87 Stress and Tired Quotes When You’re Feeling Exhausted

Feeling a little bit (or a lot) like you’re about to fall from exhaustion?

Don’t worry, we’ve all been there and in today's post, we’ll be giving you some quotes to help slow you down and take a breather – because it’s very important to rest properly.

To be stressed out, burnt out, and ready to fall in a puddle of sweat (or tears) is all part of the human condition, as much as we can feel good for doing well we can feel equally bad when things get overwhelming and the work seems to go nowhere.

So, these stress and tired quotes are here to help you slow down, rest, and evaluate your position a bit.

Why Read Stress and Tired Quotes?

Depending upon who you are, what your personality is like, your attitudes and behaviors, etc, all determine how act in stressful situations or in times when you’re overwhelmed.

Paradoxically, many people try and ramp up their engines when they need to slow down a bit. Exhaustion isn’t a sign of weakness, and while sadly, the majority of the working world hasn’t caught up with this fact, rest is good for productivity.

How many of us have worked a ridiculous 60 or 80 hours a week or done back-to-back shifts and worn it like a badge of honor? I’d hazard a guess that most people reading this can relate in some way.

While sometimes you just need to put your nose to the grindstone and get stuff done… doing this every day for too long will cost you your health. So, exhaustion and burnout are your body’s way of saying, stop!

It’s not always possible to just go on vacation or run away from responsibilities but, if you’re trying to live more consciously then there are opportunities to stop and take breaks throughout the day – or there are things we can adjust in our lifestyle to better support ourselves.

For example, are you eating a healthy diet? It’s almost becoming “decadent” or something to feel guilty about – to eat good nourishing meals instead of on-the-go bites – but this is another trap of modern society that hurts us in the long run.

Are there times you can take to just tune in to your breathing? It might seem like mambo jumbo, but paying attention to your breathing for a few minutes switches on your body’s stress recuperation systems.

Finally, sometimes you just need to adjust your attitude or perspective – and that’s where reading these quotes can help. The words you read determine how you think and respond, these quotes can help you learn to dial it back when you need to.

87 Stress and Tired Quotes When You're Feeling Exhausted

1. “You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” – Martin Luther King
2. “It is not a daily increase, but a daily decrease. Hack away at the inessentials.” – Bruce Lee
3. “Say NO to the demands of the world. Say YES to the longings of your own heart.” – Jonathan Lockwood Huie
4. “When you find yourself stressed, ask yourself one question: Will this matter in 5 years from now? If yes, then do something about the situation. If no, then let it go.” – Catherine Pulsifer
5. “A calm and modest life brings more happiness than the pursuit of success combined with constant restlessness.” – Albert Einstein
6. “This too shall pass.” – Persian Proverb
7. “What you’re supposed to do when you don’t like a thing is change it. If you can’t change it, change the way you think about it. Don’t complain.” – Maya Angelou

What you’re supposed to do when you don’t like a thing is change it. If you can’t change it, change the way you think about it. Don’t complain.” – Maya Angelou

8. “Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
9. “Every day brings a choice: to practice stress or to practice peace.” – Joan Borysenko
10. “Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” – Confucius
11. “There is no trouble so great or grave that cannot be much diminished by a nice cup of tea.” – Bernard-Paul Heroux
12. “Rule number one is, don’t sweat the small stuff. Rule number two is, it’s all small stuff.” – Robert Eliot
13. “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
14. “For fast-acting relief, try slowing down.” – Lily Tomlin

15. “If you want to test your memory, try to recall what you were worrying about one year ago.” – E. Joseph Cossman
16. “Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and, above all, confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something, and that this thing, at whatever cost, must be attained.” – Marie Curie
17. “More smiling, less worrying. More compassion, less judgment. More blessed, less stressed. More love, less hate.” – Roy T. Bennett
18. “Relax. No one else knows what they’re doing either.” – Ricky Gervais
19. “Our anxiety does not come from thinking about the future, but from wanting to control it.”– Kahlil Gibran
20. “We must have a pie. Stress cannot exist in the presence of a pie.” – David Mamet
21. “Even too much sunshine can be devastating, while only with rain can growth occur. Accept both as part of the growing process in the garden of life.” – Donald S. Neviaser

Even too much sunshine can be devastating, while only with rain can growth occur. Accept both as part of the growing process in the garden of life.” – Donald S. Neviaser

