Quotes about worry (1335 quotes, page 13)

“The Lord replied that he need not worry about that, for even without him the True Faith could probably manage to squeeze along somehow if it had to; """"and as for your figures on the Remnant,"""" He said, """"I don't mind telling you that there are seven thousand of them back there in Israel whom it seems you have not heard of, but you may take My word for it that there they are.""""”

Albert Jay Nock (1870–1945) American journalist

Source: Isaiah's Job (1936), IV
Context: One of the most suggestive episodes recounted in the Bible is that of a prophet's attempt — the only attempt of the kind on the record, I believe — to count up the Remnant. Elijah had fled from persecution into the desert, where the Lord presently overhauled him and asked what he was doing so far away from his job. He said that he was running away, not because he was a coward, but because all the Remnant had been killed off except himself. He had got away only by the skin of his teeth, and, he being now all the Remnant there was, if he were killed the True Faith would go flat. The Lord replied that he need not worry about that, for even without him the True Faith could probably manage to squeeze along somehow if it had to; """"and as for your figures on the Remnant,"""" He said, """"I don't mind telling you that there are seven thousand of them back there in Israel whom it seems you have not heard of, but you may take My word for it that there they are.""""

Faith

“Let today be the day … You free yourself from fruitless worry, seize the day and take effective action on things you can change.”

Steve Maraboli (1975)

Source: Life, the Truth, and Being Free (2010), p. 42
Context: How would your life be different if … You stopped worrying about things you can't control and started focusing on the things you can? Let today be the day … You free yourself from fruitless worry, seize the day and take effective action on things you can change.

Change

“The sensation of seeing is not one that I have and not one that I worry about.”

Stevie Wonder (1950) American musician

As quoted in Stevie Wonder (1978) by Constanze Elsner, and Jet Vol. 53, No. 22 (16 February 1978), p. 60
1970s
Context: Sometimes I think I would love to see … just to see the beauty of flowers and trees and birds and the earth and grass. … Being as I've never seen, I don't know what it's like to see. So in a sense I'm complete. Maybe I'd be incomplete if I did see. Maybe I'd see some things that I didn't want to see... the beauty of the earth compared to the destruction of man. You see, it's one thing when you are blind from birth, and you don't know what it's like to see, anyway, so it is just like seeing. The sensation of seeing is not one that I have and not one that I worry about.

“My time coming, any day, don't worry about me, no
Been so long I felt this way, I'm in no hurry, no.”

John Perry Barlow (1947–2018) American poet and essayist

"Estimated Prophet" on the Grateful Dead album Terrapin Station (1977); lyrics by Barlow http://artsites.ucsc.edu/GDead/agdl/estimate.html, music by Bob Weir · Grateful Dead performance at Capitol Theatre, Passaic, NJ (27 April 1977) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-WAK2vihBdw · JFK Stadium, Philadelphia, PA (7 July 1989) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CR5iB3ITGIU
Context: p>My time coming, any day, don't worry about me, no
Been so long I felt this way, I'm in no hurry, no.
Rainbows end down that highway where ocean breezes blow
My time coming, voices saying, they tell me where to go.
Don't worry 'bout me, no no, don't worry 'bout me, no
And I'm in no hurry, no no no, I know where to go. California, preaching on the burning shore
California, I'll be knocking on the golden door
Like an angel, standing in a shaft of light
Rising up to paradise, I know I'm going to shine.</p

Way , Time

“The key is to test the areas that you are most worried about going wrong. That way you get the most benefit for your testing effort. It is better to write and run incomplete tests than not to run complete tests”

Martin Fowler (1963) British programmer

Source: Refactoring: Improving the Design of Existing Code, 1999, p. 98.

Way , Effort

“What me worry? I never do.
Life is one charming ruse for us lucky few.”

St. Vincent (musician) (1982) American singer-songwriter

"What Me Worry?"
Paris Is Burning (2006)
Context: What me worry? I never do.
Life is one charming ruse for us lucky few. Have I fooled you, dear?
The time is coming near when I'll give you my hand and I'll say,
"It's been grand, but... I'm out of here
I'm out of here"

Life

“You really don't understand. We don't worry about individuals.”

A. E. van Vogt book The Weapon Shops of Isher

Lucy Rail, and Cayle Clark in Ch. 5
The Weapon Shops of Isher (1951)
Context: "You really don't understand. We don't worry about individuals. What counts is that many millions of people have the knowledge that they can go to a weapon shop if they want to protect themselves and their families. And, even more important, the forces that would normally try to enslave them are restrained by the conviction that it is dangerous to press people too far. And so a great balance has been struck between those who govern and those who are governed."
Cayle stared at her in bitter disappointment. "You mean that a person has to save himself? Even when you get a gun you have to nerve yourself to resist? Nobody is there to help you?"
It struck him with a pang that she must have told him this in order to show him why she couldn't help him.
Lucy spoke again. "I can see that what I've told you is a great disappointment to you. But that's the way it is. And I think you'll realize that's the way it has to be. When a people lose the courage to resist encroachment on their rights, then they can't be saved by an outside force. Our belief is that people always have the kind of government they want and that individuals must bear the risks of freedom, even to the extent of giving their lives."

Understanding

“As a modern publisher might put it, he was not worrying about circulation or about advertising. Hence, with all such obsessions quite out of the way, he was in a position to do his level best, without fear or favour, and answerable only to his august Boss.”

Albert Jay Nock (1870–1945) American journalist

Source: Isaiah's Job (1936), III
Context: If, say, you are a preacher, you wish to attract as large a congregation as you can, which means an appeal to the masses; and this, in turn, means adapting the terms of your message to the order of intellect and character that the masses exhibit. If you are an educator, say with a college on your hands, you wish to get as many students as possible, and you whittle down your requirements accordingly. If a writer, you aim at getting many readers; if a publisher, many purchasers; if a philosopher, many disciples; if a reformer, many converts; if a musician, many auditors; and so on. But as we see on all sides, in the realization of these several desires, the prophetic message is so heavily adulterated with trivialities, in every instance, that its effect on the masses is merely to harden them in their sins. Meanwhile, the Remnant, aware of this adulteration and of the desires that prompt it, turn their backs on the prophet and will have nothing to do with him or his message.
Isaiah, on the other hand, worked under no such disabilities. He preached to the masses only in the sense that he preached publicly. Anyone who liked might listen; anyone who liked might pass by. He knew that the Remnant would listen; and knowing also that nothing was to be expected of the masses under any circumstances, he made no specific appeal to them, did not accommodate his message to their measure in any way, and did not care two straws whether they heeded it or not. As a modern publisher might put it, he was not worrying about circulation or about advertising. Hence, with all such obsessions quite out of the way, he was in a position to do his level best, without fear or favour, and answerable only to his august Boss.

