8 Quotes That Have Helped Me When I’m Feeling Down

As part of the journal I carry, I have a section dedicated to quotes. The section itself is not well organized, but it’s well-sourced, and I often flip through it.

There’s a variety of quotes in there, meeting a variety of my personal needs. I often turn to this section of my journal when I’m “feeling down” or “magenta” or however you want to put it. There are so many ways I can make me feel that way — and these are some of the quotes that have helped me through those times.

You have the power at any given moment to say ‘This is not how my story ends.’ (Christine Mason Miller)

When things seem dark, this quote reminds me that all of us have the immense power to rewrite our destinies. There have been moments in my life where I have felt overwhelmed, and it was a relief to know that since my heart was still beating, my story was still being written.

Comparison is the thief of joy. (Teddy Roosevelt)

This is such a powerful quote, and it resonates with my Buddhist leanings. There’s such a fine line between learning from others as they walk their path, and straight-up comparing yourself to them to determine your worth.

This quote helps to remind me that my value and my worth will not be found in comparison to others.

Dude, suckin’ at something is the first step to being sorta good at something. (Jake the Dog, Adventure Time)

I was raised by the sort of people that felt if you failed at something, you were a failure. Often when I’m feeling down it’s because something that I’ve tried to create or do just isn’t up to my standards.It took me a long time and a lot of time feeling like a failure, to find out that failure (and feeling like one) is part of my process — and any process. Sucking at things is a part of the process, and that the process can results in being sort of good at something.

The test of a person is not how far they will go to win, but how far they will go when they have already lost. (Random internet stranger)

For many years, I was a runner. I wasn’t, by any stretch of the imagination, good at it — but I often was doggedly determined to put in inordinate amounts of miles for a five-hour marathoner, with several months topping 200 miles. I ran when my addiction to alcohol was at a fever pitch, and I ran when I was going sober from that addiction.

Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly. (Random internet stranger)

Most of us know the other quote about doing things — that if you aren’t kicking ass at it, you shouldn’t be doing it at all (do you notice a pattern to these quotes?). There are times where excellence is vital, but often, it isn’t. You don’t have to be kick-ass every time you brush your teeth.

Sure, a 10-minute workout isn’t as great as a 50-minute workout. But it’s better than a 0-minute workout, and once you get started you MIGHT continue. This can be true of a variety of activities! When I’m depressed I’ll often set myself up for failure by forcing myself to try to be the absolute best, when sometimes, just getting out of my head is a win.

This quote reminds me that sometimes, the minimum effort is the maximum I have in me and that often — something is better than nothing.

Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish. The time will pass anyway. (Earl Nightingale)

All of the activities I like seem to involve tiny, incremental actions that build up over time, which means nearly all of my most beloved hobbies require a time investment. It can be daunting to pick up some fiber and start spinning for a project I plan to knit — which means months before I have a final, completed project. It’s then that I think of this quote.

The time is going to pass. Along with change, time passing is one of the things I’ve observed to be constant.

Listen, I wish I could tell you it gets better. But it doesn’t get better. You get better. (Joan Rivers)

There are some situations you just have to deal with and that might never improve, but you can still work towards becoming more adept at adapting. My left eye is never going to regain vision — I’ll never wake up one day and have it magically working again. What I hope, though, is that I’ll get better at dealing with vision in just one (sort of shitty) eye. This can be true in so many areas of life, and this quote helps to bring things into perspective for me when I’m dealing with long-term difficulties.

It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life. (Jean Luc Picard, Star Trek: The Next Generation)

And sometimes, being right is all that we get out of a situation.