Anxiety, a common emotional experience, affects countless individuals around the globe. This compilation of quotes seeks to provide wisdom, comfort, and inspiration to those who grapple with anxiety, offering insights from varied perspectives. By acknowledging and understanding anxiety, we can better navigate its complexities, draw comfort in solidarity, and discover strategies for relief. These expressions capture the essence of anxiety, providing both solace and empowerment to carry forward with resilience and strength. The following quotes are classified under specific themes, each offering a unique lens to view and cope with anxiety, encouraging individuals to embrace their journeys and find certainty amid uncertainty.
Inspiration Quotes on Overcoming 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
"You don’t have to control your thoughts; you just have to stop letting them control you." – Dan Millman
"Don’t believe everything you think. Thoughts are just that—thoughts." – Allan Lokos
"Our anxiety does not come from thinking about the future, but from wanting to control it." – Kahlil Gibran
"Present fears are less than horrible imaginings." – William Shakespeare
"Nothing can bring you peace but yourself." – Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength." – Corrie Ten Boom
"Surrender to what is. Let go of what was. Have faith in what will be." – Sonia Ricotti
"The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another." – William James
"Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom." – Søren Kierkegaard
"Life is ten percent what you experience and ninety percent how you respond to it." – Dorothy M. Neddermeyer
"You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf." – Jon Kabat-Zinn
Wisdom Quotes to Ease Anxious Minds
"Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith." – Henry Ward Beecher
"Silence is the element in which great things fashion themselves together." – Thomas Carlyle
"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." – Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Even if happiness forgets you a little bit, never completely forget about it." – Jacques Prévert
"Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration." – Frank Herbert
"Sometimes letting things go is an act of far greater power than defending or hanging on." – Eckhart Tolle
"A crust eaten in peace is better than a banquet partaken in anxiety." – Aesop
"Peace is always beautiful." – Walt Whitman
"Anxiety’s like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it doesn’t get you very far." – Jodi Picoult
"Chin up, beautiful. Seek and find the good in every moment." – Unknown
"Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact." – William James
"Change is never painful; only the resistance to change is painful." – Buddha
Motivational Quotes for Anxiety Relief
"P.S. You’re not going to die. Here’s the white hot tip: just worry about today." – Unknown
"Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." – Confucius
"Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight." – Benjamin Franklin
"Anxiety happens when you think you have to figure everything out all at once. Breathe. You're strong. You got this. Take it day by day." – Karen Salmansohn
"The time to relax is when you don’t have time for it." – Sydney J. Harris
"Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." – A.A. Milne
"If you want to conquer the anxiety of life, live in the moment, live in the breath." – Amit Ray
"Remember, no amount of guilt can change the past and no amount of anxiety can change the future." – Unknown
"Out of your vulnerabilities will come your strength." – Sigmund Freud
"Smile, breathe, and go slowly." – Thich Nhat Hanh
"It is not a daily increase, but a daily decrease. Hack away at the inessentials." – Bruce Lee
"The sun himself is weak when he first rises and gathers strength and courage as the day gets on." – Charles Dickens
Comforting Quotes for Anxious Hearts
"Peace of mind is not the absence of conflict from life, but the ability to cope with it." – Unknown
"The only way to find true happiness is to risk being completely cut open." – Chuck Palahniuk
"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
"Act the way that you want to feel." – Gretchen Rubin
"You are the sky. Everything else – it’s just the weather." – Pema Chödrön
"Calmness is the cradle of power." – Josiah Gilbert Holland
"The breathing techniques help me, they're like a safety net." – Andrew Garfield
"Happiness is not a goal…it’s a by-product of a life well lived." – Eleanor Roosevelt
"The more one can let go of, the more anxiety disappears." – Amit Ray
"Be gentle with yourself, you’re doing the best you can." – Anonymous
"No need to hurry. No need to sparkle. No need to be anybody but oneself." – Virginia Woolf
"It's not stress that kills us, it is our reaction to it." – Hans Selye
Mindfulness Quotes to Combat Anxiety
"Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor." – Thich Nhat Hanh
"Mindfulness isn’t difficult, we just need to remember to do it." – Sharon Salzberg
"Peace cannot be kept by force; it can only be achieved by understanding." – Albert Einstein
"Short moments of presence repeated many times is what brings stability." – Unknown
"Mindfulness is the miracle by which we master and restore ourselves." – Thich Nhat Hanh
"The mind is everything. What you think you become." – Buddha
"Pause, breath, repair your universe, proceed." – Unknown
"Mindfulness is a way of befriending ourselves and our experience." – Jon Kabat-Zinn
"Walk as if you are kissing the Earth with your feet." – Thich Nhat Hanh
"When you realize nothing is lacking, the whole world belongs to you." – Lao Tzu
"Worry pretends to be necessary but serves no useful purpose." – Eckhart Tolle
"The present moment is filled with joy and happiness. If you are attentive, you will see it." – Thich Nhat Hanh
Quotes to Find Strength in Anxiety
"Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest taken between two deep breaths." – Etty Hillesum
"A warrior is not about perfection, or victory, or invulnerability. He's about absolute vulnerability." – Peaceful Warrior
