50 Powerful Doormat Quotes to Help You Reclaim Your Dignity

By Clifton Sankofa | Updated April 11, 2024

I curated this collection of doormat quotes so you can stand tall in your power and never get walked on.

Learn about the phrase “treated like a doormat” with our quotes below.

What is a doormat?

A doormat is a small mat usually placed at the front or back door of a home or building’s entrance.

They are placed there for people to wipe their dirty shoes before entering the home.

Check out these exciting doormat uses below:

Doormats stop slippage.
Doormats are cost-effective and keep out dirt.
Doormats protect against water and moisture damage.

Doormats are excellent furniture pieces that extend your home’s life.

Doormats encourage families and visitors to wipe their feet.

Before the advent of modern roads, most people were dusty or muddy from traveling, and doormats allowed people to clean themselves off before entering a home.

You can’t always control the dirt and dust that comes into your house, but doormats can significantly decrease the dirt from entering your home.

Where do doormats come from?

The origin of the doormat is interesting.

The word comes from the Latin word “doormata” which means doorkeeper.

Doormats are used all over the world, albeit for different reasons.

Early humans made doormats out of grass and herbs for floor coverings.

These early mats kept the floor dry, warm and kept out the cold.

There are doormats from dwellings that date back 25,000 years ago!

During the Paleolithic period, early humans made primitive doormats and coverings out of tree bark.

More modern doormats are found in ancient Mesopotamia, which is modern-day Iraq.

These mats date back six thousand years and were made of straw, burlap, canvas, and jute.

What does the phrase treated like a doormat mean?

You have probably heard someone say, “Don’t treat me like a doormat.”

People use this term to express the idea that they will not accept being treated poorly or mistreated.

Doormats are where people wipe their dirty shoes.

People use this analogy to encourage others not to “put dirt on them” or smear their names.

This phrase is used by those who stand up for themselves by acknowledging their dignity.

To learn more, check out our doormat quotes below.

Short doormat quotes about setting boundaries

These quotes remind us that being a doormat is not good for your self-esteem.

1. “Celebrities are the doormats to power.” — Greg Gutfeld

2. “You can’t always be the jokester and the doormat.” — Manny Montana

3. “As women, we need to remember: don’t be a doormat!” — Amanda Harlech

4. “If you want to be a doormat, you have to lay yourself down first.” — Oscar Wilde

5. “God is not a doormat, nor should anyone else be a doormat.” — Lewis B. Smedes

6. “For me, there are two kinds of women: goddesses and doormats.” — Pablo Picasso

7. “I’m a bit of a tomboy, but when it comes to love, I am a doormat.” — Elisabetta Canalis

8. “Art teachers are always the doormats of the previous generation.” — Peter Schjeldahl

9. “I’m not going to sit there and be a doormat, you know what I mean?” — Angelina Pivarnick

10. “I’m an expert in hookers. I’m an expert in doormats. I’m an expert in victims.” — Shirley MacLaine

You will also enjoy our article on portal quotes.

The best doormat quotes about life

Check out these quotes that remind us why doormats are often used as an analogy for life.

11. “American married life is the doormat to the whorehouse.” — John Steinbeck

12. “The people that truly love us in life don’t fight for us to remain a doormat for others.” ― Shannon L. Alder

14. “The [Carter] administration doesn’t know the difference between a diplomat and a doormat.” — Ronald Reagan

13. “The role of admiring doormat is about the only one that one man is glad to tolerate in another.” — Louis-Ferdinand Celine

15. “Paul Ryan has become a doormat, and he’s become this little person who is following Romney around.” — Arianna Huffington

16. “Of course, even though she was not religious, it was a comfort to know that the Bible backed her up in being a doormat.” — Fannie Flagg

17. “Journalists have the sycophantic, false enthusing gush of maiden aunts: who are accustomed to being trampled on doormats.” — Caitlin Thomas

18. “They heard the click of the mail slot and flop of letters on the doormat. Get the mail, Dudley, said Uncle Vernon from behind his paper.” — J. K. Rowling

19. “It is healthy to be a person who seeks to be of help to his or her neighbor, but it is something else entirely (a sign of parasitic infection), to become a doormat to others.”

― Laurence Galian, Alien Parasites

20. “People that hold onto hate for so long do so because they want to avoid dealing with their pain. They falsely believe if they forgive, they are letting their enemy believe they are a doormat.” ― Shannon L. Alder

Doormat quotes you can wipe your feet on

Check out these doormat quotes that remind you to stand in your power.

