95 Quotes about anxiety to uplift, educate, and overcome.

Breathe, darling. This is just a chapter. It’s not your whole story.”

S.C. Lourie

When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.”

Henry Ford

Metaphors like this can be turned into beautiful inspirational posters or social media posts you can share.

No matter how much falls on us, we keep plowing ahead. That’s the only way to keep the roads clear.”

Greg Kincaid

Worrying about outcomes over which I have no control is punishing myself before the universe has decided whether I ought to be punished.”

Sherry Thomas

When anxiety is triggered by the fear of something that hasn’t (and might never) come to pass, this quote uses simple logic to flip the script.

Success is not final; failure is not fatal. It is the courage to continue that counts.”

Winston Churchill

Though it might feel sad, anxiety quotes remind us that life will inevitably put triggers in our paths. We need the courage to push through.

If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

This quote by Martin Luther King, Jr. can also be used as a moving on quote. Keep reading for more quotes about moving on.

Chronic anxiety is a state more undesirable than any other, and we will try almost any maneuver to eliminate it. Modern man is living in anxious anticipation of destruction. Such anxiety can be easily eliminated by self-destruction. As a German saying puts it: 'Better an end with terror than a terror without end.'”

Robert E. Neale , The Art of Dying

The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.”

Confucius

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

You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.”

Maya Angelou

An anxiety loop can start when we repeatedly process something that happened to us. Rehashing what’s happened, though, distracts us from what we can do now.

I can do this...I can start over. I can save my own life and I’m never going to be alone as long as I have stars to wish on and people to still love.”

Jennifer Elisabeth,

Born Ready: Unleash Your Inner Dream Girl

Remember, today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.”

Dale Carnegie

You could put this quote in a letter to someone you’re close to. The follow-up question could be, “where did worrying about today, yesterday, get you today?”

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

C.H. Spurgeon

Worrying about tomorrow is like using your battery for tomorrow, today. You don’t want to wake up tomorrow with your battery already depleted.

What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”

Henry S. Haskins

Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are.”

Chinese Proverb

This message could be split up between the front and inside of a card. What would you feel inspired to write in the margins?

Your mind will answer most questions if you learn to relax and wait for the answer.”

William S. Burroughs

Surrender to what is, let go of what was, and have faith in what will be.”

Sonia Ricotti

Overwhelmed anxiety quotes have some emphatic “to-dos” for us, like, “breathe,” or, “surrender.” These commands can become helpful mantras.

You have dug your soul out of the dark, you have fought to be here; do not go back to what buried you.”

Bianca Sparacino

Whatever happens to you belongs to you. Make it yours. Feed it to yourself even if it feels impossible to swallow. Let it nurture you because it will.”

Cheryl Strayed

There is something to be gained from every experience behind us.

Sometimes the bad things that happen in our lives put us directly on the path to the most wonderful things that will ever happen to us.”

Nicole Reed

Some days, doing ‘the best we can’ may still fall short of what we would like to be able to do, but life isn’t perfect — on any front — and doing what we can with what we have is the most we should expect of ourselves or anyone else.”

Mister Rogers

Anxiety was born in the very same moment as mankind. And since we will never be able to master it, we will have to learn to live with it — just as we have learned to live with storms.”

Paulo Coelho

This quote reminds us that we can continue working to understand and overcome anxiety, just like we learn to hunker down against any other storm.

Just because I can’t explain the feelings causing my anxiety doesn’t make them less valid.”

Lauren Elizabeth

People who feel that their anxiety has been misunderstood or misconstrued can benefit from this reminder that their feelings are valid whether or not others understand them.

How we handle our fears will determine where we go with the rest of our lives. To experience adventure or to be limited by the fear of it.”

Judy Blume

To venture causes anxiety, but not to venture is to lose one’s self...and to venture in the highest is precisely to be conscious of one’s self.”

Søren Kierkegaard

The best things in life can cause anxiety along the way. This is a risk of venturing, or living, and the answer is to learn to wrestle and subdue anxiety — not shy away from living.

Worrying is carrying tomorrow’s load with today’s strength — carrying two days at once. It is moving into tomorrow ahead of time. Worrying doesn’t empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.”

Corrie ten Boom

If you want to conquer the anxiety of life, live in the moment, live in the breath.”

Amit Ray , Om Chanting and Meditation

Trust yourself. You’ve survived a lot, and you’ll survive whatever is coming.”

Robert Tew

Anxiety triggers us to forget what we’ve made it through before. Once we remember, though, it serves as a reminder of what we can make it through now.

People become attached to their burdens sometimes more than the burdens are attached to them.”

