81 Thought-Provoking Worry Quotes

In a world that often feels like it's spinning faster every day, worry can become an unwelcome companion that follows us around, whispering worst-case scenarios. Yet, sometimes, pondering the nature of worry can provide clarity and even comfort. Our collection of 81 thought-provoking worry quotes delves into the intricacies of worry, offering perspectives that range from the deeply philosophical to the refreshingly humorous. By exploring these nuggets of wisdom from renowned thinkers, writers, and everyday sages, you might unlock new ways to tame your worries and embrace life's uncertainties with grace and resilience. Dive into these quotes and discover insights that might just change the way you perceive and deal with worry in your daily life.

1. “Life is in Fate's hands now. You made your choice to stay... it's too late to change that, so stop agonizing over it.... You're making my scales itch.Saphira, from "Eragon” - Christopher Paolini

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

3. “If there is no solution to the problem then don't waste time worrying about it. If there is a solution to the problem then don't waste time worrying about it.” - Dalai Lama XIV

4. “Worry is a misuse of the imagination.” - Dan Zadra

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

6. “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.” - Corrie Ten Boom

7. “Drag your thoughts awayfrom your troubles...by the ears, by the heels,or any other way you can manage it.” - Mark Twain

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

9. “Times will change for the better when you change.” - Maxwell Maltz

10. “Worry is the secret weapon perpetrated upon us by the dark forces of the world that lurk in the shape of fear, uncertainty, confusion, and loss.We, on the other hand, have our own secret weapon against these incorporeal fiends.It is laughter.” - Vera Nazarian

11. “And do you not think less of me for making my fortune insuch a way?” After all, her own sister did.He gave her an odd look. “There is no shame in being themistress of a king. It’s a position of great power and influence. I think less of Louis for letting you go.” - Jenna Maclaine

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

13. “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

14. “We tend to be preoccupied by our problems when we have a heightened sense of vulnerability and a diminished sense of power. Today, see each problem as an invitation to prayer.” - John Ortberg

15. “When 1:45 came, half the class left, and Danny Hupfer whispered, "If she gives you a cream puff after we leave, I'm going to kill you" - which was not something that someone headed off to prepare for his bar mitzvah should be thinking.When 1:55 came and the other half of the class left, Meryl Lee whispered, "If she gives you one after we leave, I'm going to do Number 408 to you." I didn't remember what Number 408 was, but it was probably pretty close to what Danny Hupfer had promised.Even Mai Thi looked at me with narrowed eyes and said, "I know your home." Which sounded pretty ominous.” - Gary D. Schmidt

16. “Worrying was painful .... but compared to the alternative, a privilege” - Laura Moriarty

17. “She tried to worry that something terrible had happened to him, but didn't believe it for a moment. Nothing terrible ever happened to him, though she was beginning to think that it was time it damn well did. If nothing terrible happened to him soon maybe she'd do it herself. Now there was an idea.” - Douglas Adams

18. “What will be left of all the fearing and wanting associated with your problematic life situation that every day takes up most of your attention? A dash, one or two inches long, between the date of birth and date of death on your gravestone.” - Eckhart Tolle

19. “How can a person deal with anxiety? You might try what one fellow did. He worried so much that he decided to hire someone to do his worrying for him. He found a man who agreed to be his hired worrier for a salary of $200,000 per year. After the man accepted the job, his first question to his boss was, "Where are you going to get $200,000 per year?" To which the man responded, "That's your worry.” - Max Lucado

20. “It makes me . . . anxious . . . to be away from you.” - Stephenie Meyer

21. “People who are diagnosed as having "generalized anxiety disorder" are afflicted by three major problems that many of us experience to a lesser extent from time to time. First and foremost, says Rapgay, the natural human inclination to focus on threats and bad news is strongly amplified in them, so that even significant positive events get suppressed. An inflexible mentality and tendency toward excessive verbalizing make therapeutic intervention a further challenge.” - Winifred Gallagher

22. “Whatever is going to happen will happen, whether we worry or not.” - Ana Monnar

23. “Sometimes I tend to worry too much and at the end of all the preoccupation nothing goes wrong.” - Ana Monnar

24. “It's about the quality of the worry," I said. "I have happier worries now than I used to.” - David Gilmour

25. “Roger. Be Safe. We'll be there when we can, over.” - Kalee Thompson

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

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

28. “We would worry less if we praised more. Thanksgiving is the enemy of discontent and dissatisfaction.” - Harry A. Ironside