"Learning to ignore things is one of the great paths to inner peace." – Robert J. Sawyer
"Panic causes tunnel vision. Calm acceptance of danger allows us to more easily assess the situation and see the options." – Simon Sinek
"Stress is not what happens to us. It's our response TO what happens. And response is something we can choose." – Maureen Killoran
"You wouldn’t worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do." – Eleanor Roosevelt
"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage." – Anaïs Nin
"Nothing can dim the light that shines from within." – Maya Angelou
"Everything you have ever wanted, is sitting on the other side of fear." – George Addair
"It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it." – Lou Holtz
"My anxiety doesn’t come from thinking about the future but from wanting to control it." – Hugh Prather
"Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this very moment is the only one you know you have for sure." – Oprah Winfrey
Encouragement Quotes for Anxious Moments
"Fear cannot take what you do not give it." – Christopher Coan
"Begin the habit of immediate compliance with positive counsel." – Jim Rohn
"The best way out is always through." – Robert Frost
"Blessed is the person who is too busy to worry in the daytime and too sleepy to worry at night." – Unknown
"The largest part of anxiety is not in its events, but in the uncertainty of them." – Unknown
"Never let life’s hardships disturb you; no one can avoid problems, not even saints or sages." – Nichiren
"Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow." – Swedish Proverb
"You cannot always control what goes on outside, but you can always control what goes on inside." – Wayne Dyer
"What if you simply devoted this year to loving yourself more?" – Unknown
"Every day may not be good, but there’s something good in every day." – Unknown
"Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions." – Mark Twain
"Anxiety is a thin thread to tie success." – Franklin D. Roosevelt
Empowerment Quotes for Conquering Anxiety
"Great acts are made up of small deeds." – Lao Tzu
"If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude." – Maya Angelou
"I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship." – Louisa May Alcott
"With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts." – Eleanor Roosevelt
"Sometimes our thoughts are backed by so much insecurity that they create lies we believe." – Unknown
"Step outside for a while - calm your mind. It is better to hug a tree than to bang your head against a wall continually." – Rasheed Ogunlaru
"Worry is like a rocking chair: it gives you something to do but never gets you anywhere." – Erma Bombeck
"The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one." – Elbert Hubbard
"You can do anything—but not everything." – David Allen
"When you change your thoughts, remember to also change your world." – Norman Vincent Peale
"Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength." – Charles Spurgeon
"Throw your dreams into space like a kite, and you do not know what it will bring back, a new life, a new friend, a new love, a new country." – Anaïs Nin
Hopeful Quotes for Those with Anxiety
"Breathe deeply until sweet freedom arrives." – Unknown
"Stars can’t shine without darkness." – Unknown
"Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly." – Zen proverb
"Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness." – Desmond Tutu
"You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it." – Margaret Thatcher
"Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape your future." – Robert H. Schuller
"Believe in yourself and all that you are. Know that there is something inside you that is greater than any obstacle." – Christian D. Larson
"Rise above the storm and you will find the sunshine." – Mario Fernández
"Dance. Smile. Giggle. Marvel. TRUST. HOPE. LOVE. WISH. BELIEVE." – Unknown
"Every small positive change we make in ourselves repays us in confidence in the future." – Alice Walker
"The only way out is through." – Robert Frost
"Life isn't about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." – George Bernard Shaw
Reflections Quotes on Anxiety
"Every day brings a choice: to practice stress or to practice peace." – Joan Borysenko
"Man is not worried by real problems so much as by his imagined anxieties about real problems." – Epictetus
"Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans." – John Lennon
"Imagine smiling after a slap in the face. Then think of doing it twenty-four hours a day." – Markus Zusak
"Muddy water is best cleared by leaving it alone." – Alan Watts
"All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better." – Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Be yourself, for everybody else is already taken." – Oscar Wilde
"A year from now you may wish you had started today." – Karen Lamb
"Things do not change; we change." – Henry David Thoreau
"Where there is love and inspiration, I don’t think you can go wrong." – Ella Fitzgerald
"Stop being afraid of what can go wrong and start being excited about what can go right." – Tony Robbins
"True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice." – Martin Luther King Jr.
Final words
Anxiety, while a challenging and often overwhelming aspect of life, can be understood and reframed through impactful quotes that invoke inspiration, hope, and strength. These expressions not only reflect collective experiences but also serve as guiding lights, offering solace and empowerment to those navigating the turbulent waters of anxiety. As echoed throughout these insights, every fleeting moment of anxiety can become a powerful catalyst for growth and transformation. By embracing mindfulness, seeking strength within, and holding onto the threads of encouragement and hope, we can harness our anxieties into actions that foster resilience and peace. Remember, though the path may seem arduous and unyielding, the journey towards conquering anxiety is one of self-discovery and renewed belief in the boundless potential of the human spirit.