Understanding Anxiety

“Anxiety is a thin stream of fear trickling through the mind. If encouraged, it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained.” – Arthur Somers Roche

“Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom.” – Søren Kierkegaard

“Our anxiety does not come from thinking about the future, but from wanting to control it.” – Kahlil Gibran

“The largest part of what we call ‘personality’ is determined by how we’ve opted to defend ourselves against anxiety and sadness.” – Alain de Botton

“Anxiety is love’s greatest killer. It makes others feel as you might when a drowning man holds on to you. You want to save him, but you know he will strangle you with his panic.” – Anais Nin

Managing Thoughts and Reactions

“You don’t have to control your thoughts; you just have to stop letting them control you.” – Dan Millman

“Every time you are tempted to react in the same old way, ask if you want to be a prisoner of the past or a pioneer of the future.” – Deepak Chopra

“The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.” – William James

“You can’t always control what goes on outside. But you can always control what goes on inside.” – Wayne Dyer

“Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“The only way to get rid of the fear of doing something is to go out and do it.” – Susan Jeffers

Finding Inner Peace

“Smile, breathe, and go slowly.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

“You wouldn’t worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

“You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.” – Jon Kabat-Zinn

“Nothing diminishes anxiety faster than action.” – Walter Anderson

“Our anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strengths.” – Charles Spurgeon

“Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“You are the sky. Everything else – it’s just the weather.” – Pema Chödrön

“Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths.” – Etty Hillesum

“Keep your face always toward the sunshine—and shadows will fall behind you.” – Walt Whitman

Perspectives on Worry

“Anxiety’s like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it doesn’t get you very far.” – Jodi Picoult

“Worrying is like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do but never gets you anywhere.” – English Proverb

“People become attached to their burdens sometimes more than the burdens are attached to them.” – George Bernard Shaw

“Do not anticipate trouble or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight.” – Benjamin Franklin

“Difficulties are just things to overcome, after all.” – Ernest Shackleton

Shifting Perspective and Finding Hope

“You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

“You’re not going to die. Here’s the white-hot truth: if you go bankrupt, you’ll still be okay. If you lose the gig, the lover, the house, you’ll still be okay. If you sing off-key, get beat by the competition, have your heart shattered, get fired…it’s not going to kill you. Ask anyone who’s been through it.” – Danielle LaPorte

“Do not let your difficulties fill you with anxiety; after all, it is only in the darkest nights that stars shine more brightly.” – Ali Ibn Abi Talib

“Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” – Theodore Roosevelt

“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” – Arthur Ashe

“Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today.” – Will Rogers

“Action is the antidote to despair.” – Joan Baez

“What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.” – Richard Bach

“Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths.” – Etty Hillesum

Encouraging Action and Change

“Action is the antidote to despair.” – Joan Baez

“Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” – Arthur Ashe

“Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today.” – Will Rogers

“The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.” – Elbert Hubbard

“You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

“What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.” – Richard Bach

“Keep your face always toward the sunshine—and shadows will fall behind you.” – Walt Whitman