Fear , Way

“Now we come to forgiveness. Don’t worry about forgiving me right now. There are more important things. For instance: keep the others safe, if they are safe. Don’t let them suffer too much.”

Margaret Atwood (1939) Canadian writer

Source: The Handmaid’s Tale (1985), Chapter 30 (pp. 194-195)
Context: (She is reciting the Lord’s prayer) Now we come to forgiveness. Don’t worry about forgiving me right now. There are more important things. For instance: keep the others safe, if they are safe. Don’t let them suffer too much. If they have to die, let it be fast. You might even provide a Heaven for them. We need You for that. Hell we can make for ourselves.

Forgiveness , Suffering

“The transition from tenseness, self-responsibility, and worry, to equanimity, receptivity, and peace, is the most wonderful of all those shiftings of inner equilibrium, those changes of personal centre of energy, which I have analyzed so often; and the chief wonder of it is that it so often comes about, not by doing, but by simply relaxing and throwing the burden down.”

William James (1842–1910) American philosopher, psychologist, and pragmatist

Lectures XI, XII, and XIII, "Saintliness"
1900s, The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902)
Context: The transition from tenseness, self-responsibility, and worry, to equanimity, receptivity, and peace, is the most wonderful of all those shiftings of inner equilibrium, those changes of personal centre of energy, which I have analyzed so often; and the chief wonder of it is that it so often comes about, not by doing, but by simply relaxing and throwing the burden down. This abandonment of self-responsibility seems to be the fundamental act in specifically religious, as distinguished from moral practice. It antedates theologies and is independent of philosophies. Mind-cure, theosophy, stoicism, ordinary neurological hygiene, insist on it as emphatically as Christianity does, and it is capable of entering into closest marriage with every speculative creed. Christians who have it strongly live in what is called 'recollection,' and are never anxious about the future, nor worry over the outcome of the day. Of Saint Catharine of Genoa it is said that 'she took cognizance of things, only as they were presented to her in succession, moment by moment.' To her holy soul, 'the divine moment was the present moment,... and when the present moment was estimated in itself and in its relations, and when the duty that was involved in it was accomplished, it was permitted to pass away as if it had never been, and to give way to the facts and duties of the moment which came after.' Hinduism, mind-cure, and theosophy all lay great emphasis upon this concentration of the consciousness upon the moment at hand.

Peace , Change , Personality

“Most libertarians are worried about government but not worried about business. I think we need to be worrying about business in exactly the same way we are worrying about government.”

John Perry Barlow (1947–2018) American poet and essayist

John Perry Barlow 2.0 (2004)
Context: It’s a perfect set of circumstances to give us the time Yeats foretold, with the best having lost all conviction and the worst full of passionate intensity. I’m an optimist. In order to be libertarian, you have to be an optimist. You have to have a benign view of human nature, to believe that human beings left to their own devices are basically good. But I’m not so sure about human institutions, and I think the real point of argument here is whether or not large corporations are human institutions or some other entity we need to be thinking about curtailing. Most libertarians are worried about government but not worried about business. I think we need to be worrying about business in exactly the same way we are worrying about government.

Way , Business , Thinking

“Don't worry, the operation won't take long and you'll feel much better in the morning.”

Jim Morrison (1943–1971) lead singer of The Doors

Onstage introduction to The Celebration of the Lizard
Context: Alright listen man, we got a special treat for you now. This is a little tour-de-force that we've only done a couple times in front of strangers, and it starts off kinda quiet, so if everybody just kinda relax, take a few deep breaths, think about your eventual end and what's gonna happen tonight; and we'll try and do something good to your head, right man?
I don't know if you're aware of it, but this whole evening is being taped for eternity and beyond that too. And so listen man, if you want to be represented in eternity with some uncouth language then I hope you'll stand up on the top of your seat and shout it out very clearly or we're not going to get it on tape.
Don't worry, the operation won't take long and you'll feel much better in the morning.

Feeling

“I, right from the beginning, have been terribly worried by the existence of nuclear weapons and very much against their use.”

Mark Oliphant (1901–2000) Governor of South Australia (1971-76)

On potentials for misuse of nuclear power, p. 31
Portraits in Science interviews (1994)
Context: I, who had been in favour of nuclear energy for generating electricity … I suddenly realised that anybody who has a nuclear reactor can extract the plutonium from the reactor and make nuclear weapons, so that a country which has a nuclear reactor can, at any moment that it wants to, become a nuclear weapons power. And I, right from the beginning, have been terribly worried by the existence of nuclear weapons and very much against their use.

“Born of necessity, the little fellow literally freed us of immediate worry.”

Walt Disney (1901–1966) American film producer and businessman

Quoted in A Walt Disney World Resort Outing : The Only Vacation Planning Guide Exclusively for Gay and Lesbian Travelers (2002) by Dann Hazel and Josh Fippen, p. 211, and Organisation And Complexity : Using Complexity Science to Theorise Organisational Aliveness (2004) by Jacco van Uden, p. 43
Context: Mickey Mouse is, to me, a symbol of independence. He was a means to an end. He popped out of my mind onto a drawing pad 20 years ago on a train ride from Manhattan to Hollywood at a time when business fortunes of my brother Roy and myself were at lowest ebb and disaster seemed right around the corner. Born of necessity, the little fellow literally freed us of immediate worry. He provided the means for expanding our organization to its present dimensions and for extending the medium of cartoon animation toward new entertainment levels. He spelled production liberation for us.

“A careful reading of 50 Simple Things leaves you wondering whether you're going to die from environmental disaster or intellectual annoyance. Failing either, you can worry yourself to death.”

P. J. O'Rourke (1947) American journalist

All the Trouble in the World (1994)

Death , Reading

“I wish that we worried more about asking the right questions instead of being so hung up on finding answers.”

Madeleine L'Engle (1918–2007) American writer

Section 4.8 
The Crosswicks Journal, A Circle of Quiet (1972)
Context: I wish that we worried more about asking the right questions instead of being so hung up on finding answers. I don't need to know the difference between a children's book and an adult one; it's the questions that have come from thinking about it that are important. I wish we'd stop finding answers for everything. One of the reasons my generation has mucked up the world to such an extent is our loss of the sense of the mysterious.

Question

“To worry about tomorrow is to detract from your work today. Time you spend thinking about tomorrow is time you're not spending thinking about what to do today.”

Ward Cunningham (1949) American computer programmer who developed the first wiki

A Conversation with Ward Cunningham (2003), To Plan or Not To Plan
Context: To worry about tomorrow is to detract from your work today. Time you spend thinking about tomorrow is time you're not spending thinking about what to do today. The place you leave in the code because you think you'll need it tomorrow, is actually a waste of time today — and a liability tomorrow. It does more harm than good.

Thinking , Time

“I never have to worry about schedules. Some new thing is always exploding in me, and it schedules me, I don’t schedule it.”

