50 Burnout Quotes For Powerful Regeneration

Breathe, relax, and take a moment to check out our healing quotes about burnout.

Burnout is real.

Despite what some may say, burnout is a legit experience people go through. 

American Businesswoman Marissa Mayer connected burnout to resentment.

She noted, “I have a theory that burnout is about resentment. And you beat it by knowing what it is you’re giving up that makes you resentful.” 

Following our joy is essential as we pursue our passions.

We can burn ourselves out while pursuing what we love.

When burned out, we are less capable and motivated. 

Eighty-five percent of millennials say they have experienced burnout at their current job.

Burnout has no boundaries and impacts people of all generations, not just millennials. 

National poll data suggests that ninety-one percent of people in the US believe having an unmanageable amount of stress or frustration negatively impacts the quality of their work.

Below is our list of burnout quotes and sayings collected from various sources over the years.

If you enjoy this article, check out our collection of stress quotes on how to better manage yours.

Burnout Quotes And Sayings

1. “I have a theory that burnout is about resentment. And you beat it by knowing what it is you’re giving up that makes you resentful.” – Marissa Mayer

2. “The No. 1 cause of burnout is doing the same thing over and over again and not seeing results.” – Steve Kaczmarski

3. “You will burn, and you will burn out; you will be healed and come back again.” – Fyodor Dostoevsky

4. “Burnout is nature’s way of telling you you’ve been going through the motions your soul has departed.” – Sam Keen

5. “Burnout is the result of too much energy output and not enough energy self-invested.” – Melissa Steginus

6. “Burnout occurs when your body and mind can no longer keep up with the tasks you demand of them.” – Del Suggs

7. “‘Emotional labor,’ which is the effort we make to control and change our own emotions, is associated with stress, burnout, and even physical symptoms like an increase in cardiovascular disease.” – Susan Cain

8. “In other words, it’s burning too much fuel than you’ve put in your tank.” – Melissa Steginus

9. “I actually think burnout is the wrong description of it. I think it’s burn up.” – Richard Boyatzis

10. “Don’t burn out. Take care of yourself by getting eight hours of sleep, eat healthy, and exercise.” – Jared Kim

You will also enjoy our article on December quotes.

Burnout Quotes About Work

11. “Burnout is so hard to get out of because when you’re in it, you ask yourself, ‘What can I do to bring me relief from all this pressure and stress of all this work I need to do?'” – Jonny Sun

12. “Burnout is a bone-tired, soul-tired, heart-tired kind of exhaustion.” – J. Pennebaker

13. “Burnout is a byproduct of a dysfunctional work environment.” – Joy Energy Time

14. “Gratitude for everything you still have, and every step of your recovery, is such an important part of healing from burnout.” – Emma Matthews

15. “Burnout, like any difficult experience, is a great teacher. My question is: What is it trying to tell you?” – Dr. Rebecca Ray

16. “Feeling chronically exhausted and totally over it? It’s important to know the signs of burnout.” – Carley Schweet

17. “In dealing with those who are undergoing great suffering, if you feel ‘burnout’ setting in, if you feel demoralized and exhausted, it is best, for the sake of everyone, to withdraw and restore yourself. The point is to have a long-term perspective.” – Dalai Lama

18. “The land of burnout is not a place I ever want to go back to.” – Arianna Huffington

19. “You’re feeling burnt out and discouraged, but you’ve made it this far, and I think that’s really brave.” – Anonymous

20. “You’re burned out because this culture has messed up our priorities, not because there’s something wrong with you.” – Juliana Finch

Inspirational Burnout Quotes

21. “Burnout often has as much boredom in it as exhaustion.” –  Ingrid Fetell Lee, Joyful

22. “While burnout obviously has something to do with stress, overdoing things, not being centered, and not listening to yourself or your body.” – Jenn Bruer, Helping Effortlessly

23. “Since ministers who burn out associate their experiences with spiritual things, it’s not surprising that they would avoid them.” – Anthony J. Headley, Reframing Ministry

24. “One of the deepest contributors to burnout, I believe, is the deep disappointment of not living up to your true calling, which is to help.” – Jenn Bruer, Helping Effortlessly

25. “Burnout in ministry can lead to deep emotional wounds that traumatize and leave us vulnerable and afraid.” – Anthony J. Headley, Reframing Ministry

26. “A meta-analysis of almost two hundred studies conducted in more than fifteen countries found that women are more physically and emotionally exhausted than men, accounting for their higher rates of burnout in many sectors, such as media.” – Soraya Chemaly, Rage Becomes Her.

