Living with an anxiety disorder can be challenging, but you’re not alone.
You have that big presentation at work, and although you’ve prepared for it, when the moment finally arises, so do the butterflies in your stomach and the fast beating of your heart.
We’ve all been there.
It’s natural to feel anxious during stressful moments.
But when you live with an anxiety disorder, those feelings can happen at any time. For some, those feelings of anxiety and fear might always be with you.
It’s often hard to put in words just what anxiety feels like. But sometimes, you can find the right quote to describe it.
Not every quote will fit exactly how you feel, but they might help you on those tough days.
“Anxiety’s like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it doesn’t get you very far.”
— Jodi Picoult, “Sing You Home”
“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
“Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow.”
— Swedish proverb
“What else does anxiety about the future bring you but sorrow upon sorrow?”
— Thomas à Kempis
“Anxiety is a lot like a toddler. It never stops talking, tells you you’re wrong about everything, and wakes you up at 3 a.m.”
— Anonymous
Living with anxiety can be overwhelming and affect your daily life, causing problems at work and at home. These quotes describe just what it’s like to live with the constant worry anxiety produces.
“Worrying is carrying tomorrow’s load with today’s strength — carrying two days at once. It is moving into tomorrow ahead of time. Worrying doesn’t empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.”
— Corrie ten Boom
“Chronic anxiety is a state more undesirable than any other, and we will try almost any maneuver to eliminate it. Modern man is living in anxious anticipation of destruction. Such anxiety can be easily eliminated by self-destruction. As a German saying puts it: ‘Better an end with terror than a terror without end.”
— Robert E. Neale, “The Art of Dying”
“Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest taken between two deep breaths.”
— Etty Hillesum
“Our anxiety does not come from thinking about the future, but from wanting to control it.”
— Kahlil Gibran
“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
“Do not anticipate trouble or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight.”
— Benjamin Franklin
“Don’t assume I’m weak because I have panic attacks. You’ll never know the amount of strength it takes to face the world every day.”
— Unknown
“Just because I can’t explain the feelings causing my anxiety doesn’t make them less valid.”
— Lauren Elizabeth
“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
“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
“He who fears he shall suffer, already suffers what he fears.”
— Michel de Montaigne
Easing symptoms of anxiety can seem difficult. Here are some quotes that might provide some insight into how you might find some relief.
“If you want to conquer the anxiety of life, live in the moment, live in the breath.”
— Amit Ray, “Om Chanting and Meditation”
“To venture causes anxiety, but not to venture is to lose one’s self…. And to venture in the highest is precisely to be conscious of one’s self.”
— Søren Kierkegaard
“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
“Self-observation is the first step of inner unfolding.”
— Amit Ray, “Yoga and Vipassana: An Integrated Life Style”
“Smile, breathe, and go slowly.”
— Thich Nhat Hanh
“You don’t have to control your thoughts. You just have to stop letting them control you.”
— Dan Millman
“Nothing diminishes anxiety faster than action.”
— Walter Anderson
“If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.”
— Steven Hayes
“I promise you nothing is as chaotic as it seems. Nothing is worth diminishing your health. Nothing is worth poisoning yourself into stress, anxiety, and fear.”
— Steve Maraboli
“You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.”
— Maya Angelou
“Instead of worrying about what you cannot control, shift your energy to what you can create.”
— Roy Bennett
“Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.”
— Thich Nhat Hanh
“You don’t have to control your thoughts; you just have to stop letting them control you.”
— Dan Millman
“Good humor is a tonic for mind and body. It is the best antidote for anxiety and depression… It lightens human burdens. It is the direct route to serenity and contentment.”
— Grenville Kleiser
When you have an anxiety disorder, some days can be more challenging than others. Daily motivation quotes might be helpful on those days.
“I can do this… I can start over. I can save my own life and I’m never going to be alone as long as I have stars to wish on and people to still love.”
— Jennifer Elisabeth, “Born Ready: Unleash Your Inner Dream Girl”
“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”
— Henry S. Haskins
“Don’t waste your time in anger, regrets, worries, and grudges. Life is too short to be unhappy.”
— Roy T. Bennett
“Whatever is going to happen will happen, whether we worry or not.”
— Ana Monnar
“Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations. The best is yet to come.”
— Zig Ziglar
“Be not afraid of life. Believe that life is worth living, and your belief will help create the fact.”
— William James
“In the end, just three things matter: How well we have lived. How well we have loved. How well we have learned to let go.”
— Jack Kornfield
“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.”
— Anne Lamott
“Some days, doing ‘the best we can’ may still fall short of what we would like to be able to do, but life isn’t perfect — on any front — and doing what we can with what we have is the most we should expect of ourselves or anyone else.”
— Mister Rogers
“Surrender to what is, let go of what was, and have faith in what will be.”
— Sonia Ricotti
“Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
— Reinhold Niebuhr
“In the end, it is important to remember that we cannot become what we need to be by remaining where we are.”
— Max De Pree
If you have an anxiety disorder, help is available. You can start by reaching out to someone you trust or your family doctor. They may be able to recommend a mental health professional if needed, who can help.
Anxiety disorders are treatable. Typically, treatment involves a combination of medication and therapy.
Self-care strategies — such as deep breathing and meditation — may also help ease symptoms of anxiety.
Reflecting upon insightful words can often help bring clarity to your feelings, as well as help others understand the challenges you face.
Although not a standard form of treatment, these phrases can offer guidance and confidence that every day is a new opportunity to manage your symptoms and find relief.