Where everything is bad it must be good to know the worst.
—F. H. Bradley (1846–1924 ) British Idealist Philosopher
I ain’t the ulcer type, but I’m always worrying about something
—Yogi Berra (1925–2015) American Sportsperson
Nothing in the affairs of men is worthy of great anxiety.
—Plato (428 BCE–347 BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Mathematician, Educator
Present fears are less than horrible imaginings.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
I am reminded of the advice of my neighbor. “Never worry about your heart ’til it stops beating.”
—E. B. White (1985–99) American Essayist, Humorist
If you treat every situation as a life and death matter, you’ll die a lot of times.
—Dean Smith (1931–2015) American Basketball Coach
We rush through our days in such stress and intensity, as if we were here to stay and the serious project of the world depended on us. We worry and grow anxious; we magnify trivia until they become important enough to control our lives. Yet all the time we have forgotten that we are but temporary sojourners on the surface of a strange planet spinning slowly in the infinite night of the cosmos.
—John O’Donohue qqq
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?
—Hugh Blair (1718–1800) Scottish Preacher, Scholar, Critic
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’re doing your best, you won’t have any time to worry about failure.
—H. Jackson Brown, Jr. (b.1940) American Self-Help Author
If things happen all the time you are never nervous. It is when they are not happening that you are nervous.
—Gertrude Stein (1874–1946) American Writer
When you first learn to love hell, you will be in heaven.
—Thaddeus Golas (1924–97) American New Age Writer
Sorrow looks back, worry looks around, faith looks up.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
I am an artist… I am here to live out loud.
—Emile Zola (1840–1902) French Novelist
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
With much wealth comes many worries
—Hebrew Proverb
Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow.
—Swedish Proverb
Worry is the activity of a mind which does not understand its connection with Me
—Unknown
Similarly—although to a somewhat lesser degree—conceit, self-indulgence, and greed lead to physical illness, or lack of well-being.
—Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) American Writer, Publisher, Artist, Philosopher
If pleasures are greatest in anticipation, just remember that this is also true of troubles.
—Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) American Writer, Publisher, Artist, Philosopher
Fear is implanted in us as a preservative from evil but its duty, like that of other passions, is not to overbear reason, but to assist it. It should not be suffered to tyrannize in the imagination, to raise phantoms of horror, or to beset life with supernumerary distresses.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
Worrying never did anyone any good
—Common Proverb
I’ve developed a new philosophy … I only dread one day at a time.
—Charles M. Schulz (1922–2000) American Cartoonist, Writer, Artist
Once a man worries, he clings to anything out of desperation; and once he clings he is bound to get exhausted or to exhaust whomever or whatever he is clinging to. A warrior-hunter, on the other hand, knows he will lure game into his traps over and over again, so he doesn’t worry.
—Carlos Castaneda (1925–98) Peruvian-born American Anthropologist, Author
I come into the peace of wild things who do not tax their lives with forethought of grief…. For a time I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.
—Wendell Berry (b.1934) American Poet, Novelist, Environmentalist
Politics ain’t worrying this country one-tenth as much as where to find a parking space
—Will Rogers (1879–1935) American Actor, Rancher, Humorist
Worry is the only insupportable misfortune of life.
—Henry St John, 1st Viscount Bolingbroke (1678–1751) English Politician, Philosopher
The work of worrying—when it succeeds—is to rehearse what those dangers are, and reflect on ways to deal with them. But worry doesn’t work all that well. New solutions and fresh ways of seeing a problem do not typically come from worrying, especially chronic worry. Instead of coming up with solutions to these potential problems, worriers typically ruminate on the danger itself, immersing themselves in a low-key way in the dread associated with it while staying in the same rut of thought. Chronic worriers worry about a wide range of things, most of which have almost no chance of happening; they read dangers into life’s journey that others never notice.
—Daniel Goleman (b.1946) American Psychologist, Author, Science Journalist
A pessimist is a man who thinks everybody as nasty as himself, and hates them for it.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
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
To repent is not to feel remorse, but to face one’s faults, realizing they are faults, and try one’s best not to make the same mistake again. If one does that, one is already making amends.
—Master Sheng-Yen (1931–2009) Chinese Buddhist Monk, Scholar
Peace of mind is that mental condition in which you have accepted the worst.
—Lin Yutang (1895–1976) Chinese Author, Philologist
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 never happened.
—Winston Churchill (1874–1965) British Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Journalist, Author
As a rule, men worry more about what they can’t see than about what they can.
—Julius Caesar (c.100–44BCE) Roman Statesman, Military General
If you worry you die, if you don’t worry you die, so why worry?
—Indian Proverb
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
If some great catastrophe is not announced every morning, we feel a certain void. nothing in the paper today , we sigh.
—Paul Valery (1871–1945) French Critic, Poet
There is no sadder sight than a young pessimist, except an old optimist.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
Worry doesn’t help tomorrow’s troubles, but it does ruin today’s happiness.
—Unknown
As a cure for worrying, work is better than whiskey.
—Thomas Edison (1847–1931) American Inventor, Scientist, Entrepreneur
God gave burdens, also shoulders.
—Yiddish Proverb
They need to worry and betray time with urgencies false and otherwise, purely anxious and whiny, their souls really won’t be at peace unless they can latch on to an established and proven worry and having once found it they assume facial expressions to fit and go with it, which is, you see, unhappiness, and all the time it all flies by them and they know it and that too worries them no end.
—Jack Kerouac (1922–1969) American Novelist, Poet
One cannot change the past, but one can ruin the present by worrying over the future.
—Unknown
The only way I’d worry about the weather is if it snows on our side of the field and not theirs.
—Tommy Lasorda (b.1927) American Baseball Player, Coach
There’s many a pessimist who got that way by financing an optimist.
—Anonymous
Set aside half an hour every day to do all your worrying; then take a nap during this period.
—Unknown
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 is like paying on a debt that may never come due.
—Will Rogers (1879–1935) American Actor, Rancher, Humorist
A warrior never worries about his fear.
—Carlos Castaneda (1925–98) Peruvian-born American Anthropologist, Author
Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom.
—Soren Kierkegaard (1813–55) Danish Philosopher, Theologian