Some Beautiful Thoughts on Trust

Some days ago, I had a shock.

A person I had trusted and ardently admired for almost two decades did something that caused me loss of face and hurt my budding business. For a whole day, I could not get over it, simmering, fuming and crying in turns. Slowly, as the shock and anger wore off, I found myself questioning the entire meaning of trust.

After all, trust forms the foundation of all our relationships. It is what we stand on and build with so much care. Trust is what helps us ride out life’s troughs and crests. So when that anchor is shaken or taken away, the jolt can be almost too much to bear.

It is in times like these that I find myself turning to words from the wise. As always, my search led me to my favorite site, Goodreads. Here are some gems I found there:

“I do not trust people who don’t love themselves and yet tell me, ‘I love you.’ There is an African saying which is: Be careful when a naked person offers you a shirt.”
― Maya Angelou

“’It was a mistake,’ you said. But the cruel thing was, it felt like the mistake was mine, for trusting you.”
― David Levithan, The Lover’s Dictionary

“To be trusted is a greater compliment than being loved.”
― George MacDonald

“Love meant jumping off a cliff and trusting that a certain person would be there to catch you at the bottom.”
― Jodi Picoult, Second Glance

“Loving someone is giving them the power to break your heart, but trusting them not to.”
― Julianne Moore

“Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.”
― Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self-Reliance

“Never trust the advice of a man in difficulties.”
― Aesop

An assortment of views here, which somehow managed to put things in perspective for me. More than that, words like these were obviously written because others have gone through the same pain of betrayal. I am not alone. This is life, warts and all, and it happens to everyone.

I am ready to trust again.

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Kathy P.

7:35AM PDT on Oct 27, 2012

thank you

October 27
send a green star

Stephanie A.

9:49PM PDT on Oct 25, 2012

I am in sync most with Maya Angelou in that I believe that I have first to be able to trust MY SELF to be on the lookout for me. I need to trust my Inner Voice instead of silencing her when she talks.

October 25
send a green star

Jane H.

2:39PM PDT on Oct 24, 2012

I mostly just trust my Higher Power whom I call The great Spirit.

October 24
send a green star

Thomas P.

9:28AM PDT on Oct 16, 2012

Very nice. I (respectfully) disagree with George MacDonald's quote. Nothing moves my heart as when a woman says, "I love you Thomas."

October 16
send a green star

Duane B.

3:05AM PDT on Oct 16, 2012

Thank you for sharing.

Siti R.

3:30AM PDT on Oct 15, 2012

absolutely right! my heart is like a china, it has many cracks but it won't break unless i gave my entire being to trusting people. a little skepticism and intuition goes a long way!

October 15
send a green star

Leslie R.

5:27PM PDT on Oct 14, 2012

Thank you for this. I too have trusted too easily or naively. I have also had to learn to trust myself and to accept that people don't necessarily value trust the same way I do. I think learning about trust is a lifelong practice if someone is open to new people like me as opposed to people who stay within the security of same group of people their entire life.

October 14
send a green star

Bob S.

1:35PM PDT on Oct 14, 2012

Trust, given with love, can be a wonderful catalyst to maturity. However, we should not expect average people to be able to withstand any temptation without practice, or to remain unaffected by the changing flux of alliances.

Arthur G.

12:23PM PDT on Oct 14, 2012

Trust is like a mirror; once broken, never the same.

Elsie H.

5:55AM PDT on Oct 14, 2012

Sorry for your heartache. Love is the key. Where there is love, there is trust.