22. “Resistance creates suffering. Stress happens when your mind resists what is. The only problem in your life is your mind’s resistance to life as it unfolds.” – Dan Millman
23. “We get such a kick out of looking forward to pleasures and rushing ahead to meet them that we can’t slow down to enjoy them when they come.” – Alan Watts
24. “An attitude of positive expectation is the mark of the superior personality.” – Brian Tracy
25. “Suffering becomes beautiful when anyone bears great calamities with cheerfulness. Not through insensibility but through greatness of mind.” – Aristotle
26. “Many a calm river begins as a turbulent waterfall, yet none hurtles and foams all the way to the sea.” – Mikhail Lermontov
27. “When we commit to action, to actually doing something rather than feeling trapped by events, the stress in our life becomes manageable.” – Greg Anderson
28. “Your calm mind is the ultimate weapon against your challenges. So relax.” – Bryant McGill

29. “In times of stress, the best thing we can do for each other is to listen with our ears and our hearts and to be assured that our questions are just as important as our answers.” – Fred Rogers
30. “Stress is not what happens to us. It’s our response TO what happens. And RESPONSE is something we can choose.” – Maureen Killoran
31. “When I look back on all these worries, I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which had never happened.” – Winston Churchill
32. “The next time you are tempted to get anxious or upset about something – especially something in the past or the future – think about what you are doing and turn your mind to what is going on today.” – Joyce Meyer
33. “A good way to overcome stress is to help others out of theirs.” – Dada J. P. Vaswani
34. “Tension is a habit. Relaxing is a habit. Bad habits can be broken, good habits formed.”– William James
35. “Smiling can be infectious in a workplace to help reduce stress, to help teamwork, to defuse high-pressure situations. The more you smile, the more people will smile back.” – Byron Pulsifer

“Smiling can be infectious in a workplace to help reduce stress, to help teamwork, to defuse high-pressure situations. The more you smile, the more people will smile back.” – Byron Pulsifer

36. “Don’t let your mind bully your body into believing it must carry the burden of its worries.” – Astrid Alauda
37. “One of the symptoms of an approaching nervous breakdown is the belief that one's work is terribly important.” – Bertrand Russell
38. “Worrying is like a rocking chair. it gives you something to do but it doesn’t get you anywhere.” – English proverb
39. “When you feel overwhelmed, start eliminating all the non-essential things from your life. Clarity brings calm.”– Darius Foroux
40. “Stress can result in anxiety if handled poorly, or achievement if handled well. Instead of thinking about your worries as problems, think of them as challenges – and if possible, as opportunities.”– Chelsea Erieau
41. “Do not listen with the intent to reply. But listen with the intent to understand.” – Stephen R. Covey
42. “Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

43. “The truth is that there is no actual stress or anxiety in the world; it’s your thoughts that create these false beliefs. You can’t package stress, touch it, or see it. There are only people engaged in stressful thinking.” – Wayne Dyer
44. “When I loved myself enough, I began leaving whatever wasn't healthy. This meant people, jobs, my own beliefs and habits – anything that kept me small. My judgement called it disloyal. Now I see it as self-loving.”– Kim McMillen
45. “Stress is largely self-inflicted, so the ability to manage stress more effectively comes from managing oneself.” – Michael Hetherington
46. “When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us.” – Alexander Graham Bell
47. “Stress is an important dragon to slay–or at least tame–in your life.” – Marilu Henner
48. “As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands, one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.” – Maya Angelou
49. “When I’m grateful for all the blessings, it puts away all the stress about things not in my control. Things like long hours, aging, pollution, scandals … it helps me create perspective by just focusing on being grateful. Take that moment twice a day with yourself.” – Darby Stanchfield

When I’m grateful for all the blessings, it puts away all the stress about things not in my control. Things like long hours, aging, pollution, scandals … it helps me create perspective by just focusing on being grateful. Take that moment twice a day with yourself.” – Darby Stanchfield

