It helps to write down half a dozen things which are worrying me. Two of them, say, disappear; about two of them nothing can be done, so it’s no use worrying; and two perhaps can be settled.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
Worrying never did anyone any good
—Common Proverb
Only man clogs his happiness with care, destroying what is with thoughts of what may be.
—John Dryden (1631–1700) English Poet, Literary Critic, Playwright
If you have enough push, you don’t have to worry about the pull.
—Zig Ziglar (1926–2012) American Author
The really frightening thing about middle age is the knowledge that you’ll grow out of it.
—Doris Day (1924–2019) American Actor, Singer, Animal Rights Activist
True happiness is to understand our duties toward God and man; to enjoy the present, without anxious dependence on the future; not to amuse ourselves with either hopes or fears, but to rest satisfied with what we have, which is abundantly sufficient.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
Another fresh new year is here . . .
Another year to live!
To banish worry, doubt, and fear,
To love and laugh and give!
This bright new year is given me
To live each day with zest . . .
To daily grow and try to be
My highest and my best!
I have the opportunity
Once more to right some wrongs,
To pray for peace, to plant a tree,
And sing more joyful songs!
—William Arthur Ward (1921–94) American Author
Loans and debts make worry and frets.
—Common Proverb
Those who commit injustice bear the greatest burden.
—Hosea Ballou (1771–1852) American Theologian
Drag your thoughts away from your troubles… by the ears, by the heels, or any other way you can manage it.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
We always have enough to be happy if we are enjoying what we do have—and not worrying about what we don’t have.
—Ken Keyes Jr. (1921–95) American Personal Growth Author
A great many worries can be diminished by realizing the unimportance of the matter which is causing anxiety.
—Bertrand A. Russell (1872–1970) British Philosopher, Mathematician, Social Critic
If you worry about what might be, and wonder what might have been, you will ignore what is.
—Anonymous
It’s easier traveling the road of life when I don’t have so much to carry on my back.
—Silas Weir Mitchell (1829–1914) American Neurologist, Writer
Nothing is so wretched or foolish as to anticipate misfortunes. What madness it is to be expecting evil before it comes.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
Industry pays debts, despair increases them.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
Worry not that no one knows of you; seek to be worth knowing.
—Confucius (551–479 BCE) Chinese Philosopher
Some of your hurts you have cured,
And the sharpest you still have survived,
But what torments of grief you endured
From evils which never arrived.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Worry is a form of fear.
—Bertrand A. Russell (1872–1970) British Philosopher, Mathematician, Social Critic
It has been said that our anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, but only empties today of its strength.
—Charles Spurgeon (1834–92) English Baptist Preacher
Sufficient to each day are the duties to be done and the trials to be endured. 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 (1822–1909) American Presbyterian Clergyman, Writer
He had kept his head, kept his health and his strength, bearing up under a weight of work and worry that only a few could have carried.
—David McCullough (1933–2022) American Historian
When you were looking for the big fight, the moment that you thought i would knock everything over, nothing much happened at all
—Ann Patchett (b.1963) American Novelist
Al Gore has gained a lot of weight lately. Of course, unlike his former boss he only has to worry about getting into his own pants.
—David Letterman (b.1947) American TV Personality, Comedian
A mind not to be changed by place or time. The mind is its own place, and in itself Can make a heav’n of hell, a hell of heav’n.
—John Milton (1608–74) English Poet, Civil Servant, Scholar, Debater
Worry is the darkroom in which negatives are developed
—Indian Proverb
Worry, hate, fear—together with their offshoots: anxiety, bitterness, impatience, avarice, unkindness, judgmentalness, and condemnation—all attack the body at the cellular level. It is impossible to have a healthy body under these conditions
—Indian Proverb
I never worry about action, but only about inaction.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
Love is full of anxious fears.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso) (c.43 BCE–c.18 CE) Roman Poet
That the birds of worry and care fly over your head, this you cannot change, but that they build nests in your hair, this you can prevent.
—Chinese Proverb