We’ve gathered the best depression quotes to help you find solace in understanding and words.
Depression often feels like an unending tunnel of despair, where the concept of light seems impossible.
During these difficult times, quotes can serve as tiny lanterns, illuminating the darkness just enough to help us keep going.
They provide us with the understanding that others have walked this path before us, and that we are not alone in our struggle.
These handpicked quotes about depression aim to offer you some comfort, inspiration, and most importantly, a sense of togetherness.
Unveiling the Best Depression Quotes
These days are hard, but they will pass.
When you’re in a dark place, you sometimes tend to think you’ve been buried. Perhaps you’ve been planted. Bloom.
You were never created to live depressed, defeated, guilty, condemned, ashamed, or unworthy. You were created to be victorious.
This too shall pass. It may pass like a kidney stone, but it will pass.
Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise. ~ Victor Hugo
The strongest people are not those who show strength in front of us, but those who win battles we know nothing about.
Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars. ~ Kahlil Gibran
There is hope, even when your brain tells you there isn’t.
Give yourself another day, another chance. You will find your courage eventually. Don’t give up on yourself just yet.
The sun is a daily reminder that we too can rise again from the darkness, that we too can shine our own light.
Ten Powerful Quotes to Brighten Your Day
Start by changing your thoughts; finish by changing your life. ~ Paulo Coelho
You don’t have to control your thoughts. You just have to stop letting them control you.
Depression is like a war. You either win or die trying.
Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved. ~ Helen Keller
Getting better from depression demands a lifelong commitment. I’ve made that commitment for my life’s sake and for the sake of those who love me.
You are allowed to feel messed up and inside out. It doesn’t mean you’re defective – it just means you’re human. ~ David Mitchell
In the middle of a difficulty lies opportunity. ~ Albert Einstein
Recover your life, breath by breath. This is the power of the mind.
When we learn how to become resilient, we learn how to embrace the beautifully broad spectrum of the human experience. ~ Jaeda Dewalt
Sometimes, what you’re most afraid of doing is the very thing that will set you free.
Battling the Blues with Inspiring Words
No storm, not even the one in your life, can last forever. The storm is just passing over.
You are not your illness. You have an individual story to tell. You have a name, a history, a personality. Staying yourself is part of the battle. ~ Julian Seifter
The broken will always be able to love harder than most. Once you’ve been in the dark, you learn to appreciate everything that shines.
You’re not a bad person for the ways you tried to kill your sadness.
Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly.
One small crack does not mean you are broken, it means that you were put to the test and you didn’t fall apart.
Every blade of grass has its Angel that bends over it and whispers, ‘Grow, grow.’ ~ The Talmud
It’s often in the deepest pain that God makes you into someone beautiful.
You will feel better than this, maybe not yet, but you will. You just keep living until you are alive again.
Turn your wounds into wisdom. ~ Oprah Winfrey
The Healing Power of Best Depression Quotes
I will breathe. I will think of solutions. I will not let my worry control me. I will not let my stress level break me. I will simply breathe. And it will be okay. Because I don’t quit.
Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. ~ Confucius
When you feel like giving up, just remember the reason why you held on for so long.
You don’t have to live a lie. Living a lie will mess you up. It will send you into depression. It will warp your values. ~ Gilbert Baker
Keep yourself busy if you want to avoid depression. For me, inactivity is the enemy. ~ Matt Lucas
A positive attitude gives you power over your circumstances instead of your circumstances having power over you. ~ Joyce Meyer
Sometimes it’s okay if the only thing you did today was breathe.
Healing takes time, and asking for help is a courageous step. ~ Mariska Hargitay
We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey. ~ Kenji Miyazawa
You are not broken. You are breaking through.
Top Quotes that Speak to the Heart
Depression exists without you knowing it, even denying it. It is not an illusion. You don’t even know you’re in it. It takes awhile before you realize it. ~ Ann Marie Aguilar
It’s okay to feel unstable. It’s okay to disassociate. It’s okay to hide from the world. It’s okay to need help. It’s okay not to be okay. Your mental illness is not a personal failure.
