Thoughts of Anxiety Quotes in English Images Sayings

The text showcases a diverse array of quotes that delve deeply into the complex and often overwhelming experience of anxiety. These carefully selected expressions illuminate the emotional turmoil and mental obstacles encountered by individuals grappling with anxiety. Through poignant language, the quotes encapsulate a wide spectrum of feelings, including profound fear and persistent worry, effectively illustrating the pervasive impact of anxiety on everyday life and routine activities.

Here are some quotes on anxiety, each with a deeper meaning and an example of how it can resonate with different people facing anxiety. These quotes can provide comfort, remind us that we’re not alone, and offer motivation to face anxious thoughts.


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

  • Meaning: This quote reminds us that it’s okay if we can’t control every anxious thought; instead, we can focus on not letting those thoughts dictate our actions or feelings.

  • Example: “I can’t stop worrying, but I can work on not letting it ruin my day.”

  • Significance: Helps to lessen the pressure we place on ourselves to eliminate anxiety and encourages us to manage our reactions instead.


2. “Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength.” – Charles Spurgeon

  • Meaning: Worrying about what might happen doesn’t prevent future problems; it just drains us of our energy today.

  • Example: “I may be worried about tomorrow, but I can choose to focus on finding peace today.”

  • Significance: Emphasizes staying present and conserving energy rather than allowing anxiety to pull us into an imagined future.


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

  • Meaning: Simple acts, like deep breathing and taking a moment for ourselves, can be incredibly powerful in managing anxiety.

  • Example: “When I feel overwhelmed, just taking a deep breath can help me reset.”

  • Significance: Encourages mindfulness and reminds us that moments of calm can be healing in themselves.


4. “Your mind is like water. When it’s agitated, it becomes difficult to see. But if you allow it to settle, the answer becomes clear.” – Tsem Tulku Rinpoche

  • Meaning: Like disturbed water, an anxious mind can cloud our ability to think clearly; allowing our thoughts to calm can lead to better clarity.

  • Example: “When I’m stressed, I need to step back, let my mind settle, and not make impulsive decisions.”

  • Significance: Reinforces the value of taking time to calm down, rather than reacting out of a place of stress or worry.


5. “Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly.” – Anonymous

  • Meaning: This metaphor reminds us that even in our darkest times, change and growth are possible.

  • Example: “When my anxiety feels overwhelming, I try to remember that this could be leading to positive changes.”

  • Significance: Offers hope, particularly in moments of intense anxiety, that transformation is possible through difficult experiences.


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

  • Meaning: Encourages us to focus on positive things rather than anticipating potential issues that may never arise.

  • Example: “Instead of thinking of what could go wrong, I’ll focus on what’s good around me.”

  • Significance: Reminds us to let go of unnecessary worry and appreciate the present.


7. “Worrying is like a rocking chair: it gives you something to do, but it doesn’t get you anywhere.” – Erma Bombeck

  • Meaning: Worrying keeps us mentally busy but doesn’t resolve anything or move us forward.

  • Example: “I realize that my anxious thoughts aren’t helping. I need to focus on what I can change.”

  • Significance: Helps people recognize when worry is only a distraction, not a solution, encouraging proactive steps instead.


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

  • Meaning: The need to control outcomes can amplify anxiety, but learning to accept uncertainty can reduce worry.

  • Example: “I can’t control everything, but I can trust that things will work out.”

  • Significance: Encourages acceptance and resilience, rather than trying to control every aspect of life.


9. “You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

  • Meaning: Facing anxiety often means taking small, manageable steps without needing to have all the answers upfront.

  • Example: “I don’t need to have everything figured out; I’ll just take it one day at a time.”

  • Significance: Eases the pressure of perfectionism or planning too far ahead, which often adds to anxiety.


10. “I promise you, nothing is as chaotic as it seems. Nothing is worth your health. Nothing is worth poisoning yourself into stress, anxiety, and fear.” – Steve Maraboli

  • Meaning: Reminds us that often, things are not as overwhelming as they appear, and our health and peace should come first.

  • Example: “My well-being matters more than my fear of things going wrong.”

  • Significance: Emphasizes prioritizing mental health and not allowing anxiety to control or harm us.


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

  • Meaning: This quote suggests that while we may feel stressed or anxious, we have the power to shift our focus to more positive or calming thoughts.

  • Example: “Instead of focusing on what I fear, I’ll think about what I’m grateful for.”

  • Significance: Empowers individuals by reminding them that they can manage their thoughts, even when anxious.


These quotes each offer insights and encouragement for different aspects of dealing with anxiety, from acceptance to small acts of self-care and finding strength in challenging times. Let me know if you’d like quotes tailored for a specific situation or feeling!