Ray Bradbury (1920–2012) American writer

The Paris Review interview (2010)
Context: My passions drive me to the typewriter every day of my life, and they have driven me there since I was twelve. So I never have to worry about schedules. Some new thing is always exploding in me, and it schedules me, I don’t schedule it. It says: Get to the typewriter right now and finish this.

“You can have a good deal of both if you only keep them separate. The worry comes from the attempt at mixture.”

William Osler (1849–1919) Canadian pathologist, physician, educator, bibliophile, historian, author, cofounder of Johns Hopkins Hospi…

The Master-Word In Medicine (1903)
Context: Every one of you will have to face the ordeal of every student in this generation who sooner or later tries to mix the waters of science with the oil of faith. You can have a good deal of both if you only keep them separate. The worry comes from the attempt at mixture.

“Note that Crocker's Rules does not mean you can insult people; it means that other people don't have to worry about whether they are insulting you. Crocker's Rules are a discipline, not a privilege.”

Eliezer Yudkowsky (1979) American blogger, writer, and artificial intelligence researcher

Promoting "Crocker's Rules" at SL4 (c. 2000) http://www.sl4.org/crocker.html
Context: Declaring yourself to be operating by "Crocker's Rules" means that other people are allowed to optimize their messages for information, not for being nice to you. Crocker's Rules means that you have accepted full responsibility for the operation of your own mind — if you're offended, it's your fault. Anyone is allowed to call you a moron and claim to be doing you a favor. (Which, in point of fact, they would be. One of the big problems with this culture is that everyone's afraid to tell you you're wrong, or they think they have to dance around it.) Two people using Crocker's Rules should be able to communicate all relevant information in the minimum amount of time, without paraphrasing or social formatting. Obviously, don't declare yourself to be operating by Crocker's Rules unless you have that kind of mental discipline.
Note that Crocker's Rules does not mean you can insult people; it means that other people don't have to worry about whether they are insulting you. Crocker's Rules are a discipline, not a privilege. Furthermore, taking advantage of Crocker's Rules does not imply reciprocity. How could it? Crocker's Rules are something you do for yourself, to maximize information received — not something you grit your teeth over and do as a favor.

People

“I am free of the busy world
There is not a doubt in my heart or a worry to disturb my mind”

Han-shan Chinese monk and poet

Cold Mountain Transcendental Poetry
Context: Today I sat before the cliff
Until the mist and rainbows disappeared
I followed the emerald stream
Explored a thousand tiers of green cliffs
In the morning my spirit rests among white clouds
At night a bright moon floats in the sky
I am free of the busy world
There is not a doubt in my heart or a worry to disturb my mind

World , Business , Heart

“If relaxed means limp, don't worry about it. I'm relaxed. I'm relaxed all over.”

Donald E. Westlake (1933–2008) American novelist

The Spy in the Ointment (1966)
Context: The cops are after me, I'm on my way to join an organization of lunatics and bombers, I'm wired for sound, my necktie turns into a smokescreen, my handkerchief will make you throw up, my Diner's Club card explodes, I'm the leader of a subversive terrorist organization composed entirely of undercover federal agents, newspapers all over the country are saying I killed my girl, and I'm on my way to meet a twenty-five-year-old Nazi built like Bronco Nagurski. If relaxed means limp, don't worry about it. I'm relaxed. I'm relaxed all over.

“When holy scripture speaks of following Jesus, it proclaims that people are free from all human rules, from everything which presumes, burdens, or causes worry and torment of conscience.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945) German Lutheran pastor, theologian, dissident anti-Nazi

"Preface", as translated by Barbara Green and Reihhard Krauss (2001). 
Discipleship (1937)
Context: Should the church be trying to erect a spiritual reign of terror over people by threatening earthly and eternal punishment on its own authority and commanding everything a person must believe and do to be saved? Should the church's word bring new tyranny and violent abuse to human souls? It may be that some people yearn for such servitude. But could the church ever serve such a longing?
When holy scripture speaks of following Jesus, it proclaims that people are free from all human rules, from everything which presumes, burdens, or causes worry and torment of conscience. In following Jesus, people are released from the hard yoke of their own laws to be under the gentle yoke of Jesus Christ. … Jesus' commandment never wishes to destroy life, but rather to preserve, strengthen, and heal life.

People

“If you declare Crocker's Rules, other people don't need to worry about being tactful to you.”

Eliezer Yudkowsky (1979) American blogger, writer, and artificial intelligence researcher

Promoting "Crocker's Rules" in "An Introduction to SL4" (2002) http://www.sl4.org/intro.html
Context: If you declare Crocker's Rules, other people don't need to worry about being tactful to you. (You still need to worry about being tactful to them — Crocker's Rules only work one way.)

People

“I try to finish a simul as quickly as possible and don’t worry if I lose a game or two along the way. It becomes a manic workout.”

Jennifer Shahade (1980) chess player

Gothamist interview (2006)
Context: The biggest challenge in a simul is finding the right shoes! I want to look good in front of fifty people, but really sneakers are the best bet. I try to finish a simul as quickly as possible and don’t worry if I lose a game or two along the way. It becomes a manic workout. I’m literally running around playing moves as fast as my fingers and legs will go. My brain usually follows.
The simul is a great chess illusion. It makes the simul-giver seem like a genius, when really they’re just speaking their language. Chessplayers rely so heavily on instincts developed from years of training and practice. Chess is not all about thinking, there’s a lot of feeling involved.

Way , Game

“Do not worry about people stealing your ideas. If your ideas are any good, you will to ram them down people´s throats.”

Howard H. Aiken (1900–1973) pioneer in computing, original conceptual designer behind IBM's Harvard Mark I computer

People , Idea

“Success is having to worry about every damn thing in the world, except money. ”

Johnny Cash (1932–2003) American singer-songwriter

Money , World , Success

“I’ve been through a lot and I realize the future can’t be controlled. I’m not worried. You can always learn to overcome difficulties.”

Niki Lauda (1949–2019) Austrian former Formula 1 racing driver

Future , Learning

“In the next 15 or 20 years, I hope I'll be the richest man in the world. That's one of my goals. I want to be a billionaire. I want to get to a position where generation on generation don't have to worry about nothing. I don't want family members from my kids to my son's kids to never have to worry. And I can't do that now just playing basketball.”

LeBron James (1984) American basketball player

World , Family , Hope

“We have to fight them daily, like fleas, those many small worries about the morrow, for they sap our energies.”

Etty Hillesum (1914–1943) Jewish diarist

Fight

“Don't Worry, be Happy”

Bob McFerrin

Source: Píseň "Don't Worry, be Happy"

Happiness

“Don’t use your energy to worry. Use your energy to believe.”