You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection. ~ Buddha
Happiness is not the absence of problems, it’s the ability to deal with them. ~ Steve Maraboli
You say you’re ‘depressed’ – all I see is resilience. You are allowed to feel messed up and inside out. It doesn’t mean you’re defective – it just means you’re human. ~ David Mitchell
The human spirit is stronger than anything that can happen to it. ~ C.C. Scott
No darkness lasts forever. And even there, there are stars. ~ Ursula K. Le Guin
The fact that you’re still alive is proof that this is not the end of your story.
Our anxiety does not come from thinking about the future, but from wanting to control it. ~ Kahlil Gibran
Depression, suffering and anger are all part of being human. ~ Janet Fitch
Words of Wisdom: Powerful Quotes for Depression
In the midst of winter, I found there was within me an invincible summer. ~ Albert Camus
What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly. ~ Richard Bach
It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop. ~ Confucius
And if today all you did was hold yourself together, I’m proud of you.
Believe in yourself and all that you are. Know that there is something inside you that is greater than any obstacle. ~ Christian D. Larson
Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy. ~ Thich Nhat Hanh
When you’re at the end of your rope, tie a knot and hold on. ~ Theodore Roosevelt
The wound is the place where the Light enters you. ~ Rumi
The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places. ~ Ernest Hemingway
Never let your head hang down. Never give up and sit down and grieve. Find another way. ~ Richard M. Nixon
Courageous Conversations: Ten Quotes on Overcoming Depression
What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light. ~ Aristotle Onassis
Fall seven times, stand up eight. ~ Japanese Proverb
Even if happiness forgets you a little bit, never completely forget about it.
What matters most is how well you walk through the fire. ~ Charles Bukowski
To that one soul reading this, I know you’re tired. You’re fed up. You’re so close to breaking. But there’s strength within you, even when you feel weak. Keep fighting.
Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever. ~ Lance Armstrong
Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit. ~ Napoleon Hill
Noble deeds and hot baths are the best cures for depression. ~ Dodie Smith
Life is full of screwups. You’re supposed to fail sometimes. It’s a required part of the human existence. ~ Sarah Dessen
Quotes to Uplift Your Spirits in the Face of Depression
You have to go through the falling down in order to learn to walk. It helps to know that you can survive it. ~ Carol Burnett
Sometimes when things are falling apart they may actually be falling into place.
Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad. ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Enthusiasm is the daily food for beating depression. Keep that alive.
If you’re going through hell, keep going. ~ Winston Churchill
The lotus flower blooms most beautifully from the deepest and thickest mud. ~ Buddhist Proverb
The pain I feel today will be the strength I feel tomorrow.
Tough times never last, but tough people do. ~ Robert H. Schuller
Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it. ~ Helen Keller
You have within you right now, everything you need to deal with whatever the world can throw at you. ~ Brian Tracy
Ten More Inspirational Quotes to Fight Depression
Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny. ~ C.S. Lewis
I’ve been absolutely terrified every moment of my life and I’ve never let it keep me from doing a single thing that I wanted to do. ~ Georgia O’Keeffe
You are more powerful than you know; you are beautiful just as you are. ~ Melissa Etheridge
The only thing more exhausting than being depressed is pretending that you’re not.
Our wounds are often the openings into the best and most beautiful part of us. ~ David Richo
The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it. ~ Molière
It’s okay to feel down. It’s okay to cry. It’s okay to be sad. But it’s never okay to give up.
It doesn’t matter who you are, where you come from. The ability to triumph begins with you. Always. ~ Oprah Winfrey
Depression is being colorblind and constantly told how colorful the world is.
Once you choose hope, anything is possible. ~ Christopher Reeve
Best Depression Quotes: A Beacon of Hope
Remember: Every champion was once a contender that refused to give up. ~ Rocky Balboa
You were given this life because you are strong enough to live it.
The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials. ~ Chinese Proverb
Your illness is not your identity. Your chemistry is not your character. ~ Pastor Rick Warren
Mental pain is less dramatic than physical pain, but it is more common and also more hard to bear. ~ C.S. Lewis
I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship. ~ Louisa May Alcott
Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do. ~ John Wooden
The best way out is always through. ~ Robert Frost
Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results. ~ Willie Nelson
Ring the bells that still can ring. Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack, a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in. ~ Leonard Cohen
More Comforting Words for the Difficult Times
In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on. ~ Robert Frost
Even in the grave, all is not lost. ~ Edgar Allan Poe
Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict. ~ William Ellery Channing
She stood in the storm, and when the wind did not blow her way, she adjusted her sails. ~ Elizabeth Edwards
In order to conquer, what we need is to dare, still to dare, and always to dare. ~ Georges Jacques Danton
I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become. ~ Carl Jung
Just as the lotus flower rises above the muddy waters, you too can rise above the struggles in life.
