the most dangerous people were the ones you trusted most.” — Jennifer Lynn Barnes
54. “Trust takes years to build, seconds to break, and forever to repair.” — Dhar Mann
55. “It’s ok to be a fool once or twice but never let it be a third time. Be smart and pretend to be a fool and at the end of the hunt make sure you’re the one that has the gun.” — Surgeo Bell
56. “Sometimes the people you trust are the ones who will hurt you the most.” — Valenciya Lyons
57. “When someone shows you their true colors, trust your instincts, and don’t all of a sudden become colorblind.” — Christine E. Szymanski
58. “Trust is like a mirror, you can fix it if it’s broken, but you can still see the crack in that … reflection.” — Lady Gaga
59. “’It was a mistake,’ you said. But the cruel thing was, it felt like the mistake was mine, for trusting you.” — David Levithan
60. “For there to be betrayal, there would have to have been trust first.” — Suzanne Collins
61. “You can’t rely on anybody being around for you, because things change.” — Kirsty Eager
62. “Everyone suffers at least one bad betrayal in their lifetime. It’s what unites us. The trick is not to let it destroy your trust in others when that happens. Don’t let them take that from you.” — Sherrilyn Kenyon
63. “You are going to break your promise. I understand. And I hold my hands over the ears of my heart so that I will not hate you.” — Catherynne M. Valente
64. “Forgiveness must be immediate, whether or not a person asks for it. Trust must be rebuilt over time. Trust requires a track record.” — Rick Warren
65. “To borrow against the trust someone has placed in you costs nothing at first. You get away with it, you take a little more and a little more until there is no more to draw on. Oddly, your hands should be full with all that taking but when you open them there’s nothing there.” — Jeannette Winterson
66. “The truly scary thing about undiscovered lies is that they have a greater capacity to diminish us than exposed ones.” — Cheryl Hughes
67. “It isn’t easy when life tears away the one person in a million you thought you could always trust.” — Benjamin R. Smith
68. “Trust, like the lubricant in an engine, is noticed only when it is gone and the motor has seized up.” — David Hurst
Quotes About Trusting Yourself
69. “Always trust your gut. It knows what your head hasn’t figured out yet.”
70. “Trust yourself, you will start to trust others.” — Santosh Kalwar
71. “Sometimes in life, we take a leap of faith. Remember, the leap is not about getting from one side to the other. It’s simply about taking the leap….and trusting the air, the universal breath will support your wings so that you may soar.” — Kristi Bowman
72. “Self-trust is the first secret of success.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
73. “If you cannot trust yourself, you cannot even trust your mistrust of yourself — so that without this underlying trust in the whole system of nature you are simply paralyzed.” — Alan Watts
74. “But with trust, we can strive to accept even what we cannot understand.” — Christopher Ryan
75. “Trust what you love, continue to do it and it will take you where you need to go.” — Natalie Goldberg
76. “You can only trust your emotions as you can lie to yourself with your brain but not your heart.” — Carl White
77. “To have faith is to trust yourself to the water. When you swim you don’t grab hold of the water, because if you do you will sink and drown. Instead, you relax, and float.” — Alan Wilson Watts
“Instead of saying, ‘I’m damaged, I’m broken, I have trust issues’ say ‘I’m healing, I’m rediscovering myself, I’m starting over.’” — Horacio Jones
78. “Do not lose hope — what you seek will be found. Trust ghosts. Trust those that you have helped to help you in their turn. Trust dreams. Trust your heart, and trust your story.” — Neil Gaiman
79. “To be a good human being is to have a kind of openness to the world, an ability to trust uncertain things beyond your own control, that can lead you to be shattered in very extreme circumstances for which you were not to blame.” — Martha Nussbaum
80. “Sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of instant courage and I promise you something great will come of it.”
81. “People that have trust issues only need to look in the mirror. There they will meet the one person that will betray them the most.” — Shannon L. Alder
82. “You can’t do passion halfway. Living your passion means you’re all in. You trust your heart and trust your gut wherever that takes you.” — Joe Plumeri
83. “How you make others feel about you says a lot about you.”
