45+ Quotes About Feeling Overwhelmed To Get You Through A Tough Time

Whether it’s unrelenting pressure at work, a crazy and rushed morning routine with the kids, the mental load of motherhood, or a global pandemic, we are all feeling more stressed out and overwhelmed than ever. If it always feels like you’re going through the wringer, know that you’re not alone, and in many ways what you’re going through is a shared experience. In those moments, it’s important to know how to calm down when you’re feeling stressed because, yes, stress can make you sick. So do some deep breathing, check out our list of mindfulness exercises, and read our roundup of the best quotes about feeling overwhelmed to offer some perspective.

Overwhelmed Quotes

1. “A woman who lives with the stress of an overwhelmed schedule will often ache with the sadness of an underwhelmed soul.” — Lysa Terkeurst
2. “He was swimming in a sea of other people’s expectations. Men had drowned in seas like that.” — Robert Jordan
3. “Promise me you will not spend so much time treading water and trying to keep your head above the waves that you forget, truly forget, how much you have always loved to swim.” — Tyler Knott Gregson
4. “Life has many ways of testing a person’s will, either by having nothing happen at all or by having everything happen all at once.” — Paulo Coelho
5. You can’t calm the storm, so stop trying. What you can do is calm yourself. The storm will pass.” — Timber Hawkeye
6. “Every kid needs one place they can escape to when life gets to be too much.” — Lisa Fipps
7. “When my heart is overwhelmed, lead me to the rock that is higher than I.” — Psalm 61:2
8. “Getting knocked down in life is a given. Getting up and moving forward is a choice.” — Zig Ziglar
9. “Learning to ignore things is one of the great paths to inner peace.” — Robert J. Sawyer
10. “Sometimes you just need to be selfish and take care of you. If they love you, they’ll understand.” — Robert Tew
11. “I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had absolutely no other place to go.” — Abraham Lincoln
12. “Anxiety happens when you think to have to figure out everything all at once. Breathe. You’re strong. You got this. Take it day by day.” — Karen Salmansohn
13. “Some people believe holding on and hanging in there are signs of great strength. However, there are times when it takes much more strength to know when to let go and then do it.” — Ann Landers
14. “The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret to getting started is breaking your overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks and then starting on the first one.” — Mark Twain
15. “Life can be magnificent and overwhelming — that is the whole tragedy. Without beauty, love, or danger it would almost be easy to live.” — Albert Camus
16. “When it hurts — observe. Life is trying to teach you something.” — Anita Krizzan
17. “Some days you will feel like the ocean. Some days you will feel like you are drowning in it.” — Lora Mathis
18. “I often think I can’t do this anymore, but then I realize what choice do I have?” — Justin Blaney
19. “Dream small dreams. If you make them too big, you get overwhelmed and you don’t do anything. If you make small goals and accomplish them, it gives you the confidence to go on to higher goals.” — John H. Johnson
20. “Sometimes when you’re overwhelmed by a situation – when you’re in the darkest of darkness – that’s when your priorities are reordered.” — Phoebe Snow
21. “The soul of a woman is so important to maintain, given all that is on our plates. Figuring out how to do it can be a little tricky. My prayer was, ‘Lord, please help me. How can I do it all and not be overwhelmed? How can I do it all and still be happy?’ His answer: Find the stolen moments of joy in all you do.” — Niecy Nash
22. “One must not let oneself be overwhelmed by sadness.” — Jackie Kennedy
23. “Many of us feel stress and get overwhelmed not because we’re taking on too much, but because we’re taking on too little of what really strengthens us.” — Marcus Buckingham
24. “Sound character provides the power with which a person may ride the emergencies of life instead of being overwhelmed by them. Failure is… the highway to success.” — Og Mandino
25. “We should all relax about life because you don’t have a clue as to what’s really going on.” — Barry Sonnenfeld
26. “Life goes by fast. Enjoy it. Calm down. It’s all funny. Next. Everyone gets so upset about the wrong things.” — Joan Rivers
27. “What is coming is better than what is gone. Let this belief aim you in the direction you need to go.” — Karen Salmanson
28. “When life gets hectic and you feel overwhelmed, take a moment to focus on the people and things you are most grateful for. When you have an attitude of gratitude, frustrating troubles will fall by the wayside.” — Dana Arcuri
29. If we don’t see a failure as a challenge to modify our approach, but rather as a problem with ourselves, as a personality defect, we will immediately feel overwhelmed.” — Anthony Robbins
30. “When you’re overwhelmed by your emotion, you listen less and you judge more. This is also the reality of the dogmatic mind.” — Tariq Ramadan
31. “Even from a dark night, songs of beauty can be born.” — Mary Anne Radmacher
32. “The benefit of carrying the entire world on your shoulders was that you didn’t have to stare it in the face.” — Rhian J. Martin
33. “Don’t give up now. Chances are your best kiss, your hardest laugh, and your greatest day are still yet to come.” — Atticus
34. “Sometimes you’re overwhelmed when a thing comes, and you do not realize the magnitude of the affair at that moment. When you get away from it, you wonder, did it really happen to you.” — Marian Anderson
35. “The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. If you try it, you will be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.” — Friedrich Nietzsche
36. “At some stages of your life you will deal with things and at others, you are overwhelmed with misery and anxiety.” — Nigella Lawson
37. “If you’re overwhelmed, lost, or like you life is out of control, do whatever you can that matters to someone else or ever did to you… it might not help, but it certainly won’t hurt.” — Ingrid Weir
38. “Learning to ignore things is one of the great paths to inner peace.” — Robert J. Sawyer
39. “Willingly taking on suffering, we will never be overwhelmed by the suffering that we are bound to experience.” — Yangsi Rinpoche
40. “The moment you think only of yourself, the focus of your whole reality narrows, and because of this narrow focus, uncomfortable things can appear huge and bring you fear and discomfort and a sense of feeling overwhelmed by misery.” — Dalai Lama
41. “I tried to drown my sorrows, but the bastards learned how to swim, and now I am overwhelmed by this decent and good feeling.” — Frida Kahlo
42. “I am overwhelmed with the love I have been receiving.” — Jacqueline Fernandez
43. “The artist is chosen by God to fulfill his commands and must never be overwhelmed by public opinion.” — Albrecht Durer
44. “Stop living in the land of why. There are no happy answers to ‘Why me?’ ‘Why didn’t I?’ ‘Why did I?’ If you must ask any questions, ponder: ‘How can I grow?’ ‘What’s in my control to change?’ ‘What’s a gain in my pain?'” — Karen Salmansohn
45. “Spend time with people who bring out the best in you. Not the stress in you.” — Unknown
46. “When you do nothing, you feel overwhelmed and powerless. But when you get involved, you feel the sense of hope and accomplishment that comes from knowing you are working to make things better.” — Unknown
47. “What gets our attention ultimately determines our direction. If we are constantly focused on our circumstances, we will be overwhelmed.” — Perry Noble
48. “Don’t allow the fear to overpower you, allow love to overpower you.” — Shree Rajneesh