75 Relatable Mental Health Quotes to Inspire You

Pair these quotes with mental health podcasts or mental health journal prompts for a holistic approach to mental wellness. You can also visit Mental Health America for more resources. Don’t suffer in silence.

Inspiring mental health quotes

• “We would never tell someone with a broken leg that they should stop wallowing and get it together. We don’t consider taking medication for an ear infection something to be ashamed of. We shouldn’t treat mental health conditions any differently.” — Michelle Obama
• “Sometimes the worst place you can be is in your own head.” — Timothy Ferriss
• “You are stronger than you think. You have gotten through every bad day in your life, and you are undefeated.” — Lori Gottlieb
• “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” — Confucius
• “The sun himself is weak when he first rises, and gathers strength and courage as the day gets on.” — Charles Dickens
• “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.” — Winston Churchill
• “You have been criticizing yourself for years, and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.” — Louise Hay
• “Healing takes time, and asking for help is a courageous step.” — Mariska Hargitay
• “Even the darkest night will end, and the sun will rise.” — Victor Hugo
• “Turn your wounds into wisdom.” — Oprah Winfrey
• “You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf.” — Jon Kabat-Zinn
• “Our wounds are often the openings into the best and most beautiful part of us.” — David Richo

• “Emotional pain is not something that should be hidden away and never spoken about. There is truth in your pain, there is growth in your pain, but only if it’s first brought out into the open.” — Steven Aitchison
• “Not all battles are visible and neither are the victories.” — Brittany Burgunder
• “The advice I’d give to somebody that’s silently struggling is, you don’t have to live that way. You don’t have to struggle in silence. You can be un-silent.” — Demi Lovato
• “You are not alone. You are seen. I am with you. You are not alone.” — Shonda Rhimes
• “It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.” — Aristotle
• “In the depths of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer. And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there’s something stronger — something better, pushing right back.” — Albert Camus
• “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” — Winston Churchill
• “Change what you can, manage what you can’t.” — Raymond McCauley
• “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” — Fredrick Douglass
• “Talk to yourself like you would to someone you love.” — Brené Brown
• “The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places.” — Ernest Hemingway
• “Most of us have it mixed up. You don’t start with courage and then face fear. You become courageous because you face your fear.” ― Laura Davis
• “Self-compassion is simply giving the same kindness to ourselves that we would give to others.” – Christopher Germer

• “Sometimes you climb out of bed in the morning and you think, I’m not going to make it, but you laugh inside — remembering all the times you’ve felt that way.” — Charles Bukowski
• “The strongest people are not those who show strength in front of the world but those who fight and win battles that others do not know anything about.” — Jonathan Harnisch
• “Life is like a piano; the white keys represent happiness and the black show sadness. But as you go through life’s journey, remember that the black keys also create music.” — Ehssan
• “Worrying is carrying tomorrow’s load with today’s strength-carrying two days at once. Worrying doesn’t empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.” – Corrie Ten Boom
• “I learned that my sadness never destroyed what was great about me. You just have to go back to that greatness, find that one little light that’s left. I’m lucky I found one little glimmer stored away.” — Lady Gaga
• “One small crack does not mean that you are broken, it means that you were put to the test and you didn’t fall apart.” — Linda Poindexter
• “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
• “Your present circumstances don’t determine where you go; they merely determine where you start.” — Nido Qubein
• “Slow breathing is like an anchor in the midst of an emotional storm: the anchor won’t make the storm go away, but it will hold you steady until it passes.” — Russ Harris
• “And still, I rise.”  —  Maya Angelou
• “Be dedicated to change the way in which people see mental illness at all levels of society. If not for yourself, advocate for those who are struggling in silence.” — Germany Kent
• “You don’t have to control your thoughts. You just have to stop letting them control you.” — Dan Millman
• “There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.” ― Leonard Cohen