84. “Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
85. “Can’t trust no one else to do what you won’t do for yourself.” — Peter V. Brett
86. “It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” — E.E. Cummings
87. “I’ve realized I don’t need to keep looking for my path. I’m already on it. I just need to trust where it leads.” — Teresa R. Funke
88. “Self-distrust is good, but only if it leads to trust in God. Otherwise, it ends as spiritual paralysis, inability and unwillingness to undertake any course of action.” — Alan Cole
89. “Just trust yourself, then you will know how to live.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
90. “Trust your instincts, and make judgments on what your heart tells you. The heart will not betray you.” — David Gemmell
91. “He who does not trust enough will not be trusted.” — Lao Tzu
92. “The inability to open up to hope is what blocks trust, and blocked trust is the reason for blighted dreams.” — Elizabeth Gilbert
93. “Let go of the need to control the outcome. Trust the process. Trust your intuition. Trust yourself.”
94. “Hold the vision. Trust the process.”
95. “Peace and trust take years to build and seconds to shatter.” — Mahogany SilverRain
96. “Trust your hunches. They’re usually based on facts.” — Dr. Joyce Brothers
Friendship Trust Quotes
98. “When you completely trust a person without any doubt, you’ll automatically receive one of two things — a friend for life or a lesson for life.”
99. “A man trusts another man when he sees enough of himself in him.” — Gregory David Roberts
100. “The way to make people trustworthy is to trust them.” — Ernest Hemingway
101. “I have this thing about friends and secrets. Sometimes when I meet a person I like, I tell them a secret they don’t know me well enough to be told. It lets me judge their potential as a friend.” — Mohsin Hamid
102. “People are my most important asset. Faith in the supreme being, trust, credibility, and performance are the things that have brought me to the top.” — Don King
103. “Better to trust the man who is frequently in error than the one who is never in doubt.” — Eric Sevareid
104. “You know, sometimes you’ve got to trust the people you love. You’ve got to trust that if they’re good people, they’ll make good decisions.” — Janette Rallison
105. “Great people have great values and great ethics.” — Jeffrey Gitomer
106. “You see, you closed your eyes. That was the difference. Sometimes you cannot believe what you see, you have to believe what you feel. And if you are ever going to have other people trust you, you must feel that you can trust them, too — even when you’re in the dark. Even when you’re falling.” — Mitch Albom
107. “The next time you mistrust someone, consider this — does that person feel responsible for you in any way? If the answer is yes, then go ahead and trust them. Very likely, they are looking out for your best interest.” — Vera Nazarin
108. “Friendship is built on two things. Respect and trust. Both elements have to be there, and they have to be mutual. You can have respect for someone, but if you don’t have trust, the friendship will crumble.” — Steig Larsson
109. “Trust starts with truth and ends with truth.” — Santosh Kalwar
110. “The only way to make a man trustworthy is to trust him.” — Henry Stimson
111. “It’s so important to reach out to people you trust, and who can give you honest feedback, and keep those people close to you. You don’t want to surround yourself with enablers.” — Tim Gunn
112. “It is more shameful to distrust our friends than to be deceived by them.” — Confucius
113. “Don’t trust people whose feelings change with time… Trust people whose feelings remain the same, even when the time changes.” — Ziad K. Abdelnour
114. “If you want to do really important things in life and big things in life, you can’t do anything by yourself. And your best teams are your friends and your siblings.” — Deepak Chopra
115. “Don’t trust people who tell you other people’s secrets.” — Dan Howell
116. “Your mind can go ahead and imagine what it wants to imagine, but a true friend will always remain true, in spite of the false messages running through your mind.” — Michael Bassey Johnson
117. “No individual can win a game by himself.” — Plato
118. “Few delights can equal the mere presence of one whom we trust utterly.” — George MacDonald
119. “Without such trust and safety, social relationships tend to become strategic rather than cooperative, increasingly full of skepticism and even anxiety and fear about others’ intentions.” — Donald Rothberg
120. “You must trust and believe in people, or life becomes impossible.” — Anton Chekhov
Aria Gmitter, M.S, M.F.A., is YourTango’s Senior Editor of Horoscopes and Spirituality. She studies with the Midwestern School of Astrology and is a member of the South Florida Astrological Association.