#anxiety

Men seek rest in a struggle against difficulties; and when they have conquered these, rest becomes insufferable. ↗

— Blaise Pascal

#rest #men

as the determinants of high status keep shifting, so, too, naturally, will the triggers of status anxiety be altered. ↗

— Alain de Botton

#status #nature

Anxiety's like a rocking chair. It gives you something to do, but it doesn't get you very far. ↗

— Jodi Picoult

#humor #simile #humor

[L]ife is a phenomenon in need of criticism, for we are, as fallen creatures, in permanent danger of worshipping false gods, of failing to understand ourselves and misinterpreting the behaviour of others, of growing unproductively anxious or desirous, and of losing ourselves to vanity and error. Surreptitiously and beguilingly, then, with humour or gravity, works of art--novels, poems, plays, paintings or films--can function as vehicles to explain our condition to us. They may act as guides to a truer, more judicious, more intelligent understanding of the world. ↗

— Alain de Botton

#art #criticism #desire #films #gravity

Even if she be not harmed, her heart may fail her in so much and so many horrors; and hereafter she may suffer--both in waking, from her nerves, and in sleep, from her dreams. ↗

— Bram Stoker

#dreams #fear #horror #memories #nightmares

To hear the phrase "our only hope" always makes one anxious, because it means that if the only hope doesn't work, there is nothing left. ↗

— Lemony Snicket

#hope #work

Bringing people into the here-and-now. The real universe. That's the present moment. The past is no good to us. The future is full of anxiety. Only the present is real--the here-and-now. Seize the day. ↗

— Saul Bellow

#anxiety

I used to feel so alone in the city. All those gazillions of people and then me, on the outside. Because how do you meet a new person? I was very stunned by this for many years. And then I realized, you just say, "Hi." They may ignore you. Or you may marry them. And that possibility is worth that one word. ↗

— Augusten Burroughs

#lonliness #opportunity #risk #social-anxiety #opportunity

The more you pray, the less you'll panic. The more you worship, the less you worry. You'll feel more patient and less pressured. ↗

— Rick Warren

#prayer #worry #worship #purpose

I wondered how many people there were in the world who suffered, and continued to suffer, because they could not break out from their own web of shyness and reserve, and in their blindness and folly built up a great distorted wall in front of them that hid the truth. ↗

— Daphne du Maurier

#social-anxiety #truth #socialism