29. “Do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes?Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labour or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?So do not worry, saying, ``What shall we eat?'' or ``What shall we drink?'' or ``What shall we wear?'' For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.- Matthew 6:25-34” - Anonymous

30. “If I was a worrier I'd worry, but not being a worrier I'm just sort of confused and pissed off.” - Mykle Hansen

31. “Unpopular, lonely and loving, Elinor need not trouble, For if she were not so loving, She would not be so miserable.” - Stevie Smith

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

33. “Basically, if the mind stays in the present, it’s impossible to worry. Upon careful consideration, it becomes clear that human beings are capable of worrying only about an event that has already transpired or one that may take place in the future (although the occurrence might have just happened or may be about to happen in the next instant). The present moment contains no time or space for worry.” - H.E. Davey

34. “worrying gets you nowhere” - Trinity

35. “Remember to delight yourself first, then others can be truly delighted."This was my mantra when I published my first book in 1990, and still holds true. When we focus on the song of our soul and heart, then others will be touched similarly. Sometimes people wonder or worry whether people will like or approve of their creative expression. It's none of your business. It's your business to stay present and focused for the work of your deepest dreams. It might look crooked or strange, or be very odd-but if it delights you, then it is yours, and will find it's way into other hearts.” - SARK

36. “I wanted to get away,' said she; 'everybody wants to plague and worry me about nothing. They'll be all right tomorrow. What's worrying them?''They are sacrificing to our Canadian God,' said Solly. 'We all believe that if we fret and abuse ourselves sufficiently, Providence will take pity and smile upon anything we attempt. A light heart, or a consciousness of desert, attracts ill luck. You have been away from your native land too long. You have forgotten our folkways. Listen to that gang over there; they are scanning the heavens and hoping aloud that it won't rain tomorrow. That is to placate the Mean Old Man in the Sky, and persuade him to be kind to us.” - Robertson Davies

37. “The most important thing is not to think very much about oneself. To investigate candidly the charge; but not fussily, not very anxiously. On no account to retaliate by going to the other extreme -- thinking too much.” - Virginia Woolf

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

39. “Of all your troubles, great and small, the greatest are the ones that don't happen at all.” - Thomas Carlyle

40. “It wasn't that the Gospel proved useful for my many worries but that the Gospel proved the uselessness of my worries and so refocused my whole attention.” - Henri J.M. Nouwen

41. “Worry was my mother's mechanic, her mechanism for engaging with the machinery of living. Worry was an anchor for her, a hook, something to clutch on to in the world. Worry was a box to live inside of, worry a mechanism for evading the present, for re-creating the past, for dealing with the future.” - Charles Yu

42. “Don't lose today by worrying about tomorrow!!!” - John F. Herbert

43. “Don't worry. Worry is useless. I worried anyway” - John Green

44. “When dreaded outcomes are actually imminent we don't worry about themwe take action. Seeing lava from the local volcano make its way down the street toward our house does not cause worry it causes running. Also we don't usually choose imminent events as subjects for our worrying and thus emerges an ironic truth: Often the very fact that you are worrying about something means that it isn't likely to happen.” - Gavin De Becker

45. “So I saw that there was only me. There was only me who could worry about what was happening here, inside these walls of my life. Other people had their own worlds to worry about, and in the end, they had to fend for themselves, just like us.” - Markus Zusak

46. “Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.” - Keith Caserta

47. “Worry is like a rocking-chair. It gives you something to do buy gets you nowhere.” - Wayne Bennett

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

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

50. “It ain't no use putting up your umbrella till it rains!” - Alice Caldwell Rice

51. “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

52. “I watch worry and anxiety being pandered to through technology which is neutral.” - Brian Richardson

53. “For most of my life I've been a listener. At least in the beginning, I think the reason I listened so intently was to have a chance of hearing the train before it ran over me.” - Steve Rasnic Tem

54. “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 S. Churchill

55. “The devil, darkness, and death may swagger and boast, the pangs of life will sting for a while longer, but don't worry; the forces of evil are breathing their last. Not to worry...He's risen!” - Swindoll Charles R.

56. “God has called His creation to find satisfaction in a personal relationship with Him, and stop trying to manage the world by conforming it to our expectations, and to allow Him to govern His creation. He continues to say through an ancient Hebrew worship song, "Be still and know that I am God!” - Swindoll Charles R.

