John Ortberg Quotes

If I'm driving to L.A. and have anxiety about making the drive, if I've got Peggy with me, we're cool.

Even if humans feel lots of fear, remember God will take care of you. This is a collective message because fear is contagious... This is a message of reassurance.

My friends are my everything. When I feel that anxiety, I always call them or text them and they talk me through it.

The opposite of addiction is human connection. And I think that has massive implications for the war on drugs. The treatment of drug addicts almost everywhere in the world is much closer to Tent City than it is to anything in Portugal. Our laws are built around the belief that drug addicts need to be punished to stop them. But if pain and trauma and isolation cause addiction, then inflicting more pain and trauma and isolation is not going to solve that addiction. It's actually going to deepen it.

Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary. The people we trust with that important talk can help us know that we are not alone.

My first-night jitters are so bad, I can't even hold a tea cup, but once I am over that, I get really into it.

I had used eclectic therapy and behavior therapy on myself at the age of 19 to get over my fear of public speaking and of approaching young women in public.

It's hard to be scared when there are 80 people around you.

If there is any form of contagion that is adaptive, it is the immediate response to the fear of others. If others are fearful, there may be good reason for you to be fearful too.

I needed New Orleans so badly back in 2006, just somebody to believe in me, somebody to care about me.

People are basically the same the world over. Everybody wants the same things - to be happy, to be healthy, to be at least reasonably prosperous, and to be secure. They want friends, peace of mind, good family relationships, and hope that tomorrow is going to be even better than today.

A cheerful frame of mind, reinforced by relaxation... is the medicine that puts all ghosts of fear on the run.

To confront those fears, in a controlled environment, where there's 300 people around you going through the same thing, it's this weird sort of yin and yang.

To overcome a fear, here's all you have to do: realize the fear is there, and do the action you fear anyway.

Some say that Jesus is the rock, or the anchor. I say that your friends and family are your anchor. And you can really hold their hands, not just sing about it. No disrespect to George Jones.

I still have a fear of theater. I don't know if I will manage that. I used to do it. I developed a bit of a phobia. It's not a real phobia. I can go in and watch.

Basic human contact - the meeting of eyes, the exchanging of words - is to the psyche what oxygen is to the brain. If you're feeling abandoned by the world, interact with anyone you can.

I definitely have a fear of spiders. Don't we want to embrace our fears?

I'm just so grateful for the 10 years that I had in Sri Lanka when it was in the middle of a war and I was getting shot at, because now and again I remember glimpses of those times, and I just go, 'Wow, I'll never, ever see that again in my life. And I'm never gonna feel that, and I'm never gonna feel for a human being like that.'

I am someone who worries a lot. I'm always worrying 'what if?' Now I'm a mum - there will be worries for the rest of my life, but they're not about me anymore.

I like to be in waiting rooms with people as they're auditioning, because their terror calms me.

If something scares me, then I have to do it. My biggest fear in life is fear.

Still and all, why bother? Here's my answer. Many people need desperately to receive this message: I feel and think much as you do, care about many of the things you care about, although most people do not care about them. You are not alone.

Things are never quite as scary when you've got a best friend.

Well, I am now convinced there is no kind of fear or anxiety anyone has to live with.