Worry Quotes To Calm Your Fears and Anxieties

These quotes about worry will help you put your fears in perspective, so you can be productive and take care of yourself.

We humans seem to worry all the time.

We worry about big things, like money, family, work, and love.

We worry about whether our socks match and our teeth are white enough.

We especially worry about what other people think of us.

As you browse the quotes below, you will learn that worry doesn’t help us solve any problems.

In fact, worry creates problems of its own.

According to a report by the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the United States, affecting 40 million adults in the country.

These disorders are highly treatable, but only about one-third of those suffering from anxiety disorders receive treatment.

So, why do we worry so much?

Some people think that worry is our mind’s way of reminding us about our problems and motivating us to solve them.

Unless you are using worry to help you get things done, then you are just wasting your time and making yourself feel bad when you worry.

Below is our collection of inspirational, wise, and helpful worry quotes and sayings, collected from a variety of sources over the years.

We also have a compilation of quotes about anxiety that will inspire you to overcome your worries.

Be sure to read them as well.

If you love this quote collection, read out our most popular quote article about short inspirational quotes for daily motivation. 

If you need more inspirational quotes, check out our motivational quotes category page.

Worry Quotes About How It Creates Problems

Research conducted by the University of Wisconsin-Madison found that people who practice gratitude have lower levels of stress and anxiety, and higher levels of positive emotions and life satisfaction.

Gratitude practices, such as keeping a gratitude journal, expressing gratitude to others, and reflecting on blessings, can help reduce worry and anxiety.

1.) “Worry pretends to be necessary, but serves no useful purpose.” – Eckhart Tolle

You will also enjoy our article on fear quotes.

2.) “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.” – Corrie Ten Boom

You will also enjoy our article on bridesmaid quotes.

3.) “A day of worry is more exhausting than a day of work.” – John Lubbock

You will also enjoy our article on calm quotes.

4.) “Worry is the stomach’s worst poison.” – Alfred Nobel

You will also enjoy our article on anxiety quotes.

5.) “What worries you, masters you.” – John Locke

You will also enjoy our article on quotes on being calm.

6.) “Whatever we expect with confidence becomes our own self-fulfilling prophecy.” – Brian Tracy

You will also enjoy our article on “don’t worry” quotes. 

7.) “Do what you can, with what you’ve got, where you are.” – Theodore Roosevelt

8.) “Without anxiety and illness I should have been like a ship without a rudder.” – Edvard Munch

9.) “A mistake in judgment isn’t fatal, but too much anxiety about judgment is.” – Pauline Kael

10.) “A crust eaten in peace is better than a banquet partaken in anxiety.” – Aesop

Quotes About Worry and Anxiety

According to a survey by the American Psychological Association, money and work are the top two sources of stress for Americans.

More than two-thirds of Americans reported that money is a significant source of stress, and 61% of Americans reported that work is a significant source of stress in their lives.

11.) “The truth is that there is no actual stress or anxiety in the world; it’s your thoughts that create these false beliefs. You can’t package stress, touch it, or see it. There are only people engaged in stressful thinking.” – Wayne Dyer

If you’re enjoying these quotes, read our collection of stress quotes that will teach you tips to better manage yours.

12.) “There is no such thing as pure pleasure; some anxiety always goes with it.” – Ovid

13.) “Comedy is probably a way of dealing with anxiety. Sometimes it’s a way of dealing with pain.” – Hugh Grant

14.) “Turn your attention for a while away from the worries and anxieties. Remind yourself of all your many blessings.” – Ralph Marston

15.) “Worry a little bit every day and in a lifetime you will lose a couple of years. If something is wrong, fix it if you can. But train yourself not to worry. Worry never fixes anything.” – Mary Hemingway

16.) “That’s the duty of the old, to be anxious on behalf of the young. And the duty of the young is to scorn the anxiety of the old.” – Philip Pullman

17.) “I think anxiety is dangerous, but it makes you think it’s your friend.” – Noah Baumbach

Also read these helpful insanity quotes on staying sane in the chaos that is life.

Quotes About Worry and Confidence

According to a study by the American Psychological Association, nearly two-thirds of Americans say that they are worried about the future of the country and more than half report that they are anxious about their personal finances.