57. “Worrying doesn't make any difference, but working does and spirituality gives one the strength to work” - Sri Sri Ravi Shankar

58. “Don’t worry about the little stuff. None of it matters. Only love matters. If you remember this, that love is always present; it will be a good life” - Bronnie Ware

59. “You worry about hurting me, but you never seem to worry about me hurting you. And I’m the one with the killer touch.” - Jennifer L. Armentrout

60. “Sometimes, even when I'm trying to keep the load light it just feels so heavy. Like the sky is a ton of bricks waiting to fall and anything I might do, think or feel could cause it to come crashing down.” - Jane Devin

61. “He might have been encased in a thick glass bubble, so separate did he feel from his three dining companions. It was a sensation with which he was only too familiar, that of walking in a giant sphere of worry, enclosed by it, watching his own terrors roll by, obscuring the outside world.” - J.K. Rowling

62. “Worry is like a rocking chair-it keeps you busy but gets you nowhere.” - Katie Dale

63. “Let's worry like mad. Shall we start on a worldwide basis and work down to ourselves, or start with ourselves and spread?""I'm going to do me-and-Peter and that dead man.""All right. I'm just going to do a wee one about Bunny and then I'll join you. Always creeping around telling tales and stealing people's tights! How can anyone be that scrofulous and live? Now if somebody bumped him off, that would make sense.” - Pamela Branch

64. “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

65. “Don't go looking for worry. It finds you on its own.” - Autumn Jordon

66. “Life is too precious to worry about what could or will happen. Life is..what you make it” - E'yen A. Gardner

67. “The way to misuse our possessions is to use them as an insurance against the morrow. Anxiety is always directed to the morrow, whereas goods are in the strictest sense meant to be used only for to-day.” - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

68. “Our worst misfortunes never happen, and most miseries lie in anticipation.” - Honoré de Balzac

69. “Worry is momentary atheism crying out for correction by trust in a good, sovereign God. Suffering breaks self-reliance.” - Randy Alcorn

70. “Why are we worried!" Rolf said suddenly. "This is God's work. He'll make a way for us.” - Brother Andrew

71. “Q: When is the perfect time? A: Who can say, but probably somewhere between haste and delay - and it's usually most wise to start today.” - Rasheed Ogunlaru

72. “The apprehension of this blessed truth (God's faithfulness) will check our murmurings. The Lord knows what is best for each of us, and one effect or resting on this truth will be the silencing of our petulant complainings. God is greatly honored when, under trial and chastening, we have good thoughts of Him, vindicate His wisdom and justice, and recognize His love in His very rebukes.” - A. W. Pink

73. “I was terrified of death by the time I was three or four, actively if not lucidly. I had frequent nightmares about snakes and scary neighbors. By the age of four or five, I was terrified by my thoughts. By the time I was five, the migraines began. I was so sensitive about myself and the world that I cried or shriveled up at the slightest hurt. People always told me, "You've got to get a thicker skin," like now they might say, jovially, "Let go and let God." Believe me, if I could, I would, and in the meantime I feel like stabbing you in the forehead. Teachers wrote on my report cards that I was too sensitive, excessively worried, as if this were an easily correctable condition, as if I were wearing too much of the violet toilet water little girls wore then.” - Anne Lamott

74. “When I was young I wanted so much to be like her. What a blessing are those moments when there is nothing to worry about, no thought of trouble or grief in the world.” - Belinda Jeffrey

75. “Let your cares drive you to God. I shall not mind if you have many of them if each one leads you to prayer. If every fret makes you lean more on the Beloved, it will be a benefit.” - Charles H. Spurgeon

76. “For every evil under the sun,There is a remedy, or there is none.If there be one, try and find it;If there be none, never mind it.” - Mother Goose Rhymes

77. “Rather than having regrets over events in the past, or worrying whether or not the future will bring you what you need or desire, allow yourself to rest in the present, the now. Understand that all that has transpired has brought you to this moment, and in this very moment, riches that far outweigh those of the world already lie within you.” - Kristi Bowman

78. “Paranoia is at most annoying!” - Anthony Liccione

79. “Worry acts like a squatter, sneaks in and tries to stay without paying rent!" EL.” - Evlinda Lepins

80. “Don't panic. Say, Hey, no problem. Run a hand through your hair like the whiteboys do even though the only thing that runs easily through your hair is Africa.” - Junot Diaz

81. “She inhaled a worry. She exhaled a prayer." Mary Lou Quinlan, author” - Mary Lou Quinlan