--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The most hurtful thing is not what comes…" description: "\"The most hurtful thing is not what comes from our adversaries, it's what comes from our friends.\" — Gloria Steinem" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/016/gloria-steinem-277_adversaries_the-most-hurtful-thing-is-not-what-comes_337574.jpg" --- # The most hurtful thing is not what comes from our… ![“The most hurtful thing is not what comes from our adversaries, it's what comes from our friends.” quote by Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/016/gloria-steinem-277_adversaries_the-most-hurtful-thing-is-not-what-comes_337574.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/016/gloria-steinem-277_adversaries_the-most-hurtful-thing-is-not-what-comes_337574.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/016/gloria-steinem-277_adversaries_the-most-hurtful-thing-is-not-what-comes_337574.jpg) > “The most hurtful thing is not what comes from our adversaries, it's what comes from our friends.” [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The deepest pain often comes from friends, not enemies, highlighting betrayal’s impact. **In simple terms:** Friends can hurt more than foes. Key Takeaway Guard against betrayal. Themes relationships trust betrayal Mood cautious thoughtful Type advice reflective When to use this quote - friendships - family gatherings - workplace interactions Key Concepts psychology social dynamics emotional health Questions to Reflect On - How do you rebuild trust after betrayal? - What boundaries protect you? A Different Perspective May generalize all friendships as risky. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adversaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adversaries/) [Adversaries Comes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adversaries-comes-3144140/) [Comes Adversaries](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comes-adversaries-3144139/) [Comes Friends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/comes-friends-2570531/) [Friends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friends/) [Friendship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friendship/) [Hurtful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hurtful/) [Hurtful Thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hurtful-thing-1015050/) [Most](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/most/) [Our](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/our/) [Thing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thing/) ## Related quotes > [If someone keeps apologizing for the same hurtful thing over and over again it's obvious that they're not going to change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonya-parker/if-someone-keeps-apologizing-for-the-same-hurtful-thing-over-and-over/) [Sonya Parker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonya-parker/) > [For some reason if we hear 100 praises and one criticism, we focus on that one hurtful thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carmen-electra/for-some-reason-if-we-hear-100-praises-and-one-criticism-we-focus-on/) [Carmen Electra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carmen-electra/) > [One of the most hurtful thing you can do to someone is to act like you care about them when you really dont](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-of-the-most-hurtful-thing-you-can-do-to-someone-is-to-act-like/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“The most hurtful thing I have ever heard come from a friend is ' i think its best we cut all ties' see for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miss-gath/the-most-hurtful-thing-i-have-ever-heard-come-from-a-friend-is-i/) [miss Gath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/miss-gath/) > [The most hurtful thing to me is when people try to put assumptions on me and my relationship because that is not OK. Love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gigi-hadid/the-most-hurtful-thing-to-me-is-when-people-try-to-put-assumptions-on/) [Gigi Hadid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gigi-hadid/) > [Sometimes the most hurtful thing is the silence of friends, not the words of enemies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-vanderpump/sometimes-the-most-hurtful-thing-is-the-silence-of-friends-not-the/) [Lisa Vanderpump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-vanderpump/) > [When it comes to friends, as in people to relax with, that's my wife and my kids.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ashley-walters/when-it-comes-to-friends-as-in-people-to-relax-with-that-s-my-wife/) [Ashley Walters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ashley-walters/) > [Often when it comes to friends. When the rubber hits the road you'll find yourself hitch hiking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanley-victor-paskavich/often-when-it-comes-to-friends-when-the-rubber-hits-the-road-you-ll/) [Stanley Victor Paskavich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanley-victor-paskavich/) > [When the time comes for friends to part, love will be the bride, from heart to heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-the-time-comes-for-friends-to-part-love-will-be-the-bride-from/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [But remember, when it comes to friends, it's not how much time you spend with them, just how you spend it!