George Bernard Shaw

Anxiety is the cage that we fear flying out of, even when the door is left open. Leaving anxiety thought patterns can cause new fear and anxiety, but we have to break the cycle.

Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin.”

Mother Teresa

Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest taken between two deep breaths.”

Etty Hillesum

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

For anyone who deals with social anxiety, quotes like this remind us how our anxiety can affect those around us, too.

You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’”

Eleanor Roosevelt

A crust eaten in peace is better than a banquet partaken in anxiety.”

Aesop

Anxiety becomes a cloud over everything. It can be so distracting that it takes joy from everything else.

If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere.”

Frank A. Clark

Making the effort to achieve anything we really want will put us up against moments of anxiety. The point this quote makes is: it’s part of what’s truly worth it.

There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.”

Epictetus

It’s not stress that kills us, it is our reaction to it.”

Hans Selye

Anxiety surges when the “fight, flight, or freeze” reaction is triggered in our bodies. This initial response is automatic. What we choose to do after that, however, is something we learn to choose.

Take chances, make mistakes. That’s how you grow. Pain nourishes your courage. You have to fail in order to practice being brave.”

Mary Tyler Moore

You cannot make yourself feel something you do not feel, but you can make yourself do right in spite of your feelings.”

Pearl S. Buck

The tough times, the days when you're just a ball on the floor — they'll pass. You're playing the long game, and life is totally worth it.”

Sarah Silverman

When you’re backed in a corner and see no way to step away from the stress, your last, watertight comfort is that this, too, shall pass.

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

Jodi Picoult, Sing You Home

Anxiety keeps the mind extremely busy. Yet, that busy mind never gets much done other than worry.

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

Kahlil Gibran

It’s important to be able to think about the future, but healthy thoughts come in the form of planning or daydreaming. It’s when we worry about future events we can’t control, or imagine every worst-case scenario, that anxiety can be triggered.

You don’t have to control your thoughts. You just have to stop letting them control you.”

Dan Millman

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

He who fears he shall suffer, already suffers what he fears.”

Michel de Montaigne

People have a hard time letting go of their suffering. Out of a fear of the unknown, they prefer suffering that is familiar.”

Thich Nhat Hanh

Self-observation is the first step of inner unfolding.”

Amit Ray,

Yoga and Vipassana: An Integrated Life Style

Letters to yourself or regular journal entries can help you track what signs or symptoms come before full-on anxiety.

I’ve had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened.”

Mark Twain

If you had a list of everything you’ve ever worried about, how many of those things actually happened?

The world only exists in your eyes. You can make it as big or as small as you want.”

F. Scott Fitzgerald

Perspective is everything. This message is catchy and thought-provoking, making it perfect for a poster.

The best use of creativity is imagination. The worst use of creativity is anxiety.”

Deepak Chopra

Anxiety about anything that hasn’t happened yet is a product of our imagination, and therefore, our creativity. What could you devote your creative energy to instead?

Life is ten percent what you experience and ninety percent how you respond to it.”

Dorothy M. Neddermeyer

Research shows that perfectionism hampers success. In fact, it’s often the path to depression, anxiety, addiction and life paralysis.”

Brené Brown

Many of us feel stress and get overwhelmed not because we’re taking on too much, but because we’re taking on too little of what really strengthens us.”

Marcus Buckingham

What are your strengths? How often do you put them to full use?

How much pain have cost us the evils which have never happened.”

Thomas Jefferson

Peace is the result of retraining your mind to process life as it is, rather than as you think it should be.”

Wayne W. Dyer

Anxiety stress quotes contrast starkly with the peace we’re after. Keep reading for more peace quotes like this to use in cards or on posters.

Anxiety is a feeling grown too large. A feeling grown aggressive and dangerous. You’re responsible for its consequences, you’re responsible for treating it. But...you’re not responsible for causing it...no more than you would be for a tumor.”

Patrick Ness

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

What do people see or notice about you when you work through times of stress or anxiety? Are you more direct? Do you retract? These are pieces of the puzzle that form our personality. Think about the personality you want to cultivate.

As I started opening up and talking about my issues, I felt strength, not vulnerability.”

Michael Phelps

Our stresses, anxieties, pains and problems arise because we do not see the world, others or even ourselves as worthy of love.”

Prem Prakash

Anxiety happens when you think you have to figure out everything all at once.”

Karen Salmansohn

If you feel anxious our stressed right now, how could you break down all the things on your mind into single-serving pieces to work through it one-by-one?

What else does anxiety about the future bring you but sorrow upon sorrow?”

Thomas à Kempis

Anxiety is a lot like a toddler. It never stops talking, tells you you’re wrong about everything, and wakes you up at 3 a.m.”

