When your thoughts keep spinning, a few wise words can help you pause. Here are nine well-known quotes to return to when you can’t stop overthinking.
1. Seneca
“We suffer more often in imagination than in reality.” Many of our worries never come to pass.
2. Epictetus
“Men are disturbed not by things, but by the opinions about things.” Our thoughts shape how we feel.
3. Marcus Aurelius
“Very little is needed to make a happy life.” Simplicity can quiet a busy mind.
4. John Milton
“The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.” Our perspective matters.
5. Søren Kierkegaard
“Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.” You don’t need every answer before you move on.
6. John Lubbock
“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.”
7. Jon Kabat-Zinn
“Wherever you go, there you are.” The title of his book is a reminder to come back to the present.
8. Anne Lamott
“Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.” A short break can help.
9. An old Persian saying
“This too shall pass.” Hard moments don’t last forever.
How little is enough
Choose one quote and write it down where you’ll see it when your thoughts start to spin.
For more, read 6 ways to stop overthinking everything and win your mind back.
When you’re ready to go a little deeper, the Guides page has a guided journal for walking through change at your own pace.