Ralph Smart

“If you pay no attention to the policies of the imperialists, and consider Islam to be simply the few topics you are always studying and never go beyond them, then the imperialists will leave you alone. Pray as much as you like; it is your oil they are after— why should they worry about your prayers? They are after our minerals, and want to turn our country into a market for their goods. That is the reason the puppet governments they have installed prevent us from industrializing, and instead, establish only assembly plants and industry that is dependent on the outside world.”

Ruhollah Khomeini (1902–1989) Religious leader, politician

Islam and Revolution, Writings and Declarations of Imam Khomeini, Translated and Annotated by Hamid Algar, Mizan Press, Berkley, pp. 39.
Islam and the imperialists

World , Study , Dependency , Country

“After meeting Mr Modi, I was moved by his sincerity. I found him to be fair and sincere in terms of his intention to end the riots. He seemed worried and sad because his police had failed him in ending this violence; he wanted me to take whatever steps I deemed fit to end this violence and assured me whole-hearted support... I realised that people of all political parties, who were anti-Modi and anti-BJP, were taking advantage of this mayhem and making all efforts to defame Modi one way or the other.”

Kanwar Pal Singh Gill (1934–2017) Indian police officer

K.P.S. Gill, Central Government appointed special advisor to Gujarat CM, May 2002 in Madhu Purnima Kishwar: Modi, Muslims and Media. Voices from Narendra Modi’s Gujarat, Manushi Publications, Delhi 2014.

Support , People , Heart , Sincerity

“Despite evidence to the contrary (and there is enough of it to fill many volumes), there is still a widespread notion...that flying saucers are some kind of American joke..that the mystery has already been cleared up...and that there is nothing more to worry about.”

George Adamski (1891–1965) American ufologist

Flying Saucers Have Landed

Flying

“Kennedy reminds me of Lindbergh and I suspect him of wishing to have a tough foreign policy and to worry about prestige. On the other hand, he is on the left, will be nicer to Negroes than to Big Business and has promised to appoint Adlai Stevenson as secretary of state. So it works out 50/50 by me.”

Harold Nicolson (1886–1968) British diplomat, author, diarist and politician

Letter to V.S-W. 9th Nov 1960.

Business

“I have a philosophy that when you have a commander in the field, let him know what you want done and then let him alone. I have two other philosophies. One is: Do the best you can with what you have. The other is: Do not worry about water over the dam.”

Ernest King (1878–1956) United States Navy admiral, Chief of Naval Operations

From Time magazine's interview with King, Volume XL, Number 23 (December 7, 1942), p. 32.
1940s

Water

“So look: I really don’t want to shame men for feeling anxious about dating trans women, because I mean I was anxious, too, in the other direction. But I do want to shame men for treating trans women like their dirty little secrets. And I do want to shame men for dehumanizing us and voting away our rights by day, while jerking off to shemale porn by night. I do want to shame men for refusing to date us because they’re not fucking strong enough to shoulder one hundredth of the burden of stigma that every trans women carries every moment of every day. I do want to shame men for attacking their trans girlfriends because they couldn’t stand being treated like a gay man for five minutes. That is pathetic. If you’re so worried about proving you’re a man, why don’t you start by standing up for the women you love, you chickenshit cowards.”

Natalie Wynn ContraPoints

ContraPoints, Feminism Did Not Destroy Atheism https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klfH9QaEcqY (2016), "Are Traps Gay?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbBzhqJK3bg (2019)

Night , Strong , Secret , Jerk

“Certain actual sleeping pills cause retrograde amnesia. It can be true that, if I take such a pill, I shall remain awake for an hour, but after my night’s sleep I shall have no memories of the second half of this hour. I have in fact taken such pills, and found out what the results are like. Suppose that I took such a pill nearly an hour ago. The person who wakes up in my bed tomorrow will not be psychologically continuous with me as I was half an hour ago. I am now on psychological branch-line, which will end soon when I fall asleep. During this half-hour, I am psychologically continuous with myself in the past. But I am not now psychologically continuous with myself in the future. I shall never later remember what I do or think or feel during this half-hour. This means that, in some respects, my relation to myself tomorrow is like a relation to another person. Suppose, for instance, that I have been worrying about some practical question. I now see the solution. Since it is clear what I should do, I form a firm intention. In the rest of my life, it would be enough to form this intention. But, when I am no this psychological branch-line, this is not enough. I shall not later remember what I have now decided, and I shall not wake up with the intention that I have now formed. I must therefore communicate with myself tomorrow as if I was communicating with someone else. I must write myself a letter, describing my decision, and my new intention. I must then place this letter where I am bound to notice it tomorrow. I do not in fact have any memories of making such a decision, and writing such a letter. But I did once find such a letter underneath my razor.”

Derek Parfit book Reasons and Persons

Source: Reasons and Persons (1984), pp. 287-288

Sleep , Night , Question , Past

“I worry I don’t see things the way everyone else does.”

Rachel Cusk (1967) British writer

On her anxieties as a writer (as quoted in “I Have Lost All Interest in Having a Self” https://slate.com/culture/2019/09/coventry-rachel-cusk-review.html) (2019 Sep 19)

Way

“There are many busy-bodies in the world, always worrying, always rushing back and forth; every one wonders at them. They seem ready to jump out of their own skins; but in spite of it all, they make no more progress than does the Squirrel in his wheel.”

Ivan Krylov (1769–1844) Russian writer

An argosy of fables, "The Rain cloud" p. 402
The Fables (1883)

Business , World , Making love

“Savarkar is widely reviled in Indian history as an apostle of hate; through a reading of Hindutva I argue that he might better be understood as a spurned lover . . . Hindutva in its time was also a reminder to a Hindu community that even if Gandhi had left the political milieu, there was no need to worry. A political Hindu and a true nationalist was back and ready to lead India, even from behind prison walls. Hindutva was a pugilistic punch thrown against Gandhi in the competitive political ring for national leadership.”

Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (1883–1966) Indian pro-independence activist,lawyer, politician, poet, writer and playwright

Vikram Sampath - Savarkar, Echoes from a Forgotten Past

Time , Hate , History , Reading

“Indeed, let us be frank about it. Most of our people have never had it so good. Go around the country, go to the industrial towns, go to the farms, and you will see a state of prosperity such as we have never had in my life time—nor indeed ever in the history of this country. What is beginning to worry some of us is, is it too good to be true?—or perhaps I should say, is it too good to last? ... Our constant concern to-day is, can prices be steadied while at the same time we maintain full employment in an expanding economy? Can we control inflation? This is the problem of our time.”