As each quote unfolds, it provides a glimpse into the intricate nature of anxiety, shedding light on how it can cloud thoughts, disrupt peace, and challenge one’s ability to navigate the world confidently. The emphasis on understanding anxiety is crucial, as it encourages discussions around mental health and emphasizes the importance of recognizing these feelings as legitimate and deserving of attention.

Moreover, the quotes not only reflect the struggles associated with anxiety but also highlight the resilience and strength that often arise from confronting such difficulties. Many individuals find that in facing their fears, they can cultivate a deeper sense of self-awareness and empowerment, which is a testament to the human spirit's capacity to endure and thrive.

By articulating the sentiments associated with anxiety, these quotes serve a dual purpose. They validate the experiences of those who endure anxiety-related challenges, reassuring them that they are not alone in their struggles. Simultaneously, they inspire a sense of hope for the future, suggesting that it is possible to overcome anxiety and emerge stronger on the other side. In essence, this compilation of quotes provides both comfort and encouragement, underscoring the critical journey of understanding, coping, and ultimately overcoming the formidable challenges posed by anxiety.

Thought of the day Anxiety

It’s important to give up - maybe daily - the longing to be perfect…what a heavy burden.

- Fred Rogers Thoughts

Worry a little bit every day and in a lifetime you will lose a couple of years. If something is wrong, fix it if you can. But train yourself not to worry. Worry never fixes anything.

- Mary Hemingway

Inner peace begins the moment you choose not to allow another person or event to control your emotions.

- Pema Chodron

Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit. Do not lose your inner peace for anything whatsoever, even if your whole world seems upset. What is anything in life compared to peace of soul?

- Francis de Sales

True happiness is to enjoy the present without anxious dependence upon the future, not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears but to rest satisfied, for he that is wants nothing.

- Seneca

Rather than relaxing and enjoying who we are and what we’re doing, we are comparing ourselves with an ideal and trying to make up for the difference.

- Tara Brach

The only thing that could spoil a day was people. People were always the limiters of happiness except for the very few that were as good as spring itself.

- Ernest Hemingway

The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, not to anticipate the future, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly.

- Buddha

P.S. 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

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

A pearl is a beautiful thing that is produced by an injured life. It is the tear (that results) from the injury of the oyster. The treasure of our being in this world is also produced by an injured life. If we had not been wounded, if we had not been injured, then we will not produce the pearl.

- Stephan Hoeller

Anxiety Quotes List in English

Who's not sat tense before his own heart's curtain.

- Rainer Maria Rilke Quotes

Who's not sat tense before his own heart's curtain.

- Rainer Maria Rilke

Love is full of anxious fears.

- Ovid Quotes

Love is full of anxious fears.

- Ovid

The universe doesn’t allow perfection.

- Stephen Hawking

The universe doesn’t allow perfection.

- Stephen Hawking Quotation

Not being able to govern events, I govern myself. 

- Michel de Montaigne

Not being able to govern events, I govern myself.

- A Quotation From Michel de Montaigne

Nothing diminishes anxiety faster than action.

- Walter Anderson

Nothing diminishes anxiety faster than action.

- Walter Anderson

Suspense is worst than disappointment.

- Robert Burns

Suspense is worst than disappointment.

- Robert Burns

Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.

- Maya Angelou

Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.

- Maya Angelou

I just give myself permission to suck. I find this hugely liberating.

- John Green

The misfortunes hardest to bear are these which never came.

- James Russell Lowell

There are far, far better things ahead than anything we leave behind.

- C. S. Lewis

He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life.

- Shannon L. Alder

Don’t let your mind bully your body into believing it must carry the burden of its worries.

- Astrid Alauda

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

- Dan Millman

There is no such thing as pure pleasure; some anxiety always goes with it.

- Ovid

Who’s not sat tense before his own heart’s curtain.

- Rainer Maria Rilke

Where everything is bad it must be good to know the worst.

- Francis H. Bradley

We have a lot of anxieties, and one cancels out another very often.

- Winston Churchill

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

- Aesop

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

- Amit Ray

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

- Charlie Chaplin

Hey you, keep living. It won’t always be this overwhelming.

- Jacqueline Whitney

Anxiety is the handmaiden of contemporary ambition.

- Alain de Botton

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

- Ana Monnar

Worry in the dark can make it even darker.

- Camron Wright

Cultivate calm and stillness: let go of anxiety as a lifestyle.

- Brene Brown

Cast your cares on God; that anchor holds.

- Lord Alfred Tennyson

He who fears he will suffer, already suffers because he fears.

- Michel de Montaigne

With my desire to improve everything, I destroy the moment.

- Naval Ravikant

Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Life is not a tension anywhere except in the minds of humanity.

