Thought Provoking Stress Quotes 


Below are a few inspiring stress quotes that capture various perceptions of stress and stress relief.

Pick the ones that speak to you the most and consider them carefully.

Keep these quotes close at hand. Stick them on your mirror, write them down on handy flash cards, use them as the screen saver for your phone or computer.

Let these stress quotes serve as a reminder of the importance of controlling stress and remaining in balance.


What is Stress


  • “Stress is the trash of modern life-we all generate it but if you don't dispose of it properly, it will pile up and overtake your life.” ~Danzae Pace


  • “Our stresses, anxieties, pains, and problems arise because we do not see the world, others, or even ourselves as worthy of love. (9)” ~ Prem Prakash, The Yoga of Spiritual Devotion: A Modern Translation of the Narada Bhakti Sutras



  • "Stress is an ignorant state. It believes that everything is an emergency." ~Natalie Goldberg's stress quote



  • "Stress should be a powerful driving force, not an obstacle." ~Bill Phillips


What To Do in Times of Stress

  • Adopting the right attitude can convert a negative stress into a positive one."  ~ Hans Selye


  • “Organization isn't about perfection; it's about efficiency, reducing stress and clutter, saving time and money and improving your overall quality of life.” ~Christina Scalise's stress quote


  • "In times of stress, the best thing we can do for each other is to listen with our ears and our hearts and to be assured that our questions are just as important as our answers." ~ Fred Rogers, author of The World According to Mister Rogers: Important Things to Remember


  • "In times of great stress or adversity, it's always best to keep busy, to plow your anger and your energy into something positive." ~ Lee Iacocca, American businessman


Dont Worry

  • "Therefore I tell you, 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?” ~ Matthew 6:25, The Holy Bible

  • “Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” ~Matthew 6:27, The Holy Bible

  • “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” ~ Matthew 6:34, The Holy Bible


It's Not That Bad

  • “I promise you nothing is as chaotic as it seems. Nothing is worth your health. Nothing is worth poisoning yourself into stress, anxiety, and fear.” ~Steve Maraboli's stress quote



  • “Give yourself a break. When you are alone with your thoughts, you shouldn't be arguing.” ~ Gary Rudz


You Are Not Alone

  • "Everybody's going through a lot of stress these days, no matter how well off you are and how many advantages you have, it's a stressful time in everybody's lives." ~ Chris Frantz, musician & record producer


Slow Down

  • "For fast-acting relief, try slowing down." ~Lily Tomlin's stress quote


  • "Sometimes it's important to work for that pot of gold. But other times it's essential to take time off and to make sure that your most important decision in the day simply consists of choosing which color to slide down on the rainbow." ~Douglas Pagels, These Are the Gifts I'd Like to Give to You




  • "Some of the secret joys of living are not found by rushing from point A to point B, but by inventing some imaginary letters along the way." ~Douglas Pagels, These Are the Gifts I'd Like to Give to You



  • "I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several days attack me at once." ~Jennifer Yane's stress quote



  • "Slow down and everything you are chasing will come around and catch you." ~John De Paola



  • "There is more to life than increasing its speed." ~Mohandas K. Gandhi



  • "God didn't do it all in one day. What makes me think I can?" ~Author Unknown


Take A Deep Breath

  • "Sometimes the most important thing in a whole day is the rest we take between two deep breaths." ~Etty Hillesum



  • "Take your seat on the shore. Listen to the ancient voice in the waves. Taste the salt of life on your tongue. Run your fingers through the eternal sand. Breathe deeply. If you find yourself worrying about your cell phone and emails, if you find yourself feeling guilty that you should be doing “something important,” breathe deeply again. And again. Breathe deeply until every fabric of your being is reminded that this, being here, is your top priority. This is peace. This is wisdom. The work is a means to living, but this is the living." ~Brian Vaszily


Relax

  • "The time to relax is when you don't have time for it." ~Attributed to both Jim Goodwin and Sydney J. Harris



  • "If your teeth are clenched and your fists are clenched, your lifespan is probably clenched." ~Attributed to both Adabella Radici and Terri Guillemets


  • "Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are."~Chinese Proverb


Let It Go



  • "I used to get stressed out, but my cancer has put everything into perspective." ~Delta Goodrem's stress quote


  • "Give your stress wings and let it fly away." ~ Terri Guillemets


  • “You must learn to let go. Release the stress. You were never in control anyway.” ~ Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free: Anniversary Edition



It's All In Your Head

  • "A mind at peace, a mind centered and not focused on harming others, is stronger than any physical force in the universe." ~Wayne Dyer

  • "The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another." ~William James



  • "To be "on edge," you are literally not centered - not being in your spiritual center." ~Carrie Latet


Take Back Control

  • "Being in control of your life and having realistic expectations about your day-to-day challenges are the keys to stress management, which is perhaps the most important ingredient to living a happy, healthy and rewarding life." ~Marilu Henner



  • "I also think stress is related to control. When you're in charge of your life, you tend to not care about losing control of things that don't really matter like traffic jams." ~Marilu Henner



  • "The components of anxiety, stress, fear, and anger do not exist independently of you in the world. They simply do not exist in the physical world, even though we talk about them as if they do." ~Wayne Dyer



  • "I have always argued that change becomes stressful and overwhelming only when you've lost any sense of the constancy of your life. You need firm ground to stand on. From there, you can deal with that change." ~Richard Nelson Bolles


And If You Don't Take Control...

  • "It’s not stress that kills us, it is our reaction to it." ~Hans Selye



  • "Often when a person can't get past stress, she will turn to overeating, drinking or smoking, which can become a greater problem than the stress itself." ~Marilu Henner


Stress Relief Tips

  • "A woman under stress is not immediately concerned with finding solutions to her problems but rather seeks relief by expressing herself and being understood." ~ John Gray



  • "I love yoga because not only is it a workout for your body, but also your breathing, which helps release a lot of stress. It really prepares you for the day." ~ Tia Mowry



  • "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 Burns


  • "Exercise is really important to me - it's therapeutic. So if I'm ever feeling tense or stressed or like I'm about to have a meltdown, I'll put on my iPod and head to the gym or out on a bike ride along Lake Michigan with the girls." ~Michelle Obama

  • "There must be quite a few things that a hot bath won't cure, but I don't know many of them." ~Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar



  • “I have never known any distress that an hour’s reading did not relieve.” ~ Charles-Louis De Secondat Montesquieu


The stress quotes listed above reflect different views on stress - quotes that come from the minds and experiences of actors, comedians, scientists, philosophers and authors.

But no matter how varying these stress quotes are, they are all tied by a common thread – stress affects the quality of our life and it’s vital that we manage our stress level and remain in balance.

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