50 mental health quotes to uplift you during life's toughest moments

Time：August 26, 2024

Rely on these quotes about resiliency and mindfulness when the going gets tough.

By Sophie Caldwell

Your mental health often requires just as much care and attention as your physical wellness. And while mental health has become an increasingly normalized topic in recent years, we have a long way to go on our road to squash stigmas and boost mental health awareness.

Studies show that more than one in five adults in the U.S. live with a mental illness, and 1 out of every 8 people in the world lives with a mental disorder.

That's why it's crucial to talk openly about mental health and check in with yourself on a regular basis. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, sad, or simply out of sorts, take some time to rest, practice mindfulness, and prioritize self-care. After all, you can’t be your best self at the expense of your emotional wellbeing.

From pop stars to poets, many high-profile people have shared their perspectives on mental health and revealed their own challenges.

If you're looking for some inspiration and support, these quotes about mental health will help you recognize that you're never alone.

Mental Health Quotes

“The quest for meaning is the key to mental health and human flourishing.” — Viktor Frankl
“While there is life there is happiness. There is much, much before us.” — Leo Tolstoy, “War and Peace”
“Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul — and sings the tunes without the words — and never stops at all.” — Emily Dickinson
“Depression doesn’t take away your talents — it just makes them harder to find. But I always find it. I learned that my sadness never destroyed what was great about me. You just have to go back to that greatness, find that one little light that’s left.” — Lady Gaga
“One day, in retrospect, the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful.” — Sigmund Freud
“What allows us, as human beings, to psychologically survive life on earth, with all of its pain, drama, and challenges, is a sense of purpose and meaning.” — Barbara De Angelis
“I have been bent and broken, but — I hope — into a better shape.” — Charles Dickens, “Great Expectations”
“Talk to yourself like you would to someone you love.” — Brené Brown
“Even in the darkest moments, light exists if you have faith to see it.” — Dean Koontz
“If you are broken, you do not have to stay broken.” — Selena Gomez

“There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.” — Leonard Cohen
“We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty.” — Maya Angelou
“In the middle of winter I at last discovered that there was in me an invincible summer. And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there’s something stronger—something better, pushing right back.” — Albert Camus, “Return to Tipasa”
“Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.” — Helen Keller
“The act of facing overwhelming odds produces greatness and beauty.” — Malcolm Gladwell

“None but ourselves can free our minds.” — Bob Marley
“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” — Dale Carnegie
“One must never let the fire go out in one’s soul, but keep it burning.” — Vincent van Gogh
“Learn to value yourself, which means: fight for your happiness.”― Ayn Rand
“I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart. I am, I am, I am.” — Sylvia Plath, “The Bell Jar”

“And when you have reached the mountain top, then you shall begin to climb.” — Kahlil Gibran
“Only when we are brave enough to explore the darkness will we discover the infinite power of our light.” — Brené Brown
“As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light of meaning in the darkness of mere being.” — Carl Jung
“To all of those like me who overschedule, overthink, overwork, over-worry, and over-everything, please know you’re not alone. We don’t talk enough about mental health and don’t do enough to destigmatize talking about it.” — Ryan Reynolds
“If you feel something calling you to dance or write or paint or sing, please refuse to worry about whether you’re good enough. Just do it. Be generous. Offer a gift to the world no one else can offer: yourself.” — Glennon Doyle

“It has been well said that our anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength.” — Charles Spurgeon
“What mental health needs is more sunlight, more candor, and more unashamed conversation.” — Glenn Close
“By facing our challenges and overcoming them, we grow stronger, wiser, and more compassionate.” — John Templeton
“I know of no other advice than this: Go within and scale the depths of your being from which your very life springs forth.” — Rainer Maria Rilke
“You can either waltz boldly onto the stage of life and live the way you know your spirit is nudging you to, or you can sit quietly by the wall, receding into the shadows of fear and self doubt.” — Oprah Winfrey

“We must keep moving. If you can’t fly, run; if you can’t run, walk; if you can’t walk, crawl; but by all means keep moving.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Asking for help when you’re down or when you’re feeling wobbly or when you’re depressed is actually the most powerful thing you can do.” — Dwayne Johnson
“When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.” — Rumi
“It’s only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth — and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up — that we will begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had.” — Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
“The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places.” — Ernest Hemingway, “A Farewell To Arms”

“Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” — A.A. Milne, “Winnie the Pooh”
“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.” — Fred Rogers
“While there is life there is hope.” — Jules Verne, “Journey to the Center of the Earth”
“Life doesn’t get easier or more forgiving, we get stronger and more resilient.” — Steve Maraboli
“It is really wonderful how much resilience there is in human nature.” — Bram Stoker, “Dracula”

“The soul is stronger than its surroundings.” — William James
“Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it and to work for it and to fight for it.” — Barack Obama
“Life was meant to be lived, and curiosity must be kept alive. One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back on life.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
“For the secret of human existence lies not only in living but in knowing what to live for.” — Fyodor Dostoevsky
“Anyone can hide. Facing up to things, working through them, that’s what makes you strong.” — Sarah Dessen

“In order for all of us to experience the full breadth of team human, we have to communicate. Talking about how you’re feeling is the first step to helping yourself.” — Kristen Bell
“That which seems most feeble and bewildered in you is the strongest and most determined.” — Kahlil Gibran
“Challenges are gifts that force us to search for a new center of gravity. Don’t fight them. Just find a different way to stand.” — Oprah Winfrey
“We live in a world where to admit anything negative about yourself is seen as a weakness, when it’s actually a strength. It’s not a weak move to say, ‘I need help.’ In the long run it’s way better, because you have to fix it.” — Jon Hamm
“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.” — Maya Angelou