This statistic can be used to emphasize the prevalence of worry in society and the importance of finding ways to cope with it.

18.) “You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’” – Eleanor Roosevelt

19.) “You must have confidence in your competence.” – Elijah Cummings

20.) “Action is a great restorer and builder of confidence. Inaction is not only the result, but the cause, of fear. Perhaps the action you take will be successful; perhaps different action or adjustments will have to follow. But any action is better than no action at all.” – Norman Vincent Peale

21.) “Besides pride, loyalty, discipline, heart, and mind, confidence is the key to all the locks.” – Joe Paterno

22.) “With confidence, you have won before you have started.” – Marcus Garvey

23.) “People become attached to their burdens sometimes more than the burdens are attached to them.” – George Bernard Shaw

24.) “Do not worry about your difficulties in Mathematics. I can assure you mine are still greater.” – Albert Einstein

Worry quotes to help you get rid of your anxiousness

Research conducted by the University of California, Berkeley found that people who practice mindfulness meditation have lower levels of anxiety and stress hormones, such as cortisol, compared to those who do not meditate.

This finding can be used to support the idea that mindfulness and relaxation techniques can be effective tools for managing worry and building confidence.

25.) “I choose to be inspired by things that have been done well in the past. So, I don’t worry about being compared, because I think that does paralyze you.” – Kenneth Branagh

26.) “I believe everyone should have a broad picture of how the universe operates and our place in it. It is a basic human desire. And it also puts our worries in perspective.” – Stephen Hawking

27.) “Instead of worrying about what you cannot control, shift your energy to what you can create.” – Roy T. Bennett

28.) “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

29.) “Worry – a God, invisible but omnipotent. It steals the bloom from the cheek and lightness from the pulse; it takes away the appetite, and turns the hair gray.” – Benjamin Disraeli

30.) “That’s the secret to life… replace one worry with another.” – Charles M. Schulz

31.) “I have learned not to worry about love; but to honor its coming with all my heart.” – Alice Walker

32.) “Whatever is going to happen will happen, whether we worry or not.” – Ana Monnar

33.) “There is a great difference between worry and concern. A worried person sees a problem, and a concerned person solves a problem.” – Harold Stephen

34.) “Don’t worry about your heart, it will last you as long as you live.” – W. C. Fields

35.) “If a problem is fixable, if a situation is such that you can do something about it, then there is no need to worry. If it’s not fixable, then there is no help in worrying. There is no benefit in worrying whatsoever.” – The Dalai Lama

Quotes About Worry and Fear

A survey by the National Sleep Foundation found that people who get less than 6 hours of sleep per night are more likely to report feeling worried, anxious, and stressed during the day.

This statistic can be used to highlight the importance of getting enough sleep for mental well-being and confidence.

36.) “It’s OKAY to be scared. Being scared means you’re about to do something really, really brave.” – Mandy Hale

37.) “The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.”– Elbert Hubbard

38.) “I say I am stronger than fear.” – Malala Yousafzai

39.) “The fearful unbelief is unbelief in yourself.” – Thomas Carlyle

40.) “There is no hope unmingled with fear, and no fear unmingled with hope.” – Baruch Spinoza

41.) “Love is what we were born with. Fear is what we learned here.” – Marianne Williamson

42.) “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” – H. P. Lovecraft

43.) “Always do what you are afraid to do.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

44.) “There are things which a man is afraid to tell even to himself, and every decent man has a number of such things stored away in his mind.” – Fyodor Dostoevsky

45.) “To him who is in fear, everything rustles.” – Sophocles

Clever Worry Quotes to Help You Manage Your Fears

According to a study published in the Journal of Abnormal Psychology, excessive worry is associated with increased levels of anxiety and depression.

This study underscores the importance of managing our worries and not letting them take over our lives.

