Martin Seligman Quotes

If I don't think about it, it won't drive me crazy.

Worry lives a long way from rational thought."---Self

'Worry' is a word that I don't allow myself to use.

I always say I am a realist, and my mom says, 'No, you just have anxiety.'

Your mind can do wonders, so scary movies are not the healthiest for me because it does freak me out.

The truth is that there is no actual stress or anxiety in the world; it's your thoughts that create these false beliefs. You can't package stress, touch it, or see it. There are only people engaged in stressful thinking.

I wouldn't say I have a lack of fear. In fact, I'd like my fear emotion to be less because it's very distracting and fries my nervous system.

Every day there's a lot of things I block out, because if I start visualising things, I tend to go completely insane. I've always had anxiety issues, and it can totally overwhelm me and suck me under if I'm not keeping focused. I just think and think until I have a panic attack, and then it dies down.

Your depression is connected to your insolence and refusal to praise.

I think anxiety is dangerous, but it makes you think it's your friend.

Once you know the emotional building blocks of anxiety, you can influence them.

You can't 'work through worry and fear rationally,' because fear isn't rational!

Almost everyone seems to worry about something, and yet, we rarely talk about worry as a problem. Maybe that is because worry is so integrated into the way we have come to live and be in the world that we don't even notice it.

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.

As an adult, I've learned to cope and pull the plug on the worst what-ifs before my mind takes me to a place from which I can't return.

All depression is fear-based.

When I get anxious and scared, I probably lose my temper more than I should.

When that ineffable compound of depression, sadness (these two are not the same), anxiety, self-hatred, sense of failure and fear for the future begins to steal over you, start telling yourself that what you have is a hangover. You are not sickening for anything, you have not suffered a minor brain lesion, you are not all that bad at your job, your family and friends are not leagued in a conspiracy of barely maintained silence about what a s**t you are, you have not come at last to see life as it really is and there is no use crying over spilt milk.

Look closer at the stress in your own life and you can identify that negative emotions are always built on counterfactual statements.

When any anxiety or gloom of the mind takes hold of you, make it a rule not to publish it by complaining; but exert yourselves to hide it, and by endeavoring to hide it you drive it away.

The truth is that stress doesn't come from your boss, your kids, your spouse, traffic jams, health challenges, or other circumstances. It comes from your thoughts about these circumstances.

I know the one time I tried therapy, I did after a month or two, and I only lasted a few months, because I started to worry about being entertaining. I kept driving there once a week for an hour and I'm thinking 'What am I going to talk about today?'

Get away from the place that makes you feel comfortable with your depression. The reality is it's never as bad as the insanity you've created in your head.

I think I, like a lot of people, have that type of brain where I find it interesting or fulfilling to worry about something.

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.