21. “You can’t always be the jokester and the doormat.” — Manny Montana

22. “I’m not just a doormat. I’m not just being stepped on all over the place.” — Lucinda Williams

23. “Thoth blasted another demon, who collapsed and shriveled into a monster-shaped doormat.” — Rick Riordan

24. “The unfortunate thing about being a ‘doormat’ is, eventually, you must expire and get replaced.” ― Chinonye J. Chidolue

25. “I only know that people call me a feminist whenever I express sentiments that differentiate me from a doormat or a prostitute.” — Rebecca West

26. “Rule 1: Be kind. Rule 2: Don’t be a doormat when they step on you. Kindness and sticking up for yourself go hand in hand if you want happiness.” ― Richie Norton

27. “I love my ex so much I printed out all his pictures. After all, I need him for target practice. And I just love customized toilet paper and doormats.” ― Natalya Vorobyova

28. “Empowered Women 101: A confident woman knows that forgiving is important, but sticking around for constant abuse isn’t being confident; it is called being a doormat.” ― Shannon L. Alder

29. “In time, she would look up words like ‘doormat’ and ‘wimp,’ with Merriam-Webster definitions that would expose her to the faulty clockwork of her heart.” ― Angela Panayotopulos, The Wake Up

30. “Recovery [from codependency] may not always be comfortable at first for the other people in one’s life. But it is always worth it because, actually, nobody ever respects a ‘doormat.’” ― David Stafford, Codependency

The top doormat quotes to live by

Check out these awesome doormat quotes.

31. “Anyway, I was bringing him some magic doormats, and I was double-parked.” — Rick Riordan

32. “I don’t like threats. I don’t respond well to them, so I don’t give them. But I’m not a doormat.” — Roger Ailes

33. “I will never let myself down, treat myself like a doormat, or make myself small so others can feel big. — Anita Moorjani

34. “I refuse to be a doormat to any man. I will never allow anyone to push me around. I am my own mistress.” — Manisha Koirala

35. “You would be miserable if you had to go through life with a human doormat with ‘Welcome’ written on him.” — P. G. Wodehouse

36. “No one expects the doormat to stand upright, shake itself off, and amble down the street to seek its own happiness.” — Lynn Coady

37. “We joke a lot about how, in Hollywood, the writer is one step below the doormat. That’s not self-loathing. That’s true!” — Robert Ben Garant

38. “Women are not a doormat. We are equivalent to men. It is just that we have different bodies and different biological needs.” — Kalki Koechlin

39. “You can hide Truth under a doormat, but eventually, the mat will rise very high with time, forcing it to reveal all the truths it conceals.” — Suzy Kassem

40. “I loved the idea of working with Gene Hackman, who is a great actor, but when I read the script, I threw it right into the trash can, because I didn’t like this woman. She was just a doormat.” — Teri Garr

Doormat quotes and sayings for wiping off the dirt

Let us close out our list with these inspiring doormat quotes.

41. “I will not be a doormat. I will fight for our state, our families, and our values.” — Tony Evers

42. “Don Rickles gave me a doormat that sits just outside the front door of my house.” — Bob Newhart

43. “If you allow people to treat you like a doormat, they will expect you to say WELCOME.” — Robert Breault

44. “The trouble is, if you go too far towards being polite, the label that applies is ‘doormat.’” — Charles Stross

45. “If others know you have wishy-washy boundaries, then they are free to walk all over you. The results: you become a doormat.” ― David W. Earle LPC, Love is Not Enough

46. “We have trained others to do this when we allow people to wipe their muddy feet on us. After all, we are doormats.” ― David W. Earle LPC, Love is Not Enough

47. “My inbox and doormat are full with emails and letters from people who want me to endorse their Higgs board game or to inaugurate the walkway of their new office atrium.” — Peter Higgs

48. “But according to Jesus Christ, he is called to be a ‘doormat’ for others, called to be their spiritual leader, but never their superior.” ― Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

49. “Forgiving is love’s toughest work, and love’s biggest risk. If you twist it into something it was never meant to be, it can make you a doormat or an insufferable manipulator.” — Lewis B. Smedes

50. “We travel because, no matter how comfortable we are at home, there’s a part of us that wants that needs to see new vistas, take new tours, obtain new entrees, introduce new bacteria into our intestinal tracts, learn new words for “transfusion,” and have all the other travel adventures that make us want to French-kiss our doormats when we finally get home.” — Dave Barry