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eiichiro-oda/but-remember-when-it-comes-to-friends-it-s-not-how-much-time-you/) [Eiichiro Oda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eiichiro-oda/) > [The cry comes from the friends of the school-room, from those who would give the State a strong, great, noble citizenship, for protection from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jordan-jarvis/the-cry-comes-from-the-friends-of-the-school-room-from-those-who/) [Thomas Jordan Jarvis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jordan-jarvis/) > [The sun is such a lonely star. Whenever he comes out to see his friends, they all disappear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-gordon-levitt/the-sun-is-such-a-lonely-star-whenever-he-comes-out-to-see-his/) [Joseph Gordon-Levitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-gordon-levitt/) > [Family comes first and friends who understand that are family.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/family-comes-first-and-friends-who-understand-that-are-family/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Comes to show you can be friends with someone for a good while, but until they find someone better than you, you can be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/comes-to-show-you-can-be-friends-with-someone-for-a-good-while-but/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Love is the most beautiful thing to have, the hardest thing to earn & most hurtful thing to lose.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anurag-prakash-ray/love-is-the-most-beautiful-thing-to-have-the-hardest-thing-to-earn/) [Anurag Prakash Ray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anurag-prakash-ray/) ## More by Gloria Steinem > [People waste more time waiting for someone to take charge of their lives than they do in any other pursuit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/people-waste-more-time-waiting-for-someone-to-take-charge-of-their/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Nothing will happen automatically. Change depends on what you and I do every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/nothing-will-happen-automatically-change-depends-on-what-you-and-i-do/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Women are never again going to be mindless coffee-makers or mindless policy-makers in politics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/women-are-never-again-going-to-be-mindless-coffee-makers-or-mindless/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [The state of female artists is very good. But the very definition of art has been biased in that 'art' was what men did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/the-state-of-female-artists-is-very-good-but-the-very-definition-of/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [We will live to see the day that St. Patrick's Cathedral is a child-care center and the pope is no longer a disgrace to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/we-will-live-to-see-the-day-that-st-patrick-s-cathedral-is-a-child/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Just when you thought multi-nationals and crazed consumerism were too big to fight, along comes Naomi Klein with facts, spirit, and news of successful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/just-when-you-thought-multi-nationals-and-crazed-consumerism-were-too/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [I don't know Beyoncé, but I have the impression that she's sincere, that she really is a feminist and wanted to put the word…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/i-don-t-know-beyonc-but-i-have-the-impression-that-she-s-sincere-that/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [I started out life as a writer, and writers write in part because they don't want to talk.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/i-started-out-life-as-a-writer-and-writers-write-in-part-because-they/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Proust's tea cake has nothing on one hour in a college dorm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/proust-s-tea-cake-has-nothing-on-one-hour-in-a-college-dorm/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Sadomasochiasm - which we know very well doesn't exist in societies that don't have child abuse - is regarded some sort of natural sexual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/sadomasochiasm-which-we-know-very-well-doesn-t-exist-in-societies/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Behave like everything you do matters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/behave-like-everything-you-do-matters/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [“Part of traveling over years means coming back to the same place and knowing it for the first time.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/part-of-traveling-over-years-means-coming-back-to-the-same-place-and/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [If you say, I'm for equal pay, that's a reform. But if you say. I'm a feminist, that's a transformation of society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/if-you-say-i-m-for-equal-pay-that-s-a-reform-but-if-you-say-i-m-a/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [I think that part of everybody's success is due to their looks, but it just works in different ways. If you're whatever society calls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/i-think-that-part-of-everybody-s-success-is-due-to-their-looks-but-it/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Of course, we can change. We're very adaptable. But it takes a while.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/of-course-we-can-change-we-re-very-adaptable-but-it-takes-a-while/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) [Explore all 766 Gloria Steinem quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) ## More Adversaries quotes > [In all matters of opinion, our adversaries are insane.