quotations about worry & worrying
From its earliest days, worrying has been seen as a character weakness, a frailty, a self-indulgence; something that should be avoided, controlled or cured. That explains why worrying -- where the connotation with fear is never far away -- was originally seen as a female complaint, a shortcoming that the Victorian male, with his fabled stiff-upper lip, could certainly never admit to. But as a lifelong male worrier, with as many male friends who admit to similar bouts of insecurity as female, I'm convinced that men have been worrying for just as long as women. It just took them the best part of a century to admit it.
FRANCIS O'GORMAN
Daily Mail, July 24, 2015
Every moment of worry weakens the soul for its daily combat.
ANNA ROBERTSON BROWN
What is Worth While?
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
Meditations
The person doing the worrying experiences it as a form of love; the person being worried about experiences it as a form of control.
JOHN LANCHESTER
Capital
Worrying is a waste of our time. Period. If we are worrying, then we are not doing anything about anything.
JANICE CORSANO
This Is Only a Dream!: When You Die You Wake Up
Never hurry and never worry!
E. B. WHITE
Charlotte's Web
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
Don't be forecasting evil unless it is what you can guard against. Anxiety is good for nothing if we can't turn it into a defense.
BRUCE LEE
Striking Thoughts: Bruce Lee's Wisdom for Daily Living
The problem with worry is that we attract the very thing we are trying to avoid. We live a self-fulfilling prophecy. Life keeps its agreement with us through our beliefs, because whatever we think about, we bring about. Life is like a mirror. It reflects back whatever image we present to it.
ROBERT ANTHONY
Beyond Positive Thinking
Stop worrying. Please. Because I suspect it's white-anting your serenity, crashing into your life too much.
NIKKI GEMMELL
"Is it worth the worry?", The Australian, March 4, 2017
We are, perhaps uniquely among the earth's creatures, the worrying animal. We worry away our lives, fearing the future, discontent with the present, unable to take in the idea of dying, unable to sit still. We deserve a better press, in my view.
LEWIS THOMAS
The Medusa and the Snail
Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
KEITH CASERTA
Soul Searching
People get so in the habit of worry that if you save them from drowning and put them on a bank to dry in the sun with hot chocolate and muffins they wonder whether they are catching a cold.
JOHN JAY CHAPMAN
attributed, Words from the Wise
Do not worry at being worried; but accept worry peacefully. Difficult but not impossible.
JOHN CHAPMAN
Spiritual Letters
Worry is nothing but the bad habit of thinking about what you DON'T want to happen. It's a misuse of your most precious power -- the imagination.
DAN ZADRA
How to Beat the Jitters
Worry affects the circulation, the glands, the whole nervous system.
CHARLES H. MAYO
attributed, Words of Wellness: A Treasury of Quotations for Well-Being
No matter how heavy your burden is now, the only way that you'll be able to manage it without subjecting yourself to excessive worrying is to accept what lies ahead.
ANTHONY JOSHUA
Overcoming Anxiety: How to Stop Worrying and Start Living
Excessive worrying is like walking through a foggy street at night; you have no idea what lies ahead and the darkness and dampness create a sense of dread that is difficult to ignore. The actual landscape is easy to navigate, but because you chose to walk into the foggy portion of the street, you won't be able to see anything clearly.
ANTHONY JOSHUA
Overcoming Anxiety: How to Stop Worrying and Start Living
People who are prone to worrying are soft-wired to pay attention to threatening news, thereby building up a library of evidence in their brains that worrying is necessary. Think about it. On any given day, there are so many threatening things happening in the world -- anything from new viruses, terrorist attacks, or political conflicts to a hostile email or upcoming storm are all real events. Yet, if you only pay attention to the threats, you have no space left in your brain to process anything else. Threat becomes your reality, and worry becomes your justifiable response. Anyone telling you to give up your worry will sound out of touch, to say the least.
SRINI PILLAY
"Managing worry in generalized anxiety disorder", Harvard Health Publications, February 17, 2016
The reason worry kills more people than work is that more people worry than work.
RALPH LOUIS WOODS
The Modern Handbook of Humor