46.) “Worry is a misuse of the imagination.” – Dan Zadra

47.) “If you ask what is the single most important key to longevity, I would have to say it is avoiding worry, stress and tension. And if you didn’t ask me, I’d still have to say it.” – George F. Burns

48.) “If you want to test your memory, try to recall what you were worrying about one year ago today.” – E. Joseph Cossman

49.) “The reason why worry kills more people than work is that more people worry than work.” – Robert Frost

50.) “Become a worry-slapper. Treat frets like mosquitoes. Do you procrastinate when a bloodsucking bug lights on your skin? ‘I’ll take care of it in a moment.’ Of course you don’t! You give the critter the slap it deserves. Be equally decisive with anxiety.” – Max Lucado

51.) “Rule number one is, don’t sweat the small stuff. Rule number two is, it’s all small stuff.” – Robert Eliot

52.) “Little minds have little worries, big minds have no time for worries.” –  Ralph Waldo Emerson

53.) “Sometimes I worry about being a success in a mediocre world.” – Lily Tomlin

54.) “Success is having to worry about every damn thing in the world, except money.” – Johnny Cash

If you’re enjoying these quotes, make sure to read our collection of Johnny Cash quotes for living a full life.

55.) “I finally know what distinguishes man from the other beasts: financial worries.” –  Jules Renard

More worry quotes and sayings

Research from the University of Rochester found that worry can actually be beneficial in some circumstances, as it can prompt us to take action and solve problems.

However, it is important to distinguish between helpful and unhelpful worry, and to manage our fears in a healthy way.

56. “Times will change for the better when you change.” – Maxwell Maltz

57. “Pray, hope, and don’t worry. Worry is useless. God is merciful and will hear your prayer.”- Padre Pio

58. “Her forehead was a maze of anxious little grooves, from a lifetime of wondering about whether everyone within range was OK.” – Tana French

59. “Temperamentally anxious people can have a hard time staying motivated, period, because their intense focus on their worries distracts them from their goals.” – Winifred Gallagher

60. “Each moment of worry, anxiety or stress represents lack of faith in miracles, for they never cease.” – T.F. Hodge

61. “She knows that feeling too. Of believing that each time someone says her name, it’s to tell her that something bad has happened.” – Melina Marchetta

62. “When I don’t have something to worry about, I worry. Nothing comes so naturally to a human being as anxiety and worry.” – Brian Richardson

63. “All this wondering was the weather vane on top of the building of unrest and of discontent.” – Steinbeck

64. “Worrying about every little thing will eventually stop you in your tracks for good. Take a chance of yourself. Start living without fear. Stop missing out on your own life. Just go for it!” – Christine E. Szymanski

65. “Worrying is using your imagination to create something you don’t want.” – Abraham Hicks

Thought-provoking worry quotes

A survey by the National Sleep Foundation found that 43% of Americans reported that stress or worry caused them to have trouble sleeping.

This underscores the importance of managing our worries, not only for our mental health but also for our physical health and well-being.

66. “Worrying is like a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it gets you nowhere.” – Glenn Turner

67. “There’s no point in worrying about things you can’t influence.” – John Bercow

68. “I can’t live my life worrying about something that might never happen.” – Bill Parcells

69. “When I look back on all these worries, 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 had never happened.” – Winston Churchill

70. “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

More empowering worry quotes

71. “Our fatigue is often caused not by work but by worry, frustration, and resentment.” – Dale Carnegie

72. “Worrying is carrying tomorrow’s load with today’s strength- carrying two days at once. It is moving into tomorrow ahead of time.” – Corrie Ten Boom

73. “Most things I worry about never happen anyway.” – Tom Petty

74. “By forgetting the past and by throwing myself into other interests, I forget to worry.” – Jack Dempsey

75. “If you can’t sleep, then get up and do something instead of lying there worrying. It’s the worry that gets you, not the lack of sleep.” – Dale Carnegie

76. “Worrying doesn’t get you anywhere.” – Van Wilder

77. “A big part of financial freedom is having your heart and mind free from worry about the what-ifs of life.” – Suze Orman

78. “Our fatigue is often caused not by work, but by worry, frustration and resentment.” – Dale Carnegie

79. “I enjoy life, and I think that’s important. Life is so fragile and so fleeting, and it’s over in a minute, and you’ve just got to grab it and do everything and not worry about it.” – Jerry Hall

80. “There is nothing that wastes the body like worry, and one who has any faith in God should be ashamed to worry about anything whatsoever.” – Mahatma Gandhi