- Osho

The suspense is terrible, I hope it will last.

- Oscar Wilde

To live by worry is to live against reality.

- E. Stanley Jones

The mind that is anxious about the future is miserable.

- Seneca

It is always possible to practice releasing the tension in yourself.

- Thich Nhat Hanh

It ain't no use putting up your umbrella till it rains!

- Alice Caldwell Rice

Stop being tormented by everyone else’s reaction to you.

- Joyce Meyer

The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.

- William James

Stop measuring days by degree of productivity and start experiencing them by degree of presence.

- Alan Watts

Don not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen.  Keep in the sunlight.

- Benjamin Franklin

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

- Dorothy M. Neddermeyer

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

- Lauren Elizabeth

Cares that have entered once in the breast, will have whole possession of the rest.

- Ben Johnson

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

- Kahlil Gibran

Cultivate intuition and trust faith: let go of the need for certainty.

- Brene Brown

I have not ceased being fearful, but I have ceased to let fear control me.

- Erica Jong

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

- Charlie Chaplin

Borrow trouble for yourself, if that's your nature, but don't lend it to your neighbors.

- Rudyard Kipling

You can’t always control what goes on outside. But you can always control what goes on inside.

- Wayne Dyer

Neither comprehension nor learning can take place in an atmosphere of anxiety.

- Frank Smith

You’re worried about what-ifs. Well, what if you stopped worrying?

- Shannon Celebi

Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom.

Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom.

- Soren Kierkegaard Download or Share

Anxiety is the hand maiden of creativity.

- Anxiety Quotes by Chuck Jones

The natural role of twentieth century man is anxiety.

- Norman Mailer

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

- Amit Ray

Smile, breathe, and go slowly.

- Thich Nhat Hanh

For fast acting relief, try slowing down.

- Quote by Lily Tomlin

For fast acting relief, try slowing down.

- Lily Tomlin Download or Share

The thinner the ice, the more anxious is everyone to see whether it will bear.

- Josh Billings

Stop your whining. If you are frightened, be silent. Whining is for prey. It attracts predators. And you are not prey.

- Robin Hobb

Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.

- Thich Nhat Hanh

You can’t always control what goes on outside. But you can always control what goes on inside.

- Wayne Dyer Download or Share

Don’t be pushed by your problems. Be led by your dreams.

- Motivational Quotes for Anxiety by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Maybe you have to know the darkness before you can appreciate the light.

- Help with Anxiety Madeleine L’Engle

Keep yourself busy if you want to avoid depression. For me, inactivity is the enemy.

Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight.

Benjamin Franklin

Once you choose hope, anything is possible.

Christopher Reeve

A warrior accepts that we can never know what will happen to us next.

Pema Chodron

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

George Bernard Shaw

Nothing diminishes anxiety faster than action.

- Walter Anderson Download or Share

Only man clogs his happiness with care, destroying what is, with thoughts of what may be.

John Dryden Download or Share

Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson Download or Share

Present fears are less than horrible imaginings.

- William Shakespeare Download or Share

Anxiety Thought in English

We must be willing to let go of the life we’ve planned, so as to have the life that is waiting for us.

- Joseph Campbell

It has been said that our anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, but only empties today of its strength.

- Charles Haddon Spurgeon

No longer forward nor behind I look in hope and fear; But grateful take the good I find, The best of now and here.

- John G. Whittier

If you treat every situation as a life and death matter, you’ll die a lot of times.

- Dean Smith

If you aren’t in the moment, you are either looking forward to uncertainty, or back to pain and regret.

- Jim Carrey

Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight.

- Benjamin Franklin

Stepping out of the busyness is perhaps the most beautiful offering we can make to our spirit.

- Tara Brach

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

- Dan Millman

I am reminded of the advice of my neighbor. ‘Never worry about your heart till it stops beating.’

- E. B. White

Rule number one is, don’t sweat the small stuff. Rule number two is, it’s all small stuff.

- Robert Eliot

It’s important to give up - maybe daily - the longing to be perfect…what a heavy burden.

- Fred Rogers *

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

- Robert Tew

No amount of anxiety can change the future. No amount of regret can change the past.

- Karen Salmansohn

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

- Olin Miller

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

- Maya Angelou

Today’s a perfect day for a whole new start. Let go of fear and free your mind. It’s time to open your heart.

Chris Butler

Of all your troubles, great and small, the greatest are the ones that don't happen at all.

- Thomas Carlyle

Don’t waste your time in anger, regrets, worries, and grudges. Life is too short to be unhappy.

- Roy T. Bennett

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

- Etty Hillesum

There are more things to alarm us than to harm us, and we suffer more often in apprehension than reality.

- Seneca

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

It’s OKAY to be scared. Being scared means you’re about to do something really, really brave.

