Tana French Quotes

I'm generally known as a happy person, but years ago, I suffered from panic and anxiety. I've learned to manage the fear and pain.

Fear cannot be banished, but it can be calm and without panic; it can be mitigated by reason and evaluation.

When you can't cope with change, you feel overwhelmed, and you look for a simple solution.

I've been one of those people that hold on to a little bit more stress than others. People take certain situations a little bit differently.

I think we all have mechanisms that we use, each of us individually, to deal with pain that we've had or just dealing with life or whatever. Everyone's story is different, but we all have some kind of mechanism that we use to deal with stuff, that we create pretty young.

I'm learning what triggers me. What to stay away from. What I do like and what I don't like. To me, I've learned so much about myself that now I'm a stronger person. But I still deal with anxiety. Anxiety doesn't go away.

What I work hardest at is just trying to not let things get me crazy.

When I've had a meltdown, people will say to me, "Well, you failed to keep your sense of humor."

I think people with anxiety do different things during different years, and for me, I waded through my anxiety during the last two years with men, and flirting, and dating, and this thing and that thing, and so that's going to stop, and that has stopped.

The largest part of what we call 'personality' is determined by how we've opted to defend ourselves against anxiety and sadness".

Fears don't exist in isolation. They tend to rise and fall depending on what people think they can do about them.

Although anxiety is part of life, never let it control you.

If you have fear of some pain or suffering, you should examine whether there is anything you can do about it. If you can, there is no need to worry about it; if you cannot do anything, then there is also no need to worry.

The presence of anxiety is unavoidable, but the prison of anxiety is optional. Anxiety is not a sin; it's an emotion. So don't be anxious about feeling anxious. Anxiety can, however, lead to sinful behavior. When we numb our fears with six-packs or food binges, when we spew anger like Krakatau, when we peddle our fears to anyone who will buy them, we're sinning.

Yes, I'm nervous. You'll find in time most people are. They simply learn better how to disguise it, and sometimes, if they're wise, how to use their anxiety to serve the public good.

Life is made of fear. Some people eat fear soup three times a day. Some people eat fear soup all the meals there are. I eat it sometimes. When they bring me fear soup to eat, I try not to eat it, I try to send it back. But sometimes I'm too afraid to and have to eat it anyway.

Moving to New York City and doing what I do, social anxiety is a really ridiculous kind of curse to have. But I met people along the way who deal with it - performers as well - and they are learning to deal with it daily and deal with it in different ways.

Some days I'm in better control and can navigate my way through stuff, and other days, not so much.

You can't tell yourself that your stress is produced in your head and feel better. You still need to learn how to create a change.

Problems are not the problem; coping is the problem.

I've got a lot of little compulsive problems, and I've thought about it a lot. And one of the things I ask myself is, 'What are the things I can do that won't hurt me and will help me?' The first answer is work.

I'm trying to stay as calm as possible and focus one day at a time, but when reality sets in, I feel everything: anxiety, excitement, nerves, pressure and joy.

New diseases like SARS and bird flu cause anxiety in the community. People get worried, some to the extent that it even affects their health. You feel very sad, and yet you must carry on and maintain your cool in very trying and difficult moments. You have to tough it out.

I don't think anyone's found a way of eliminating thoughts of danger and loss. It's rather that, when they're unrealistic, you become an acrobat at marshaling evidence against them.

I think things hit me very hard, and I wish I had allowed things to roll off my back a little bit more.