81. “Worry is spiritual short sight. Its cure is intelligent faith.” – Paul Brunton

82. “Do not worry about avoiding temptation. As you grow older it will avoid you.” – Joey Adams

83. “I’m very happy with my life. I am what I am. I don’t worry about anything that I can’t control. That’s a really good lesson in life.” – Tom Watson

84. “Don’t worry what people say or what people think. Be yourself.” – Brett Hull

85. “At the end of the day, life is too short to worry.” – Lauren Ash

86. “Pray, and let God worry.” – Martin Luther

Worry quotes to contemplate on

87. “Don’t waste your time in anger, regrets, worries, and grudges. Life is too short to be unhappy.” ― Roy T. Bennett

88. “You probably wouldn’t worry about what people think of you if you could know how seldom they do.” ― Olin Miller

89. “It’s not time to worry yet.” ― Harper Lee

90. “Do not anticipate trouble, or worry about what may never happen. Keep in the sunlight.” ― Benjamin Franklin

91. “I am an old man and have known a great many troubles, but most of them have never happened.” ― Mark Twain

92. “If we are worried about the future, then we must look today at the upbringing of children.” ― Gordon B. Hinckley

93. “Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy.” ― Leo Buscaglia

94. “There were many terrible things in my life and most of them never happened.” ― Michel de Montaigne

95. “I am reminded of the advice of my neighbor. “Never worry about your heart till it stops beating. ” ― E.B. White

96. “Within certain limits, it is actually true that the less money you have, the less you worry.” ― George Orwell

Worry quotes for when you’re anxious and restless

97. “Worry 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

98. “When one has too great a dread of what is impending, one feels some relief when the trouble has come.” – Joseph Joubert

99. “If you treat every situation as a life and death matter, you’ll die a lot of times.” – Dean Smith

100. “Worry compounds the futility of being trapped on a dead-end street. Thinking opens new avenues.” – Cullen Hightower

101. “Worry is like a rocking chair: it gives you something to do but never gets you anywhere” – Erma Bombeck

102. “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

103. “Somehow our devils are never quite what we expect when we meet them face to face.”
– Nelson DeMille

104. “Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith.” – Henry Ward Beecher

105. “We can easily manage if we will only take, each day, the burden appointed to it. But the load will be too heavy for us if we carry yesterday’s burden over again today, and then add the burden of the morrow before we are required to bear it.” – John Newton

106. “I have no regrets. I wouldn’t have lived my life the way I did if I was going to worry about what people were going to say.” – Ingrid Bergman

Worry Quotes To Help You Stay Focused

107. “Planning for, or worrying about, a particular portion of the future does not increase your chances of reaching it.” ― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

108. “Worrying will make you weak. Thereof, worry about nothing but pray about your pain.” ― Lailah Gifty Akita

109. “Everywhere people are wasting their lives with worry and hate so they have no time to lean back and love.” ― Marty Rubin

110. “Don’t be worried. For as long as you are YOU, nothing can affect you.” ― Meir Ezra

111. “Do not worry about your loss. Dream a new dream.” ― Lailah Gifty Akita

112. “Use your worry, but know when to leave it behind.” ― Twyla Tharp

113. “When happiness comes your way don’t worry about how long it will last, but save those

moments in your heart and they will last all your life.” ― Lidia Longorio

114. “Worry rolls inside you like a wheel.” ― Stewart O’Nan

115. “It is OK to be sad, hurt and to worry but you must drop the load and believe in yourself and dream big again.” ― Abhishek Ratna

116. “You are consumed by the worry that it might rain even though you live in California.” ― Lidia Longorio

What will you do when you catch yourself thinking about worry?

Remember that worry is a natural habit for our minds, but it also doesn’t help solve any problems.

Worry is like an alarm clock that lets you know it is time to solve a problem.

You can start by making a plan.

Even if you are just taking one small step to start getting rid of your worry, you are making progress.

Always remind yourself not to worry without also working on a solution.

If you feel stuck thinking about your troubles that are making you worry, talk to someone you trust to help you figure out the first step to solving the problem.

Soon, your worry will be far behind you.

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

Do you have any other helpful quotes to add?

Let us know in the comment section below.