It’s terrible to be treated like an option by those you give your heart to, yet it happens. Psychologists say unreciprocated love is a major distressing experience for all parties in a relationship.
I’ve compiled the following not feeling like a priority in a relationship quotes to help you review the relationships in your life, whether with a romantic partner, family, or friends.
If you are treated like an afterthought in any relationship, I recommend reading these quotes and thinking honestly about what you truly want for yourself.
Not Feeling Like a Priority in a Relationship Quotes: Make Yourself a Priority
- “If you allow people to make more withdrawals than deposits in your life, you will be out of balance and in the negative! Know when to close the account.” – Christie Williams
- “Your worth to others depends on how you value yourself, don’t be an option to someone, be their priority.” – Blaze Olamiday
- “It’s not selfish to love yourself, take care of yourself, and to make your happiness a priority. It’s necessary.” – Mandy Hale
- “When someone treats you like an option, help them narrow their choices by removing yourself from the equation. It’s that simple.” – Robert Tew
- “There’s nothing quite as sad as a one-sided love. When one doesn’t care at all, and the other cares too much.” – Dolly Parton
- “Life’s a prison when you’re in love alone.” – Usher
- “Focus on your priorities before your priorities lose focus on you.” – Sarah Leigh
- “Love is a priority. True love is being a priority.” – Ananya Aggarwal
- “You shouldn’t marry unless the both of you are on the same page on a lot of things. Life is going to deal you blows, and you have to be together. Your values and priorities have to be on the same page; otherwise, it won’t work.” – Nicole Ari Parker
- “Choose the option that will give you long-term happiness instead of the option that will only give you temporary pleasure.” – Sonya Parker
- “If you become too readily available to people, they begin to take you for granted; pull away, and they will clamor for you.” – Dara Reidyr
- “Letting go doesn’t mean that you don’t care about someone anymore. It’s just realizing that the only person you really have control over is yourself.” – Deborah Reber
- “If you’re making a conscious effort… someone should be meeting you on the same page.” – Turcois Ominek
- “No partner in a love relationship… should feel that he has to give up an essential part of himself to make it viable.” – May Sarton
- “Don’t settle for being an option; become a priority.” – Matt Mitchell
- “You are a priority. Not an option, last resort, or toy. Don’t allow anyone to treat you like anything less.” – Ritu Ghatourey
- “Know what matters most to you and be unwilling to compromise those priorities at almost any price.” – Frank Sonnenberg
- “Never beg for someone’s time, commitment, affection, and attention. Never beg someone to stay with you when you need him the most.” – E. J. Cenita
- “I’m more than just an option; refuse or be forgotten.” – Drake
- “It hurts to know that even though you like me, I’m still not your priority.” – Joanne Lobedica
- “The most painful thing is losing yourself in the process of loving someone too much, and forgetting that you are special too.” – Ernest Hemingway
- “Love yourself enough to take care of your health of mind, body, and soul as a top priority; then you’ll be fit to face anything.” – Jay Woodman
Not Feeling Like a Priority in a Relationship Quotes: Recognizing When You Are Not Valued
- “When someone tells you they are too busy, it’s not a reflection of their schedule; it’s a reflection of your spot on their schedule.” – Steve Maraboli
- “Staying in a situation where you are unappreciated isn’t called loyalty. It’s called breaking your own heart.” – Trent Shelton
- “There’s no sense talking about priorities. Priorities reveal themselves. We’re all transparent against the face of the clock.” – Eric Zorn
- “Let us reflect on what is truly of value in life, what gives meaning to our lives, and set our priorities on the basis of that.” – Dalai Lama
- “Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
- “Sometimes it takes a heartbreak to shake us awake and help us see we are worth so much more than we’re settling for.” – Mandy Hale
- “Don’t forget, a person’s greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated.” – H. Jackson Brown Jr.
- “Busyness is not a reason for not getting other things done. It is an excuse for not claiming your true priorities.” – Alan Cohen
- “Unhealthy relationships keep our self-esteem low.” – Sam Owen
- “Your family and your love must be cultivated like a garden. Time, effort, and imagination must be summoned constantly to keep any relationship flourishing and growing.” – Jim Rohn
- “Make your relationship your number one priority” – Lisa Ling
- “Never allow pursuits or possessions to become a bigger priority than your relationships. Love is what gives meanings to life” – Dave Willis
- “When men or women make their work their top priority and become hostile to the normal, natural needs of their children and spouse ― obviously, something is wrong.” – Laura Schlessinger
- “If you have to ask where you stand, chances are you’re not a priority because if you were, you’d know it.” – Sonya Parker
- “The wrong person makes you beg for attention, affection, love, and commitment. The right person gives you these things because they love you.” – Sonya Parker
- “A person doesn’t know true hurt and suffering until they’ve felt the pain of falling in love with someone whose affections lie elsewhere.” – Rose Gordon
- “In a relationship, no amount of extra effort on your part can make up for a lack of effort on theirs.” – John Mark Green
- “Even the most intense feelings cease when neglected and taken for granted.” – Anupama Garg
- “It sucks being ignored. It makes you feel like you’re not important. Although selfish, you should be a high priority in their lives no matter what’s going on.” – Unknown
Not Feeling a Priority in a Relationship Quotes: Only Value Those Who Value You
- “Stop feeding connections that don’t feed you. Stop spending so much time filling others while you starve of love. You are deserving too.” – Billy Chapata
- “If they aren’t making you a priority, don’t make them a priority.” – Sonya Parker
- “Never love anybody that treats you like you are ordinary.” – Oscar Wilde
- “Never allow someone to be your priority while allowing yourself to be their option.” – Mark Twain
- “If they keep coming back to you, it isn’t love. It is because you made yourself an easy option. The moment the thing they truly want becomes less difficult to obtain is when you will realize that your worth was on sale.” – Shannon L. Alder
- “Do you know what it means to come home at night to a woman who’ll give you a little love, a little affection, a little tenderness? It means you’re in the wrong house; that’s what it means.” – Henry Youngman
- “I don’t want a perfect relationship. I want someone I can trust and who won’t be cheating on me physically or emotionally. Everyone needs someone who loves them completely and who won’t play games with their heart. Last but not least, I’m a strong believer that when it comes to relationships, remaining faithful is not an option but a priority. Loyalty means the world.” – Brigitte Nicole
- “If people put in the same effort to keep you as they did to get you, most relationships would last.” – Rashida Rowe
- “You can put all your effort in trying to make someone happy… but there comes a time when we become tired of trying to fill a bucket that is leaking from the inside.” – Steve Maraboli
- “The only person that deserves a special place in your life is someone that never made you feel like you were an option in theirs.” – Shannon L. Alder
- “Never make someone your priority when all you are to them is an option.” – Maya Angelou
- “Being alone is scary, but not as scary as feeling alone in a relationship.” – Amelia Earhart
- “Look for people in your life who will help calm the storms in your soul rather than challenge it to a battle. Peace should always be your first priority.” – Timothy Pina
- “Be with someone who won’t make poor excuses for their lack of effort.” – Kristie May
- “When someone loves you, the way they talk about you is different. You feel safe and comfortable.” – Jess C. Scott
- “The moment you discover he doesn’t want the same thing you want, let him go.” – Steve Harvey
- “Love simply is ― it asks no permissions. Acceptance is all love asks, the only demand it makes, but it is an absolute one. You can either admit it to your heart or refuse it, but there’s no other option.” – Stephanie Laurens