Harold Macmillan (1894–1986) British politician

Speech at Bedford (20 July 1957), quoted in "More production 'the only answer' to inflation", The Times (22 July 1957), p. 4
Prime Minister

Time , History , Country , People

“This world is a strange world. We have to learn many lessons. One of the disciples of the Lord Jesus betrayed the Lord. Many obstacles will come to the growing aspirant at every step. We will have to show our strength. Do not be agitated by little things. Be cheerful. Smile. Walk boldly. Think and feel that nothing has happened. Don’t worry about little things. You have to do many great actions yet. Prakriti is preparing you in a variety of ways. Feel this. Be grateful to the Lord.”

Swami Sivananda (1887–1963) Indian philosopher

You Cannot Get Away From Evil
Autobiography of Swami Sivananda

Smile , Learning , Thinking , Way

“Is your own existence so replete with equanimity you find no outlet for worry except on behalf of others?”

Iain Banks Culture series

Source: Culture series, Look to Windward (2000), Chapter 3 “Infra Dawn” (p. 67)

“At this point in my life, I don’t worry about telling a literary story or the right story; I tell the story I want to tell, the story that makes me feel alive, the questions I want to answer.”

Amulya Malladi (1974) Indian writer

On not caring about what other people think about her writing in “An Interview with Amulya Malladi” http://jaggerylit.com/an-interview-with-amulya-malladi/ in Jaggery

Life , Making love , Feeling , Question

“While it is easy to take the microphone away from a journalist, especially in Bulgaria, many questions will eventually catch up with the new commission president. For instance: what is the price of the rule of law in the EU?; how does her team gather country information?; how much does she value transparency?; is she worried about the misuse of EU funds?; is prosperity a new EU synonym for poverty in Brussels?”

Radosveta Vassileva (1985) legal scholar

Why did von der Leyen endorse bad politics?," https://euobserver.com/opinion/145798", the EUobserver (September 2, 2019)

Question , Law , Country

“The time to worry is three months before a flight. Decide then whether or not the goal is worth the risks involved. If it is, stop worrying. To worry is to add another hazard. It retards reactions, makes one unfit.... Hamlet would have been a bad aviator. He worried too much.”

Amelia Earhart (1897–1937) American aviation pioneer and author

Original forward for the writings in Last Flight, as quoted in Lost Star : The Search for Amelia Earhart (1995) by Randall Brink, p. 85

Bad luck , Time , Making love

“In my work, you get used to criticisms. Of course you do, because there are a lot of people trying to get you down, but I always cheer up immensely if one is particularly wounding because I think well, if they attack one personally, it means they have not a single political argument left. That is why my father always taught me: never worry about anyone who attacks you personally; it means their arguments carry no weight and they know it.”

Margaret Thatcher (1925–2013) British stateswoman and politician

From an interview for Italian television (RAI) (10 March 1986) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/106223
Second term as Prime Minister

Personality , Thinking , People

“A hateful man who perhaps more than any other person exemplifies the backward side of Brazil that is still a huge and tragically worrying presence in this great nation.”

Jair Bolsonaro (1955) Brazilian president elect

Journalist Andrew Downie. The Most Misogynistic, Hateful Elected Official in the Democacratic World: Brazil's Jair Bolsonaro https://theintercept.com/2014/12/11/misogynistic-hateful-elected-official-democacratic-world-brazils-jair-bolsonaro/. The Intercept (11 December 2014).

Personality , Hate

“How, it may be asked, are we to make ourselves capable of sharing in this great work? Well, there is no mystery as to the qualifications which are needed by one who aspires to be a helper; the difficulty is not in learning what they are, but in developing them in oneself. To some extent they have been already incidentally described, but it is nevertheless as well that they should be set out fully and categorically. Single-mindedness… Perfect self-control… Calmness. This is another most important point - the absence of all worry and depression. Much of the work consists in soothing those who are disturbed, and cheering those who are in sorrow; and how can a helper do that work if his own aura is vibrating with constant fuss and worry, or grey with the deadly gloom that comes from perpetual depression? Nothing is more hopelessly fatal to occult progress or usefulness than our nineteenth century habit of ceaselessly worrying over trifles - of eternally making mountains out of molehills…. Knowledge…. while the slightest taint of selfishness remains in a man, he is not yet fit to be entrusted……..”

Charles Webster Leadbeater (1854–1934) English theosophist

Source: Invisible Helpers (1915), Ch. 14

Selfishness , Mountain , Learning , Knowledge

“Whatever their station or sophistication, the conspirators are linked, made kindred by their inner discoveries and earthquakes. You can break through old limits, past inertia and fear, to levels of fulfillment that once seemed impossible … to richness of choice, freedom, human closeness. You can be more productive, confident, comfortable with insecurity. Problems can be experienced as challenges, a chance for renewal, rather than stress. Habitual defensiveness and worry can fall away. It can all be otherwise.”

Marilyn Ferguson (1938–2008) American writer

The Aquarian Conspiracy (1980), Chapter One, The Conspiracy

Confidence , Chance , Freedom , Past

“Instead of talking about the things that most people care about, we talked about what we cared about most. While parents worried about childcare, getting the kids to school, balancing work and family life, we were banging on about Europe. As they worried about standards in thousands of secondary schools, we obsessed about a handful of more grammar schools. As rising expectations demanded a better NHS for everyone, we put our faith in opt-out for a few. While people wanted more than anything stability and low mortgage rates, the first thing we talked about was tax cuts.”

David Cameron (1966) Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Speech to the Conservative Party Conference in Bournemouth (1 October 2006), quoted in The Times (2 October 2006), p. 6
2000s, 2006

School , Family , Faith , People

“That man is Norodom Ranariddh and my name is Ung Huot. To answer your question, different personality, different name. I should not worry too much about Prince Ranariddh. Better to leave this and talk about me. You know Prince Ranariddh; and now you should know me. I was the one who tried to tell him to work together with Hun Sen. But he did not listen to me. I work with Hun Sen and there is peace and stability.”

Norodom Ranariddh (1944) Cambodian politician

by Ung Huot, Ranariddh's successor as First Prime Minister of Cambodia in August 1997
[Conflict and Change in Cambodia, Kiernan, Ben and Hughes, Caroline, 2007, Routledge, 9780415385923], p. 36.

Personality , Peace , Question

“I know there are people in this room who go to school every day and get treated like shit for no reason. Or you go home and you feel like you can’t tell your parents the whole truth about yourself. Beyond putting yourself in one box or another, you worry about the future. About college or work or even your physical safety. Trying to create that mental picture of your life—of what on earth is going to happen to you—can crush you a little bit every day. It is toxic and painful and deeply unfair.”

Ellen Page (1987) Canadian actress

Coming Out Speech (2014)

School , Home , Pain , Future

“I have not slept well since I first entered my brother’s dungeons. While my comfort has improved since then, worry has taken the place of hanging in chains as a denier of rest.”

Tad Williams (1957) novelist

“There are many kinds of imprisonment,” Jarnauga nodded.
Source: Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, The Dragonbone Chair (1988), Chapter 43, “The Harrowing” (p. 739).