Unattributed

Funny anxiety quotes sometimes belittle anxiety to make it feel more manageable.

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

When I hear somebody sigh, ‘Life is hard,’ I am always tempted to ask, ‘Compared to what?’”

Sydney J. Harris

If the options are 1) work through anxiety or 2) never experience anything at all, choose the first one.

My ability to turn good news into anxiety is rivaled only by my ability to turn anxiety into chin acne.”

Tina Fey

Even physical symptoms of anxiety can be turned into something risible.

Do not fight your negative emotions. Observe and befriend them.”

Haemin Sunim

We must have a pie. Stress cannot exist in the presence of a pie.”

David Mamet

If this quote were strung on a banner or used on a flyer for a pie shop, business would boom.

Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.”

Anne Lamott

Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

Reinhold Niebuhr

This well-known prayer was written by Reinhold Niebuhr in the early 1930s.

Actually spending ten minutes clearing off one shelf is better than fantasizing about spending a weekend cleaning out the basement.”

Gretchen Rubin

Whatever causes you anxiety, try to break off the smallest first step you can imagine. Then complete that step. See how it makes you feel.

Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry — all forms of fear — are caused by too much future, and not enough presence.”

Eckhart Tolle

The time to relax is when you don’t have time for it.”

Sydney J. Harris

The elimination diet: Remove anger, regret, resentment, guilt, blame and worry. Then watch your health, and life, improve.”

Charles Glassman

Happiness is not a brilliant climax to years of grim struggle and anxiety. It is a long succession of little decisions simply to be happy in the moment.”

J. Donald Walters

When we’re anxious about what’s to come, we forget to live life in the meantime.

You don’t drown by falling into water. You only drown if you stay there.”

Zig Ziglar

This simple quote gets right to the point, and it’s a great point.

Creating something is what helped me from just spinning apart like an unweighted flywheel. And I haven’t stopped since.”

Stephen Colbert

In order to move on, you must understand why you felt what you did and why you no longer need to feel it.”

Mitch Albom

We have an initial reaction to upsetting things we experience, but what then?

Comedy is defiance. It’s a snort of contempt in the face of fear and anxiety. And it’s the laughter that allows hope to creep back on the inhale.”

Will Durst

There are two ways to get rid of an anxiety monster, my friend — you either have a bath or a nap.”

Andrew Kaufman

You can’t go back and make a new start, but you can start right now and make a brand new ending.”

James R. Sherman

Collect anxiety quotes that flip the script on any looping logic in your head. This is a great one to start.

Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow.”

Swedish Proverb

Picture the memorable visual that could accompany this quote on a poster.

Nothing is permanent in this wicked world — not even our troubles.”

Charlie Chaplin

Smile, breathe, and go slowly.”

Thich Nhat Hanh

This short anxiety quote is perfect to use as a personal mantra.

Nothing diminishes anxiety faster than action.”

Walter Anderson

Whatever is going to happen will happen, whether we worry or not.”

Ana Monnar

Your calm mind is the ultimate weapon against your challenges.”

Bryant McGill

For us, there is only the trying. The rest is not our business.”

T.S. Eliot

When we’re anxious about outcomes, this quote reminds us to focus on doing our best and letting the result come of its own accord — because it will, anyway.

Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment.”

Oprah Winfrey

Positive anxiety quotes talk about the compounding value of doing our best in the moment, and how that improves the next moment, and the one after that.

Let fear be a counselor and not a jailer.”

Tony Robbins

Present fears are less than horrible imaginings.”

William Shakespeare

Put up a toll booth in your mind. How many “horrible imaginings” pass as real fear, and how many are anxiety stirring the pot?

Talk to yourself like you would to someone you love.”

Brené Brown

You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.”

Jon Kabat-Zinn

Always be ready with your surfboard. This is another metaphor that makes for the perfect poster or card of encouragement.

A problem is a chance for you to do your best.”

Duke Ellington

Worrying is like paying a debt you don’t owe.”

Mark Twain

When we feel bad about something, imagine that we’re paying a tax on it. Anxiety is like paying taxes in advance on everything, even things that never take place.

Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom.”

Søren Kierkegaard

Anxiety often results from the choices we have. It’s better, ultimately, to have choices than not to have choices. If anxiety is the price, that changes how we see it.

For fast-acting relief, try slowing down.”

Lily Tomlin

Not everything that weighs you down is yours to carry.”

Unattributed

You could use this quote on an Instagram story. It could be a timely reminder to more people than you realize.

Nothing in the affairs of men is worthy of great anxiety.”

Plato

The way you tell your story to yourself matters.”

Amy Cuddy

How can you change one of the stories you tell yourself?

Worried thoughts are notoriously inaccurate.”

Renee Jain