69 Depression Quotes and Sayings To Help Yourself in Difficult Times

Have you been experiencing feelings of sadness, depression, and anger that won't go away? Have you stopped finding enjoyment in activities that used to bring you happiness? Do you feel a sense of worthlessness and an unbearable level of pain?

If so, you are not alone.

I myself have been through this and I can understand how it makes you feel.

You need to understand that anyone can get depressed and it's not a sign of weakness. Just like you can get a headache, you can become depressed.

The most important thing to remember is that "Your Thoughts Create Your Feelings, and Your Feelings Influence Your Thoughts". It's a loop. So if you can change your thoughts, you can totally change how you feel.

Start by appreciating every small good thing in life and be more kind to yourself. Find positivity everywhere around you. Positive thinking can change your whole life.

When we are depressed we see everything as either black or white. But this world is not black or white, there are many shades in between. Remember that one failure doesn't mean that your whole life was a failure.

And you should always question your thoughts to see how much truth they hold. Know that everything your mind is telling you is not true. It might be playing tricks on you and you even might have distorted thinking. So don't believe and entertain every thought that comes into your mind.

These quotes and sayings from famous people will help you understand that you are not alone and that things will get better.

Depression Sayings You Can Relate With

J. K. Rowling, the queen of the very famous fiction story "Harry Potter" has suffered from clinical depression. Before she wrote Harry Potter, she was an unemployed single mother going through a severely distressed phase in her life.

She expresses her feelings in the following words:

“Depression is the most unpleasant thing I have ever experienced. . . . It is that absence of being able to envisage that you will ever be cheerful again. The absence of hope. That very deadened feeling, which is so very different from feeling sad. Sad hurts but it's a healthy feeling. It is a necessary thing to feel. Depression is very different.”
J. K. Rowling

“Dearest, I feel certain that I am going mad again. I feel we can't go through another of those terrible times. And I shan't recover this time. I begin to hear voices, and I can't concentrate. So I am doing what seems the best thing to do. You have given me the greatest possible happiness. You have been in every way all that anyone could be. I don't think two people could have been happier 'til this terrible disease came. I can't fight any longer. I know that I am spoiling your life, that without me you could work. And you will I know. You see I can't even write this properly. I can't read. What I want to say is I owe all the happiness of my life to you. You have been entirely patient with me and incredibly good. I want to say that – everybody knows it. If anybody could have saved me it would have been happier than we have been.”
Virginia Woolf

Sylvia Plath who was an American poet and novelist, suffering from clinical depression, wrote:

“I didn’t want my picture taken because I was going to cry. I didn’t know why I was going to cry, but I knew that if anybody spoke to me or looked at me too closely the tears would fly out of my eyes and the sobs would fly out of my throat and I’d cry for a week. I could feel the tears brimming and sloshing in me like water in a glass that is unsteady and too full.”
Sylvia Plath

Elizabeth Wurtzel in her confessional memoir "Prozac Nation" shares her depressed state and feelings. A few of the quotes on how she felt are below:

“Some friends don't understand this. They don't understand how desperate I am to have someone say, I love you and I support you just the way you are because you're wonderful just the way you are. They don't understand that I can't remember anyone ever saying that to me. I am so demanding and difficult for my friends because I want to crumble and fall apart before them so that they will love me even though I am no fun, lying in bed, crying all the time, not moving. Depression is all about If you loved me you would.”
Elizabeth Wurtzel

“Mental illness is so much more complicated than any pill that any mortal could invent”
Elizabeth Wurtzel

“I don't want any more of this try, try again stuff. I just want out. I’ve had it. I am so tired. I am twenty and I am already exhausted.”
Elizabeth Wurtzel

“In the meantime, I could withdraw to my room, could hide and sleep as if I were dead”

“It is so hard to learn to put sadness in perspective so hard to understand that it is a feeling that comes in degrees, it can be a candle burning gently and harmlessly in your home, or it can be a full-fledged forest fire that destroy almost everything and is controlled by almost nothing. It can also be so much in-between”
Elizabeth Wurtzel

Every Day is a Struggle When You are Depressed

A distressed state hampers your daily activities. Brushing your teeth, taking bath, or even eating a bite seems like a huge task. There's a loop of thought process that doesn't break.

Ned Vizzini, in his work, describes what the daily struggle looks like:

“I didn't want to wake up. I was having a much better time asleep. And that's really sad. It was almost like a reverse nightmare, like when you wake up from a nightmare you're so relieved. I woke up into a nightmare.”
“I can't eat and I can't sleep. I'm not doing well in terms of being a functional human, you know?”
"I waste at least an hour every day lying in bed. Then I waste time pacing. I waste time thinking. I waste time being quiet and not saying anything because I'm afraid I'll stutter.”
“It’s so hard to talk when you want to kill yourself. That's above and beyond everything else, and it's not a mental complaint-it's a physical thing like it's physically hard to open your mouth and make the words come out. They don't come out smooth and in conjunction with your brain the way normal people's words do; they come out in chunks as if from a crushed-ice dispenser; you stumble on them as they gather behind your lower lip. So you just keep quiet.”

Overwhelming Sadness That Doesnt Go Away

There are people who describe these moments of welling sadness that comes unexpectedly which seems inexplicable and irrational. This is so overwhelming that even loved ones nearby fail to understand.