Man is fond of counting his troubles, but he does not count his joys. If he counted them up as he ought to, he would see that every lot has enough happiness provided for it. ~ Fyodor Dostoevsky
I have endured pain and loss. I have felt broken. I have known hardship, and I have felt lost and alone. But here I stand, trying to move forward, one day at a time. I will remember the lessons in my life because they are making me who I am. Stronger. A warrior.
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter. ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
Best Depression Quotes: Finding Light in Darkness
Breathe, it’s just a bad day, not a bad life.
The only journey is the journey within. ~ Rainer Maria Rilke
Sometimes, the people around you won’t understand your journey. They don’t need to, it’s not for them.
The greater your storm, the brighter your rainbow.
Your victory is right around the corner. Never give up. ~ Nicki Minaj
The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt
Sometimes the smallest step in the right direction ends up being the biggest step of your life. Tiptoe if you must, but take a step.
Why should I be unhappy? Every parcel of my being is in full bloom. ~ Rumi
Remember, it’s okay to take a step back when you need to. Breathe, relax, recharge.
Do what you can with all you have, wherever you are. ~ Theodore Roosevelt
The Power of Words: Quotes to Ease the Mind
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. ~ Lao Tzu
The soul would have no rainbow if the eyes had no tears.
Courage does not always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow.’ ~ Mary Anne Radmacher
It is only in our darkest hours that we may discover the true strength of the brilliant light within ourselves that can never, ever, be dimmed. ~ Doe Zantamata
Believe you can and you’re halfway there. ~ Theodore Roosevelt
Depression is a prison where you are both the suffering prisoner and the cruel jailer. ~ Dorothy Rowe
The strongest people find the courage and caring to help others, even if they are going through their own storm.
In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity. ~ Sun Tzu
A problem is a chance for you to do your best. ~ Duke Ellington
Grit your teeth and let it hurt. Don’t deny it, don’t be overwhelmed by it. It will not last forever. ~ Harold Kushner
Final Set of Inspiring Quotes Against Depression
It does not matter how slowly you go, so long as you do not stop. ~ Confucius
Courage is knowing what not to fear. ~ Plato
Don’t let life discourage you; everyone who got where he is had to begin where he was. ~ Richard L. Evans
I understood myself only after I destroyed myself. And only in the process of fixing myself, did I know who I really was.
Healing is an art. It takes time, it takes practice. It takes love.
You must do the thing you think you cannot do. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
The true way is along a rope that is not spanned high in the air, but only just above the ground. It seems intended more to cause stumbling than to be walked upon. ~ Franz Kafka
Growth is painful. Change is painful. But, nothing is as painful as staying stuck where you do not belong.
You have the power to say, ‘This is not how my story will end.’
Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear. ~ Mark Twain
Best Depression Quotes: Lessons for a Lifetime
Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time. ~ Thomas A. Edison
Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will. ~ Mahatma Gandhi
Life’s challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they’re supposed to help you discover who you are. ~ Bernice Johnson Reagon
Though no one can go back and make a brand-new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand-new ending. ~ Carl Bard
The greatest discovery of any generation is that a human can alter his life by altering his attitude. ~ William James
The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new. ~ Socrates
You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
There is no giant step that does it. It’s a lot of little steps.
When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it. ~ Henry Ford
Depression is living in a body that fights to survive with a mind that tries to die.
Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations.
From every wound there is a scar, and every scar tells a story. A story that says, “I survived.”
Wrap up
As we wrap up this collection of the best depression quotes, remember that the darkness of depression doesn’t diminish your worth. These quotes are more than just words—they are a beacon of light, proving that understanding and solace can be found in the most unexpected places. They remind you that it’s okay to feel broken, and even amidst the darkest times, hope can bloom. Carry these words with you as you journey through your darkest days, and may they light your path towards brighter moments.
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