- Mandy Hale

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

- Jodi Picoult

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

- Dan Millman

If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.

- Steven Hayes

Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength.

- Charles Spurgeon

Anxiety, the illness of our time, comes primarily from our inability to dwell in the present moment.

- Thich Nhat Hanh

Never let life’s hardships disturb you … no one can avoid problems, not even saints or sages.

- Nichiren Daishonen

Life is 10 percent what you experience and 90 percent how you respond to it.

- Dorothy M. Neddermeyer

You have a treasure within you that is infinitely greater than anything the world can offer.

- Eckhart Tolle

Instead of worrying about what you cannot control, shift your energy to what you can create.

- Roy Bennett

Inner peace begins the moment you choose not to allow another person or event to control your emotions.

- Pema Chodron

Often the moment when we most need to pause is exactly when it feels most intolerable to do so.

- Tara Brach

By being yourself, you put something wonderful in the world that was not there before.

- Edwin Elliot

Don’t let your mind bully your body into believing it must carry the burden of its worries.

- Astrid Alauda

The great thing, then, in all education, is to make our nervous system our ally instead of our enemy.

- William James

Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith.

- Henry Ward Beecher

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

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

God never built a Christian strong enough to carry today's duties and tomorrow's anxieties piled on the top of them.

- Theodore L. Cuyler

Some of your grief you have cured, and lived to survive; but what torments of pain have you endured that haven't as yet arrived.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

 If some great catastrophe is not announced every morning, we feel a certain void. nothing in the paper today, we sigh.

- Paul Valery

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

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

We can let the circumstances of our lives harden us so that we become increasingly resentful and afraid, or we can let them soften us.

- Pema Chodron

Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.

- Marcus Aurelius

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

- Charles F. Glassman

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.

I promise you nothing is as chaotic as it seems. Nothing is worth your health. Nothing is worth poisoning yourself into stress, anxiety, and fear.

- Steve Maraboli

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

We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop.

- Mother Teresa

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

Physical comforts cannot subdue mental suffering, and if we look closely, we can see that those who have many possessions are not necessarily happy. In fact, being wealthy often brings even more anxiety.

- Dalai Lama

Don’t worry if people think you’re crazy. You are crazy. You have that kind of intoxicating insanity that lets other people dream outside of the lines and become who they’re destined to be.

- Jennifer Elisabeth

If you trade your authenticity for safety, you may experience the following: anxiety, depression, eating disorders, addiction, rage, blame, resentment, and inexplicable grief.

- Brene Brown

Anxiety is the poison of human life; the parent of many sins and of more miseries. In a world where everything is doubtful and where we may be disappointed, and be blessed in disappointment, why this restless stir and commotion of mind? Can it alter the cause, or unravel the mystery of human events?

- Tryon Edwards Quotes

Good humor is a tonic for mind and body. It is the best antidote for anxiety and depression. It is a business asset. It attracts and keeps friends. It lightens human burdens. It is the direct route to serenity and contentment.

- Grenville Kleiser

People tend to dwell more on negative things than on good things. So the mind then becomes obsessed with negative things, with judgments, guilt and anxiety produced by thoughts about the future and so on.

- Eckhart Tolle

The other thing is that if you rely solely on medication to manage depression or anxiety, for example, you have done nothing to train the mind, so that when you come off the medication, you are just as vulnerable to a relapse as though you had never taken the medication.

- Daniel Goleman

Good humor is a tonic for mind and body. It is the best antidote for anxiety and depression. It is a business asset. It attracts and keeps friends. It lightens human burdens. It is the direct route to serenity and contentment.

- Grenville Kleiser

Anxiety about the future never profits; we feel no evil until it comes, and when we feel it, no counsel helps; wisdom is either too early or too late.

- Ruckett

Good humor is a tonic for mind and body. It is the best antidote for anxiety and depression. It is a business asset. It attracts and keeps friends. It lightens human burdens. It is the direct route to serenity and contentment.

- Grenville Kleiser

Today I escaped anxiety. Or no, I discarded it, because it was within me, in my own perceptions - not outside.

- Marcus Aurelius

If a problem is fixable, if a situation is such that you can do something about it, then there is no need to worry. If it's not fixable, then there is no help in worrying. There is no benefit in worrying whatsoever.

- The Dalai Lama

When I look back on all these worries, I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which had never happened.

- Winston Churchill

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

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

When I look back on all these worries, I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which had never happened.

- Winston S. Churchill

P.S. 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

We labour at our daily work more ardently and thoughtlessly than is necessary to sustain our life because it is even more necessary not to have leisure to stop and think. Haste is universal because everyone is in flight from himself.

- Friedrich Nietzsche