“Shaun: Worried about dry skin? Concerned about lines and wrinkles? Then visit a burns unit and get some perspective.”

Shaun Micallef (1962) Australian actor

The Micallef P(r)ogram(me)

“It was true enough, he did not appear ashamed — merely worried about his own immunity from trial as a war criminal.”

Erhard Milch (1892–1972) German general

Leon Goldensohn, March 13, 1946

War , Appearance

“It might also mean greater business and government support for maternity and paternity leave and day care so that the middle class and the poor can get some of the educational benefits that the early academic intervention of the rich provides their children. Fundamentally, it means rethinking our still-persistent notion that educational problems should be solved by schools alone. The more we do to ensure that all children have similar cognitively stimulating early childhood experiences, the less we will have to worry about failing schools. This in turn will enable us to let our schools focus on teaching the skills — how to solve complex problems, how to think critically and how to collaborate — essential to a growing economy and a lively democracy.”

Sean Reardon American sociologist

No Rich Child Left Behind, 2013

Childhood , School , Democracy , Business

“There’s no question. My biggest enemies are the hard left. The hard left poses a far greater danger to the American future than the hard right. I’m not worried about a few dozen people with Swastikas who want to replace the Jews, because they’re our past. They have no resonance on the University campuses today. But the hard, hard left? Anti-Semitism, anti-Christianity, intolerance for speech, it’s the future. These are our leaders… And that’s why we have to worry much more about what’s going on, on university campuses, than in Charlottesville.”

Alan M. Dershowitz (1938) American lawyer, author

Interview by Dennis Prager in No Safe Spaces 2019 documentary. Clip from film published on Feb 12, 2018, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gc86fPirz3A

Question , Past , Future , People

“Okay, this is the thing. We spend all our time doing, you know, stuff. Maintenance. Ninety-eight percent of the day, all you’re doing is thinking about what you’re going to be doing to go on doing what you’re doing. Worrying about whether you’ve got enough socked away to see you through your old age without ending up eating cat food. Worrying about whether you’re getting enough fiber or eating too many carbs. It’s being alive, but it’s hardly living.”

Cory Doctorow (1971) Canadian-British blogger, journalist, and science fiction author

Source: Short fiction, The Man Who Sold The Moon (2014), p. 114

Time , Food , Cats , Thinking

“The American people deserve a Congress that worries less about helping big banks, and more about helping regular people who have been cheated on mortgages, on credit cards, on student loans and on credit reports.”

Elizabeth Warren (1949) 28th United States Senator from Massachusetts

As quoted in "Sen. Elizabeth Warren slams Republicans: Worry less about helping big banks" by Eric W. Dolan, in Raw Story (12 March 2013) https://www.rawstory.com/2013/03/sen-elizabeth-warren-slams-republicans-worry-less-about-helping-big-banks/
2013

Help , People , Cheating

“There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own — nobody. You built a factory out there? Good for you. But I want to be clear. You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for. You hired workers the rest of us paid to educate. You were safe in your factory because of police-forces and fire-forces that the rest of us paid for. You didn't have to worry that marauding bands would come and seize everything at your factory — and hire someone to protect against this — because of the work the rest of us did. Now look, you built a factory and it turned into something terrific, or a great idea. God bless — keep a big hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is, you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along.”

Elizabeth Warren (1949) 28th United States Senator from Massachusetts

"Address in Andover, Massachusetts" (August 2011)
2011

God , Country , Education , Idea

“Like the roaches and the rats, ants had learned to live with their human neighbors without much trouble. When the concrete of human cities spread across the globe and half the animals on Earth were on endangered lists, no one had worried about the ants. They were doing fine, thanks, and spilled fast food was just as plentiful and delicious as dead forest animals had once been.
Adapt or die.”

Daniel Abraham (1969) speculative fiction writer from the United States

Source: Nemesis Games (2015), Chapter 4 (p. 42)

Animals , Learning , Dead , Food

“[S]omeone who doesn’t know a country’s history is bound to chuckle at the things its people worry about.”

Brian Reynolds Myers (1963) American professor of international studies

2010s, "Conspiracy Theory"? (August 2019)

People , History , Country

“Should the church be trying to erect a spiritual reign of terror over people by threatening earthly and eternal punishment on its own authority and commanding everything a person must believe and do to be saved? Should the church's word bring new tyranny and violent abuse to human souls? It may be that some people yearn for such servitude. But could the church ever serve such a longing?
When holy scripture speaks of following Jesus, it proclaims that people are free from all human rules, from everything which presumes, burdens, or causes worry and torment of conscience. In following Jesus, people are released from the hard yoke of their own laws to be under the gentle yoke of Jesus Christ. … Jesus' commandment never wishes to destroy life, but rather to preserve, strengthen, and heal life.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906–1945) German Lutheran pastor, theologian, dissident anti-Nazi

"Preface", as translated by Barbara Green and Reihhard Krauss (2001)
Discipleship (1937)

Soul , Law , Personality , People

“We should be less concerned about the missile gap than the intelligence gap... less worried about the missile race than the intelligence race.”

Max Lerner (1902–1992) American journalist and educator

Quoted in Max Lerner, Writer, 89, Is Dead; Humanist on Political Barricades By Richard Severo, The New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/1992/06/06/arts/max-lerner-writer-89-is-dead-humanist-on-political-barricades.html (6 June 1992)

Intelligence

“Bad programmers worry about the code. Good programmers worry about data structures and their relationships.”

Linus Torvalds (1969) Finnish-American software engineer and hacker

https://lwn.net/Articles/193245/

Bad luck

“Lady of silences
Calm and distressed
Torn and most whole
Rose of memory
Rose of forgetfulness
Exhausted and life-giving
Worried reposeful
The single Rose
Is now the Garden
Where all loves end
Terminate torment
Of love unsatisfied
The greater torment
Of love satisfied
End of the endless
Journey to no end
Conclusion of all that
Is inconclusible
Speech without word and
Word of no speech
Grace to the Mother
For the Garden
Where all love ends.”

T.S. Eliot (1888–1965) 20th century English author

Ash-Wednesday (1930)

Forgetting , Silence , Memory , Love

“I want to make films that are about visual pleasure for women. Not worry about whether they are in fashion, whether they are politically correct.”

Anna Biller (1965) film director

Under the Influence: Anna Biller on DONKEY SKIN - 14 Feb 2017, at 4 Min 02 Sec https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DD9MrwcE7o8
From interview with The Criterion Collection

Pleasure , Fashion , Making love , Women

“In the last few days the progress of the (COVID-19) virus, especially in some countries, especially human-to-human transmission, worries us (WHO). Although the numbers outside China are still relatively small, they hold the potential for a much larger outbreak.”