• “Deep breathing is our nervous system’s love language.” — Dr. Lauren Fogel Mersy
• “I think it’s really important to take the stigma away from mental health… My brain and my heart are really important to me. I don’t know why I wouldn’t seek help to have those things be as healthy as my teeth.” —Kerry Washington, from HuffPost
• “It is not the bruises on the body that hurt. It is the wounds of the heart and the scars on the mind.” — Aisha Mirza
• “Mental health…is not a destination, but a process. It’s about how you drive, not where you’re going.” — Noam Shpancer, PhD
• “Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.” ― Henry David Thoreau
• “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
• “Vulnerability sounds like truth and feels like courage. Truth and courage aren’t always comfortable, but they’re never weakness.” — Brené Brown
• “Just because you don’t understand it doesn’t mean it isn’t so.” — Lemony Snicket
• “Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” — Christopher Robin from Winnie the Pooh
• “Just because no one else can heal or do your inner work for you doesn’t mean you can, should, or need to do it alone.” – Lisa Olivera
• “There is hope, even when your brain tells you there isn’t.” — John Green
• “I cannot stand the words ‘Get over it’. All of us are under such pressure to put our problems in the past tense. Slow down. Don’t allow others to hurry your healing. It is a process, one that may take years, occasionally, even a lifetime – and that’s OK.” — Beau Taplin
• “Self-care is how you take your power back.” — Lalah Delia

• “My dark days made me strong. Or maybe I already was strong, and they made me prove it. — Emery Lord
• “There is no normal life that is free of pain. It’s the very wrestling with our problems that can be the impetus for our growth.” — Fred Rogers
• “‘Positive vibes only’ isn’t a thing. Humans have a wide range of emotions and that’s OK.” — Molly Bahr, LMHC
• “You don’t have to be positive all the time. It’s perfectly okay to feel sad, angry, annoyed, frustrated, scared and anxious. Having feelings doesn’t make you a negative person. It makes you human.” — Lori Deschene
• “Nothing can dim the light that shines from within.” – Maya Angelou
• “You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.” — Buddha
• “This feeling will pass. The fear is real but the danger is not.― Cammie McGovern
• “Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor. – Thich Nhat Hanh
• “Even if we don’t have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there.” — Stephen Chbosky
• “You are valuable just because you exist. Not because of what you do or what you have done, but simply because you are. — Max Lucado
• “There is no standard normal. Normal is subjective. There are seven billion versions of normal on this planet. — Matt Haig, Reasons to Stay Alive

• Women have to take the time to focus on our mental health — take time for self, for the spiritual, without feeling guilty or selfish. The world will see you the way you see you, and treat you the way you treat yourself. – Beyoncé, from an Elle interview
• The best way out is always through. — Robert Frost
• “We are not our trauma. We are not our brain chemistry. That’s part of who we are, but we’re so much more than that.” ― Sam J. Miller
• “Your mental health is everything – prioritize it. Make the time like your life depends on it, because it does.” — Mel Robbins
• “If we start being honest about our pain, our anger, and our shortcomings instead of pretending they don’t exist, then maybe we’ll leave the world a better place than we found it.” — Russell Wilson
• “Mental health problems don’t define who you are. They are something you experience. You walk in the rain and you feel the rain, but you are not the rain.” — Matt Haig

• “What mental health needs is more sunlight, more candor, and more unashamed conversation.” – Glenn Close
• “Being able to be your true self is one of the strongest components of good mental health.” – Dr. Lauren Fogel Mersy
• “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.” – Robert Louis Stevenson
• “Sometimes the people around you won’t understand your journey. They don’t need to, it’s not for them.” – Joubert Botha
• “I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship.” – Louisa May Alcott
• “Sometimes self care is exercise and eating right. Sometimes it’s spending time with loved ones or taking a nap. And sometimes it’s watching an entire season of TV in one weekend while you lounge around in your pajamas. Whatever soothes your soul.” —Nanea Hoffman
• “The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.” — Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

Katarina Avendaño (she/her) is the senior SEO editor for Good Housekeeping, where she writes and edits lifestyle content and contributes to SEO strategy. Before joining GH in 2021, she was the digital editor at New York Family, where she was responsible for the website’s content and strategy. Katarina received her bachelor’s degree in communications and Spanish from the University of Washington.