50. “Today expect something good to happen to you no matter what occurred yesterday. Realize the past no longer holds you captive. It can only continue to hurt you if you hold on to it.” – Sarah Ban Breathnach
51. “Taking time to contemplate what you’re grateful for isn’t merely the “right” thing to do. It also improves your mood because it reduces the stress hormone cortisol by 23 percent.” – Travis Bradberry
52. “If you really want to escape the things that harass you, what you’re needing is not to be in a different place but to be a different person.”– Lucius Annaeus Seneca
53. “We can easily manage if we will only take, each day, the burden appointed to it. But the load will be too heavy for us if we carry yesterday’s burden over again today, and then add the burden of the morrow before we are required to bear it.” – John Newton
54. “Stress is like spice – in the right proportion, it enhances the flavour of a dish. Too little produces a bland, dull meal; too much may choke you.” – Donald Tubesing
55. “To experience peace does not mean that your life is always blissful. It means that you are capable of tapping into a blissful state of mind amidst the normal chaos of a hectic life.” – Jill Bolte Taylor
56. “You can do anything but not everything.” – David Allen

57. “Stress is the trash of modern life; we all generate it, but if you don’t dispose of it properly, it will pile up and overtake your life.” – Danzae Pace
58. “Some people are so used to experiencing stress that they don’t remember what life was like without it.” – Andrew J. Bernstein
59. “You may have a million desires to be in other places, doing other things, but you are not there, you are here.” – Zen proverb
60. “It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default.” – J.K. Rowling
61. “You need to be able to manage stress because hard times will come, and a positive outlook is what gets you through.” – Marie Osmond
62. “We cannot direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails.” – Dolly Parton
63. “In times of life crisis, whether wildfires or smoldering stress, the first thing I do is go back to basics … am I eating right, am I getting enough sleep, am I getting some physical and mental exercise every day?” – Edward Albert

In times of life crisis, whether wildfires or smoldering stress, the first thing I do is go back to basics … am I eating right, am I getting enough sleep, am I getting some physical and mental exercise every day?” – Edward Albert

64. “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” – Albert Einstein
65. “Calmness is the cradle of power.” – Josiah Gilbert Holland
66. “The truth is that stress doesn’t come from your boss, your kids, your spouse, traffic jams, health challenges, or other circumstances. It comes from your thoughts about your circumstances.” – Andrew Bernstein
67. “Choose to love each other even in those moments when you struggle to like each other. Love is a commitment, not a feeling.” – Dave Willis
68. “It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.” – Lou Holtz
69. “If you ask what is the single most important key to longevity, I would have to say it is avoiding worry, stress and tension. And if you didn't ask me, I'd still have to say it.”– George Burns
70. “Sometimes the most productive thing you can do is relax.” – Mark Black

71. “Stress acts as an accelerator: it will push you either forward or backward, but you choose which direction.” – Chelsea Erieau
72. “Stress is caused by being ‘here’ but wanting to be ‘there.’ – Eckhart Tolle
73. “Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes…Including you.” – Anne Lamott
74. “There are two medicines for all ills: time and silence.”– Alexander Dumas
75. “The time to relax is when you don’t have time for it.” – Sydney J. Harris
76. The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.” – Elbert Hubbard
77. “The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” – Stephen Covey

The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.” – Stephen Covey

78. “When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure.” – Peter Marshall
79. “Somehow our devils are never quite what we expect when we meet them face to face.” – Nelson DeMille
80. “When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us.” – Alexander Graham Bell
81. “My key to dealing with stress is simple: just stay cool and stay focused.” – Ashton Eaton
82. “Stress is simply the adaptation of our bodies and minds to change.” – Peter G. Hanson, M.D.

83. “A crust eaten in peace is better than a banquet partaken in anxiety.” – Aesop
84. “If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.” – Marcus Aurelius
85. “Don’t underestimate the value of Doing Nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.” – Winnie the Pooh
86. “Problems can be experienced as … a chance for renewal rather than stress.” – Marilyn Ferguson
87. “It causes more stress to build up anger. Peace is more productive.” – Rodney King

Final Thoughts on Stress and Tired Quotes

That brings us to the end of our quotes compilation, we hope these can give you a little bit of mental room to slow down and re-evaluate whatever in your life is causing you to be stressed.

Dealing with stress is not just about attitude, there are skills you can learn to help you out, so check out these 71 coping skills: a list for adults to deal with anxiety and stress.

And if you want more inspirational quotes, be sure to check out these blog posts:

• 65 Trust the Process Quotes to Inspire Your Life Journey
• 75 Keep Pushing Quotes So You Can Move Forward
• 79 Self Care Quotes for Your Mind, Body & Soul

Finally, if you want to use these quotes to make a lasting change to your life, then check out and recite these 57 affirmations for success.