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/in-all-matters-of-opinion-our-adversaries-are-insane/) [Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/) > [Inanimate objects are sometimes parties to litigation. A ship has a legal personality, a fiction found useful for maritime purposes. The corporation sole -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-o-douglas/inanimate-objects-are-sometimes-parties-to-litigation-a-ship-has-a/) [William O. Douglas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-o-douglas/) > [There were various aspects of Sun Tzu's approach that appealed to Ho Chi Minh: a) to learn to understand both the enemy and yourself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-duiker/there-were-various-aspects-of-sun-tzu-s-approach-that-appealed-to-ho/) [William J. Duiker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-duiker/) > [Marriage, in my view, should be a balanced stalemate between equal adversaries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/marriage-in-my-view-should-be-a-balanced-stalemate-between-equal/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If an adversary didn't target our power plants but they did target the core routers, the backbones that tie our internet connections together, entire…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-snowden/if-an-adversary-didn-t-target-our-power-plants-but-they-did-target/) [Edward Snowden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-snowden/) > [It's like I'm married to the silencer, Until I file for divorce and release my ex-calibers. Do art with your arteries, place that for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pharoahe-monch/it-s-like-i-m-married-to-the-silencer-until-i-file-for-divorce-and/) [Pharoahe Monch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pharoahe-monch/) > [Educational exchange can turn nations into people, contributing as no other form of communication can to the humanizing of international relations. Man's capacity for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-william-fulbright/educational-exchange-can-turn-nations-into-people-contributing-as-no/) [J. William Fulbright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-william-fulbright/) > [Obama is hardly the first president to seek rapprochement with our adversaries and reconciliation with our enemies, of course. But his determination to make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-f-hayes/obama-is-hardly-the-first-president-to-seek-rapprochement-with-our/) [Stephen F. Hayes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-f-hayes/) > [It is better to make friends than adversaries of a conquered race.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-haydon/it-is-better-to-make-friends-than-adversaries-of-a-conquered-race/) [Benjamin Haydon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-haydon/) > [“The most courageous act in politics is to try to understand your opponent.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/the-most-courageous-act-in-politics-is-to-try-to-understand-your/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [My adversary is the world of finance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-hollande/my-adversary-is-the-world-of-finance/) [Francois Hollande](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-hollande/) > [Often GOP political strategy seems like the human wave theory of the Chinese military translated to politics. Where Beijing uses masses of soldiers to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-morris/often-gop-political-strategy-seems-like-the-human-wave-theory-of-the/) [Dick Morris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-morris/) > [Our ability to fall in love requires enough comfort with our masculinity to join it with someone's femininity and feel enhanced. .. . If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-pittman/our-ability-to-fall-in-love-requires-enough-comfort-with-our/) [Frank Pittman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-pittman/) > [You negotiate in bad faith if you do not forgive your adversary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nelson-mandela/you-negotiate-in-bad-faith-if-you-do-not-forgive-your-adversary/) [Nelson Mandela](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nelson-mandela/) > [We should seek after spiritual gifts. They can lead us to God. They can shield us from the power of the adversary. They can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dallin-h-oaks/we-should-seek-after-spiritual-gifts-they-can-lead-us-to-god-they-can/) [Dallin H. Oaks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dallin-h-oaks/) [Browse all 446 Adversaries quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adversaries/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The most hurtful thing is not what comes from our adversaries, it's what comes from our friends.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Gloria Steinem" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/the-most-hurtful-thing-is-not-what-comes-from-our-adversaries-it-s/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Adversaries" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/the-most-hurtful-thing-is-not-what-comes-from-our-adversaries-it-s/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/016/gloria-steinem-277_adversaries_the-most-hurtful-thing-is-not-what-comes_337574.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/016/gloria-steinem-277_adversaries_the-most-hurtful-thing-is-not-what-comes_337574.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/016/gloria-steinem-277_adversaries_the-most-hurtful-thing-is-not-what-comes_337574.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The most hurtful thing is not what comes from our adversaries, it's what comes from our friends.” — Gloria Steinem", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Gloria Steinem", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The most hurtful thing is not...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/the-most-hurtful-thing-is-not-what-comes-from-our-adversaries-it-s/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/the-most-hurtful-thing-is-not-what-comes-from-our-adversaries-it-s/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```