Tedros Adhanom (1965) Director-General of the World Health Organization, former Minister in Ethiopia

Tedros Adhanom (2020) cited in "Coronavirus: Death toll rises as virus spreads to every Chinese region" https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-51305526, BBC News, 30 January 2020.

Country

“The health service, they're very worried about a collapse in the number of EU migrants coming here. Social care would be in a terrible position.... finance, education. The reality is that business, the CBI, the Institute of Directors, but also health, education and social care; they say that they need these European migrants and we have to listen to them.”

Diane Abbott (1953) British Labour Party politician

Diane Abbott: Listen to CBI and NHS' on Brexit migration https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-42384346 BBC News (17 December 2017)
2010s

Business , Education , Reality , Health

“A worker-coop based economy—where workers democratically run enterprises, deciding what, how and where to produce, and what to do with any profits—could, and likely would, put social needs and goals (like proper preparation for pandemics) ahead of profits. Workers are the majority in all capitalist societies; their interests are those of the majority. Employers are always a small minority; theirs are the "special interests" of that minority. Capitalism gives that minority the position, profits and power to determine how the society as a whole lives or dies. That's why all employees now wonder and worry about how long our jobs, incomes, homes and bank accounts will last—if we still have them. A minority (employers) decides all those questions and excludes the majority (employees) from making those decisions, even though that majority must live with their results. Of course, the top priority now is to put public health and safety first. To that end, employees across the country are now thinking about refusing to obey orders to work in unsafe job conditions. U.S. capitalism has thus placed a general strike on today's social agenda. A close second priority is to learn from capitalism's failure in the face of the pandemic. We must not suffer such a dangerous and unnecessary social breakdown again. Thus system change is now also moving onto today's social agenda.”

Richard D. Wolff (1942) American economist

COVID-19 and the Failures of Capitalism (2020)

Home , Question , Country , Suffering

“At the time (1980s) Beijing was worried that people would all leave. To win their hearts, it (promised to allow) Hong Kong people to rule Hong Kong and to have a high degree of autonomy.”

Martin Lee (1938) Hong Kong politician

Exclusive: Beijing completely broke their promise on Hong Kong, says veteran democrat Martin Lee

Time , People , Heart

“Having said all this, I acknowledge that “I got mine” from the government over the course of many years. Thus, as I say so long,” one component of my last-gasp disquiet stems from pompously worrying about biologists who are starting out or are in mid-career.”

Jeffrey C. Hall (1945) American geneticist and chronobiologist

As quoted in A 2017 Nobel laureate says he left science because he ran out of money and was fed up with academia https://qz.com/1095294/2017-nobel-laureate-jeffrey-hall-left-science-because-he-ran-out-of-funding/ (October 5, 2017) Akshat Rathi, Quartz.

“By this time, the era of cut-and-run economics ought to be finished. Such an economy cannot be rationally defended or even apologized for. The proofs of its immense folly, heartlessness, and destructiveness are everywhere. Its failure as a way of dealing with the natural world and human society can no longer be sanely denied. That this economic system persists and grows larger and stronger in spite of its evident failure has nothing to do with rationality or, for that matter, with evidence. It persists because, embodied now in multinational corporations, it has discovered a terrifying truth: If you can control a people’s economy, you don’t need to worry about its politics; its politics have become irrelevant. If you control people’s choices as to whether or not they will work, and where they will work, and what they will do, and how well they will do it, and what they will eat and wear, and the genetic makeup of their crops and animals, and what they will do for amusement, then why should you worry about freedom of speech? In a totalitarian economy, any "political liberties" that the people might retain would simply cease to matter. If, as is often the case already, nobody can be elected who is not wealthy, and if nobody can be wealthy without dependence on the corporate economy, then what is your vote worth? The citizen thus becomes an economic subject.”

Wendell Berry (1934) author

"Conserving Forest Communities"
Another Turn of the Crank (1996)

Time , Dependency , Freedom , People

“What devious designs freedom requires. One must worry about the strength of a principle when it must compromise itself so often to survive.”

Pierce Brown book Dark Age

Source: Dark Age (2019), Ch. 33: The Devil's Deal; Atalantia

Freedom

“Many women are asking: why do some women choose to cover their heads? We have to understand this and other questions. This is one of the biggest challenges for feminism today. What is worrying is that when women are divided into categories it is the status quo – the patriarchy – that benefits.…”

Elif Shafak (1971) Turkish writer

On having a female character wear a veil out of protest in “Elif Shafak: ‘When women are divided it is the male status quo that benefits’” https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/feb/05/elif-shafak-turkey-three-daughters-of-eve-interview in The Guardian (2017 Feb 5)

Understanding , Women , Question

“Problems arise from shackles imposed by ourselves.
Our minds are entangled by trifles.
Take my advice to shake off all the worries and focus on finding yourself a way out,
bide your time and every cloud has a silver lining.”

Deng Feng-Zhou (1949) Chinese poet, Local history writer, Taoist Neidan academics and Environmentalist.

(zh-TW) 枷鎖纏身困擾滋，紅塵瑣事縛如絲。
勸君滌慮尋方向，可待雲開日照時。

"Struggling" (奮發)

Source: Deng Feng-Zhou, "Deng Feng-Zhou Classical Chinese Poetry Anthology". Volume 6, Tainan, 2018: 82.

Way , Problem , Time

“Three reasons why young people don't have to worry about their future: education, politics and me.”

Paavo Väyrynen (1946) Finnish politician

Source: Presidential Election Campaign 2012

Education , Future , People

“Past is gone , present is going and tomorrow is day after tomorrow's yesterday . So why worry about anything ? God is in all this .”

R. K. Narayan (1906–2001) writer of Indian English literature

The Painter Of Signs(1977)

Past , God

“Do the best you can with what you have.
Do not worry about water that has gone over the dam.
Difficulties exist to be overcome.”

Ernest King (1878–1956) United States Navy admiral, Chief of Naval Operations

p. 640

Water

“If science, and devoting oneself to it, had no other use than avoiding exhausting temptations, rushes of hope that give worry, and thoughts that sadden the soul, that alone should give us reasons to seek it… Kinglets have sought distraction in chess, wine, music, hunting and much else that only bring harm in this world and the other.”

Ibn Hazm (994–1064) Arab theologian

ibid

Soul , Hope , Music , World

“I have come across most people- with the exception of those that God most High has protected-they rush into misery, worry, the exhaustion of this world, and amassing terrible sins, that will earn them hell-fire, gaining nothing in pursuing their evil deeds… And they know that their evil intentions will neither fulfill their wishes, nor bring any gains; and that with purer intentions they will obtain great rest for their souls.”

