I got the blues thinking of the future, so I left off and made some marmalade. It’s amazing how it cheers one up to shred oranges and scrub the floor.
—D. H. Lawrence (1885–1930) English Novelist, Playwright, Poet, Essayist, Literary Critic
Sympathy is never wasted except when you give it to yourself.
—John W. Raper (1870–1950) American Journalist, Aphorist
Of all the infirmities we have, the most savage is to despise our being.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
The great thing in the world is to know how to be sufficient unto oneself.
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–92) French Essayist
Self-pity is a death that has no resurrection, a sinkhole from which no rescuing hand can drag you because you have chosen to sink.
—Elisabeth Elliot (b.1926) American Christian Author, Speaker
Self-pity comes so naturally to all of us. The most solid happiness can be shaken by the compassion of a fool.
—Andre Maurois (1885–1967) French Novelist, Biographer
Never give way to melancholy; resist it steadily, for the habit will encroach.
—Sydney Smith (1771–1845) English Clergyman, Essayist, Wit
Self-pity is easily the most destructive of the non-pharmaceutical narcotics; it is addictive, gives momentary pleasure and separates the victim from reality.
—John W. Gardner (1912–2002) American Activist
Grumbling is the death of love.
—Marlene Dietrich (1901–92) German-born American Actor, Singer
Do not weep; do not wax indignant. Understand.
—Baruch Spinoza (1632–77) Dutch Philosopher, Theologian
He’s simply got the instinct for being unhappy highly developed.
—Saki (Hector Hugh Munro) (1870–1916) British Short Story Writer, Satirist, Historian
The human mind can bear plenty of reality, but not too much unintermittent gloom.
—Margaret Drabble (b.1939) English Novelist, Biographer, Critic, Short Story Writer
Self-pity is one of the most dangerous forms of self-centeredness. It fogs our vision.
—Unknown
Optimism and self-pity are the positive and negative poles of modern cowardice.
—Cyril Connolly (1903–74) British Literary Critic, Writer
Self-pity is our worst enemy, and if we yield to it, we can never do anything wise in this world.
—Helen Keller (1880–1968) American Author
The secret of being miserable is to have the leisure to bother about whether you are happy or not. The cure is occupaton.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
When you find yourself overpowered, as it were, by melancholy, the best way is to go out and do something.
—John Keble (1792–1866) English Religious Leader
A man’s as miserable as he thinks he is.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
When any anxiety or gloom of the mind takes hold of you, make it a rule not to publish it by complaining; but exert yourselves to hide it, and by endeavoring to hide it you drive it away.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
Every message of despair is the statement of a situation from which everybody must freely try to find a way out.
—Eugene Ionesco (1909–94) Romanian-born French Dramatist
What poison is to food, self-pity is to life.
—Oliver G. Wilson
In life so wretched? Isn’t it rather your hands which are too small, your vision which is muddied? You are the one who must grow up.
—Dag Hammarskjold (1905–61) Swedish Statesman, UN Diplomat
The cure for grief is motion.
—Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) American Writer, Publisher, Artist, Philosopher
I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself.
A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough
Without ever having felt sorry for itself.
—D. H. Lawrence (1885–1930) English Novelist, Playwright, Poet, Essayist, Literary Critic
This life is not for complaint, but for satisfaction.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
Sadness is almost never anything but a form of fatigue.
—Andre Gide (1869–1951) French Novelist
Despair is criminal.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
I am convinced, the longer I live, that life and its blessings are not so entirely unjustly distributed as when we are suffering greatly we are inclined to suppose.
—Mary Todd Lincoln (1818–82) American First lady
Every man supposes himself not to be fully understood or appreciated.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Misery is a communicable disease.
—Martha Graham (1894–1991) American Choreographer