Life Life Strategies Inspiration & Motivation 32 Self-Care Quotes to Help With Depression and Anxiety Feeling low? You’re not alone. Read through these thoughts and mantras from others who’ve been there. By Lauren Phillips Lauren Phillips Lauren is a former editor at Real Simple and currently serves as a senior digital editor for Better Homes & Gardens. Real Simple's Editorial Guidelines Updated on January 23, 2024 Trending Videos Close this video player Photo: RS/Corinne Mucha On darker days, it's helpful to have mantras (or meditation apps) that can bring you up from a spell of low mood. Fortunately, the following editor-approved depression and anxiety quotes might ease just a little bit of the burden you're facing. But, trust us, we (and the writers on the slides to follow) know it's hard. Learning how to deal with anxiety or fight depression takes daily effort, particularly if outside factors exacerbate your anxiety or depression (or both). However, with a slight change of perspective, these sayings could quiet your mind or remind you that what you're feeling is normal and not permanent. These quotes can be used for yourself, shared on social media, sent to a friend, or used on a letterboard as a more permanent reminder that managing your thoughts can help manage your mood. So pick your favorites and keep them handy the next time you need a little mental boost. Remember, if your anxiety or depression feels unmanageable, it's important to first turn to family, friends, or professionals for help: The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's National Helpline—1-800-662-HELP (4357)—is available 24/7, 365 days a year for treatment referral and information, if you need it. 01 of 32 “We must have pie. Stress cannot exist in the presence of a pie.” RS/Corinne Mucha —David Mamet 02 of 32 “No need to hurry. No need to sparkle. No need to be anybody but oneself.” RS/Corinne Mucha —Virginia Woolf 03 of 32 “Depression is the soul’s way of telling you to change something in your life, not to cut your own bangs.” RS/Corinne Mucha —John Fugelsang 04 of 32 “You are flesh and blood! And you deserve to be loved and you deserve what you are given. And oh, how much!” RS/Corinne Mucha —Florence & the Machine, “Third Eye” 05 of 32 “Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.” RS/Corinne Mucha —Anne Lamott 06 of 32 “Sadness is more or less like a head cold – with patience, it passes. Depression is like cancer.” RS/Corinne Mucha ― Barbara Kingsolver, The Bean Trees 07 of 32 “Sometimes I feel sad for no reason, but then I remember: A few reasons.” RS/Corinne Mucha —Aparna Nancherla 08 of 32 “I’ve never really thought of myself as depressed so much as paralyzed by hope.” RS/Corinne Mucha —Maria Bamford 09 of 32 “Give your stress wings and let it fly.” RS/Corinne Mucha —Terri Guillemets 10 of 32 “The things we fear the most have already happened to us.” RS/Corinne Mucha —Robin Williams 11 of 32 “No one knows that you cry, but you don’t tell anyone that you might not be the golden one. And you’re tied together with a smile, but you’re becoming undone.” RS/Corinne Mucha —Taylor Swift, “Tied Together With a Smile” 12 of 32 “You’ll never find a rainbow if you’re looking down.” RS/Corinne Mucha —Charlie Chaplin 13 of 32 "Maybe there's a way out of the cage where you live. Maybe one of these days you can let the light in. Show me how big your brave is." RS/Corinne Mucha – Sara Bareilles, “Brave” 14 of 32 "You're like a grey sky. You're beautiful, even though you don't want to be." RS/Corinne Mucha – Jasmine Warga, My Heart and Other Black Holes 15 of 32 "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." RS/Corinne Mucha – Corrie Ten Boom 16 of 32 “Mental pain is less dramatic than physical pain, but it is more common and also more hard to bear.” RS/Corinne Mucha —C.S. Lewis 17 of 32 “A human being can survive almost anything, as long as she sees the end in sight.” RS/Corinne Mucha – Elizabeth Wurtzel, Prozac Nation 18 of 32 “You’ve gotta swim and swim when it hurts. The whole world is watching. You haven’t come this far to fall off the earth.” RS/Corinne Mucha —Andrew McMahon, “Swim” 19 of 32 “A crust eaten in peace is better than a banquet partaken in anxiety.” RS/Corinne Mucha —Aesop 20 of 32 “Today, it’s like there’s rock bottom, 50 feet of crap, then me.” RS/Corinne Mucha —Rachel, Friends 21 of 32 "Even for me life had its gleams of sunshine." RS/Corinne Mucha – Charlotte Brontë, Jane Eyre 22 of 32 "Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad." RS/Corinne Mucha – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 23 of 32 "You must hold your quiet center, where you do what only you can do." RS/Corinne Mucha – Ha Jin, "A Center" 24 of 32 "Anxiety's like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it doesn't get you very far." RS/Corinne Mucha – Jodi Picoult, Sing You Home 25 of 32 "Sometimes it is necessary to reteach a thing its loveliness, to put a hand on its brow of the flower and retell it in words and in touch it is lovely until it flowers again from within." RS/Corinne Mucha – Galway Kinnell, "Saint Francis and the Sow" 26 of 32 "You are allowed to feel messed up and inside out. It doesn't mean you're defective—it just means you're human." RS/Corinne Mucha – David Mitchell, Cloud Atlas 27 of 32 "'Hope' is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul and sings the tune without the words and never stops at all. " RS/Corinne Mucha – Emily Dickinson, "'Hope' is the thing with feathers – (314)" 28 of 32 "Man is not worried by real problems so much as by his imagined anxieties about real problems." RS/Corinne Mucha – Epictetus 29 of 32 "Dance until your bones clatter. What a prize you are. What a lucky sack of stars." RS/Corinne Mucha – Gabrielle Calvocoressi, "At Last the New Arriving" 30 of 32 "If you want to conquer the anxiety of life, live in the moment, live in the breath." RS/Corinne Mucha – Amit Ray, Om Chanting and Meditation 31 of 32 "Anxiety is the dizziness of freedom." RS/Corinne Mucha – Søren Kierkegaard, The Concept of Anxiety: A Simple Psychologically Orienting Deliberation on the Dogmatic Issue of Hereditary Sin 32 of 32 "Life is 10 percent what you experience and 90 percent how you respond to it." RS/Corinne Mucha – Dorothy M. Neddermeyer Was this page helpful? Thanks for your feedback! Tell us why! Other Submit