27. “We come to fear the things that we associate with our burnout.” – Anthony J. Headley, Reframing Ministry

28. “So, while I knew what burnout was, I never thought it would happen to me.” – Jenn Bruer, Helping Effortlessly

29. “When an employee is fizzling out, we call this burnout, and it can happen to any employee, even yourself. You need to be able to recognize it.” – Denise Wilkerson, HIRE with FIRE

30. “[Burnout] isn’t a personal problem. It’s a societal one—and it will not be cured by productivity apps, or a bullet journal, or face mask skin treatments, or overnight fucking oats.” – Anne Helen Petersen, Can’t Even

Burnout Quotes For Moms

31. “Burnout carries a stigma as a sign of weakness, and since I am not weak, I think my young helper mind couldn’t reconcile how burnout could come knocking at my door.” – Jenn Bruer, Helping Effortlessly

32. “That’s why the burnout condition is more than just addiction to work. It’s an alienation from the self, and from desire.” – Anne Helen Petersen

33. “Burnout exists because we’ve made rest a reward rather than a right.” – Juliet C Obodo

34. “A reckoning with burnout is so often the reckoning with the fact that the things you fill your day with — the things you fill your life with — feel unrecognizable from the sort of life you want to live and the sort of meaning you want to make of it.” – Anne Helen Petersen

35. “Burnout occurs when an individual has experienced prolonged demands, chronic stress, fatigue, a lack of support, and a decreased satisfaction in what they are doing.” – Asa Don Brown

36. “Burnout is a war that must be won on two fronts.” – Jeanine Joy

37. “Burnout also leads to a large swath of physicians who aren’t as empathetic toward their patients as they could be.” – Danielle Ofri

38. “While burnout obviously has something to do with stress, overdoing things, not being centered, and not listening to yourself or your body, one of the deepest contributors to burnout, I believe, is the deep disappointment of not living up to your true calling, which is to help.” – Jenn Bruer

39. “Burnout often has as much boredom in it as exhaustion.” – Ingrid Fetell Lee

40. “Self-care is essential to combating burnout.” – Asa Don Brown

Burnout Quotes About Stress

41. “Most millennials who start jobs by age twenty-one reach their first burnout when they are about twenty-six to twenty-seven years old.” – Sonali Gupta

42. “Burnout can be prevented with proper self-care and a supportive environment.” – Asa Don Brown.

43. “Their second burnout is between ages twenty-nine and thirty years. This is usually the time when most people reach out for help and almost believe in its legitimacy since they now feel that a decade of work has taken a toll on them.” – Sonali Gupta

44. “By refreshing our sense of belonging in the world, we widen the web of relationships that nourishes us and protects us from burnout.” – Joanna Macy & Chris Johnstone

45. “Burnout can be defined as a loss of enthusiasm, energy, idealism, perspective, and purpose; it has been described as trying to run a marathon at full speed.” – Kathleen Kendall-Tackett Ph.D.

46. “Stress, burnout, and strain on the human heart are all increasingly taking their toll for millions of hardworking people.” – Christopher Dines

47. “It’s often the mothers who care the most who are the most prone to burnout.” – Kathleen Kendall-Tackett Ph.D.

48. “The process of applying Mindfulness Burnout Prevention (MBP) in the workplace or any environment has a much more far-reaching effect than simply accessing equanimity throughout the vicissitudes of life.” – Christopher Dines

49. “Burnout is a way of telling you that your form of activism was perhaps not very full circle.” – Gloria Steinem.

50. “Leadership is an active role; ‘lead’ is a verb. But the leader who tries to do it all is headed for burnout and in a powerful hurry.” – Bill Owens

What Did You Learn From These Burnout Quotes

Being passionate about a career calling or job opportunity does not make us immune to burnout. 

A large majority of workers in the US feel they have passion for their job but are also frequently stressed.

It is a myth to believe that passionate employees are immune to stress. 

American writer Jenn Bruer notes, “Burnout carries a stigma as a sign of weakness, and since I am not weak, I think my young helper mind couldn’t reconcile how burnout could come knocking at my door.”

One in four professionals says they never use all of their vacation days. 

Many people are redefining their career objectives and how they get their work done.

Harsh conditions or lack of flexibility have not stopped people from working.

Most people are strong-willed and can keep going. 

The top reason many workers quit is not from being overworked; they quit because of a lack of support or recognition from leadership. 

What’s your biggest takeaway from these burnout quotes and sayings?

Let us know in the comment section below.