Ibn Hazm (994–1064) Arab theologian

Kitab al-Akhlaq wa’l Siyar p: 17

Soul , Hell , God , People

“My whole goal, besides trying to get more production value back into animation, was really to provide an environment like there was at Disney at one time, where you felt secure as an artist, filmmaker, contributor, animator. You could plan your life, have a place to raise your family, have a home and not worry about living like a gypsy. Personally, I can say I've been in the business for 28 years and have never been unemployed...though sometimes not paid. We've done our best to try to take care of our people. We've done our best to try to make good stories. How many people have gone out and hired sometimes over 500 people and come up with over $450,000 a week in salaries and still tried to create a quality product? It's not an easy thing to do...but it gives a great feeling of accomplishment.”

Gary Goldman (1944) American film director and producer

A Chat With Don Bluth And Gary Goldman https://www.awn.com/animationworld/chat-don-bluth-and-gary-goldman-part-i (June 1, 2000)

Family , Home , Time , Business

“Well I know that you worry a lot about
Things you cant control
There are so many things wed like to have
But we just cannot hold, You've got to be kind to yourself
You've got to be kind to yourself”

Zooey Deschanel (1980) American actress, musician, and singer-songwriter

"Me and You".
Volume Two (2010)

Wedding

“The people who have power over you are weak too. They shit and bleed and worry that their children don’t love them anymore. They’re embarrassed by the stupid things they did when they were young that everyone else has forgotten. And so they’re vulnerable. We all define ourselves by the people around us, because that’s the kind of monkey we are. We can’t transcend it. So when they watch you, they hand you the power to change what they are too.”

Daniel Abraham (1969) speculative fiction writer from the United States

The Expanse, Tiamat's Wrath (2019), Prologue (p. 5)

Children , People , Stupidity , Love

“Creativity is an interesting thing…You can sit back, have a glass of wine, watch some television…and get a terrific idea of what you want to do…The great thing about being at home is that as soon as you get an idea you can put a mike at the piano and record it. That way you don’t lose the vibes, and you don’t have to worry about finishing before the studio’s next booking arrives…”

Dan Hartman (1950–1994) American singer, songwriter, guitarist, keyboardist, record producer

Source: On how he intended the “The Schoolhouse” to work for the artist in “Hartman’s Little Schoolhouse Haven for Aspiring Musicians” https://books.google.com/books?id=_CMEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT66&dq in Billboard (1981 Aug 15)

Home , Books , Way , Idea

“Look—I understand that many of my fellow Americans view the future with fear and trepidation. I understand they worry about their jobs. I understand like my dad, they lay in bed wondering, can I keep my health care, can I pay my mortgage. Thinking about their families, about what comes next. I promise you, I get it.But the answer is not to turn inward, to retreat into competing factions, distrusting those who don′t look like you or worship the way you do or don′t get their news from the same source as you do. We must end this uncivil war that pits red against blue, rural versus urban, conservative versus liberal. We can do this if we open our souls instead of hardening our hearts.If we show a little tolerance and humility, and if we are willing to stand in the other person′s shoes—as my mom would say—just for a moment, stand in their shoes. Because here′s the thing about life: there′s no accounting for what fate will deal you.”

Joe Biden (1942) 47th Vice President of the United States (in office from 2009 to 2017)

2021, January, Presidential Inaugural Address (2021)

Family , Soul , Life , Understanding

“We know on issues such as climate change, there’s a core group of deniers who are never going to change the way they think, and that’s ok, because that’s only 7 to 10 percent of the population. There’s a core group of super-worried people who know exactly what’s happening. Then there’s a really large group in the middle, and those are the people science tells us we need to reach to be able to make a difference.”

Cynthia Barnett (1966) American journalist

Source: https://www.jou.ufl.edu/2019/01/30/cynthia-barnett-we-can-change-and-its-up-to-us-to-do-so/

People , Thinking , Way , Science

“There was no question that I was deeply afraid of what might happen to me if the "condition" continued. I was much more concerned about the possibility of a growing mental illness than a physical deterioration. I had studied enough psychology and had enough psychologist and psychiatrist friends to compound such fears. Moreover, I was afraid to discuss the matter with these friends. I was afraid that I would then be classified as their "patients," and lose the closeness that equality (normalcy) brings. Non-professional friends in business and community would be worse. I would be labeled a freak or psychotic, which could seriously affect my life and the lives of those close to me. Finally, it seemed to be something to keep from my family. It seemed unnecessary that they worry along with me.”

Robert Monroe (1915–1995) American founder of The Monroe Institute

Journeys Out of the Body (1971), Chapter 2. Search and Research

Family , Life , Study , Question

“Don't worry, He (Allah) will not separate his lovers from Himself. It is not possible to unrecognize after having full cognition of Him. But one must not give up struggle, nor becomes negligent.”

Shah Badakhshi Indian poet

Source: The Sayings and Teachings of the Great Mystics of Islam (2004), p. 203

Lovers

“There was no need to worry about religion or philosophy; the truth was determined by whoever was in power.”

John Twelve Hawks book The Traveler

Fourth Realm Trilogy (2005-2009), The Traveler (2005)

Truth , Religion

“Crime and madness have some similarity. Seeing the prisoners of the Conciergerie in the courtyard, or seeing the mad in the garden of a nursing home, it's the same thing. Both walk around, avoiding each other, glancing at each other at least singularly, atrociously, according to their thoughts of the moment, never cheerful or serious; because they know each other or they fear each other. The expectation of a condemnation, remorse, anxieties give walkers in the courtyard a worried and a haggard look of madmen. Consummate criminals alone have an assurance which resembles the tranquility of an honest life, the sincerity of a pure conscience.”

Honoré de Balzac book Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes

et Misères des courtisanes (The Splendors and Miseries of Courtesans) (1837-1847), part IV. La dernière Incarnation de Vautrin (The Last Incarnation of Vautrin) https://books.google.ca/books?id=ajtOAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA1&dq=Splendeurs+et+Mis%C3%A8res+des+Coutisanes+Sc%C3%A8nes+de+la+Vie+parisienne&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiq69XJuJTvAhXrMlkFHcxvDVgQ6AEwCHoECAEQAg#v=onepage&f=falseSplendeurs, "Le Préau de la Conciergerie" ("The Courtyard of the Conciergerie") (chapter title).
Original: (fr) Le crime et la folie ont quelque similitude. Voir les prisonniers de la Conciergerie au préau, ou voir des fous dans le jardin d'une maison de santé, c'est une même chose. Les uns et les autres se promènent en s'évitant, se jettent des regards au moins siguliers, atroces, selon leurs pensées du moment, jamais gais ni sérieux ; car ils se connaissent ou ils se craignent. L'attente d'une condamnation, les remords, les anxiétés donnent aux promeneurs du préau l'air inquiet et hagard des fous. Les criminels consommés ont seuls une assurance qui ressemble à la tranquillité d'une vie honnête, à la sincérité d'une conscience pure.

Home , Fear , Sincerity , Life