"I have felt the wind of the wing of madness" -William Styron
“In Ruin City, in the rain, the sound of melancholy is a buzzing maelstrom of quiet desperation. The shatter has been so great, there is no sound left to despair.” -Radhika Mukherjee
“Sometimes I just want to go far, far away from where I can just scream my heart out to the wide-open ocean where no one can ever hear my loudest cry.” -Syed Qassim Acabo
“I don't want to do anything. I don't even want to start this day because then I'll just be expected to finish it.” - Rainbow Rowell
“There is no point treating a depressed person as though she were just feeling sad, saying, 'There now, hang on, you'll get over it.' Sadness is more or less like a head cold- with patience, it passes. Depression is like cancer.” ― Barbara Kingsolver

Prickling Unhappiness

Depression also feels as if a sense of prickling unhappiness takes over you. Life seems so worthless and every activity induces even more despair.

“And I felt like my heart had been so thoroughly and irreparably broken that there could be no real joy again, that at best there might eventually be a little contentment. Everyone wanted me to get help and rejoin life, pick up the pieces and move on, and I tried to, I wanted to, but I just had to lie in the mud with my arms wrapped around myself, eyes closed, grieving, until I didn’t have to anymore.” –Anne Lamott
“No amount of love can cure madness or unblacken one's dark moods. Love can help, it can make the pain more tolerable, but, always, one is beholden to medication that may or may not always work and may or may not be bearable”― Kay Redfield Jamison
"Bloody and bowed, by the outrages of life, most human beings still stagger on down the road, unscathed by real depression." -William Styron
“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

Guilt Induced Insomnia

Sleep is disturbed. The night goes by and you can't sleep. You are simply changing sides and thoughts in a circle. You are guilty of so many things, finding yourself responsible for your and everyone's mistakes.

Hence depressed feelings are also summed up as guilt-induced insomnia.

“I've got a bad case of the 3:00 am guilts - you know, when you lie in bed awake and replay all those things you didn't do right? Because, as we all know, nothing solves insomnia like a nice warm glass of regret, depression and self-loathing.” – D. D. Barant
“I don't want to see anyone. I lie in the bedroom with the curtains drawn and nothingness washing over me like a sluggish wave. Whatever is happening to me is my own fault. I have done something wrong, something so huge I can't even see it, something that's drowning me. I am inadequate and stupid, without worth. I might as well be dead.” –Margaret Atwood

Expressing Life Uncertainty You Feel When Depressed

Others define depression as uncertainty in their own emotions. Overwhelming thoughts not only make one restless but also questions of what and how never stop, as the following quotations express:

“Choking with dry tears and raging, raging, raging at the absolute indifference of nature and the world to the death of love, the death of hope and the death of beauty, I remember sitting on the end of my bed, collecting these pills and capsules together and wondering why, why when I felt I had so much to offer, so much love, such outpourings of love and energy to spend on the world, I was incapable of being offered love, giving it or summoning the energy with which I knew I could transform myself and everything around me.” –Stephen Fry
“The worst type of crying wasn't the kind everyone could see--the wailing on street corners, the tearing at clothes. No, the worst kind happened when your soul wept and no matter what you did, there was no way to comfort it. A section withered and became a scar on the part of your soul that survived. For people like me and Echo, our souls contained more scar tissue than life.” –Katie McGarry
“Even when I try to stir myself up, I just get irritated because I can't make anything come out. And in the middle of the night I lie here thinking about all this. If I don't get back on track somehow, I'm dead, that's the sense I get. There isn't a single strong emotion inside me.”― Banana Yoshimoto
“There is no point treating a depressed person as though she were just feeling sad, saying, 'There now, hang on, you'll get over it.' Sadness is more or less like a head cold- with patience, it passes. Depression is like cancer.” –Barbara Kingsolver

Expressing How Everything Becomes Pure Madness

The following quotations portray how people find feelings of depression like those of pure madness:

“In every way that counted, I was dead. Inside somewhere maybe I was screaming and weeping and howling like an animal, but that was another person deep inside, another person who had no access to the lips and face and mouth and head, so on the surface I just shrugged and smile and kept moving. If I could have physically passed away, just let it all go, like that, without doing anything, stepped out of life as easily as walking through a door I would have done. But I was going to sleep at night and waking in the morning, disappointed to be there and resigned to existence.”― Neil Gaiman
“When you're lost in those woods, it sometimes takes you a while to realize that you are lost. For the longest time, you can convince yourself that you've just wandered off the path, that you'll find your way back to the trailhead any moment now. Then night falls again and again, and you still have no idea where you are, and it's time to admit that you have bewildered yourself so far off the path that you don't even know from which direction the sun rises anymore.”― Elizabeth Gilbert

Sayings About Black and White Thinking

Depression also feels like black and white. Not in the literal sense but gloominess is all that is there that the world seems lifeless and colorless. In the words of the following people:

“I saw the world in black and white instead of the vibrant colours and shades I knew existed.”― Katie McGarry
“Sometimes I wonder if my heart is like a black hole--it's so dense that there's no room for light, but that doesn't mean it can't still suck me in.”― Jasmine Warga
"... The gray drizzle of horror induced by depression takes on the quality of physical pain. But it is not an immediately identifiable pain, like that of a broken limb. It may be more accurate to say that despair, owing to some evil trick played upon the sick brain by the inhabiting psyche, comes to resemble the diabolical discomfort of being imprisoned in a fiercely overheated room. And because no breeze stirs this caldron, because there is no escape from this smothering confinement, it is entirely natural that the victim begins to thing ceaselessly of oblivion." -William Styron

Sayings About How Depression Feels Constant

Depression once taken over remains constant and feels constant. One feels that the state of despair will never go away and will last an eternity.

“Depression isn't a war you win. It's a battle you fight every day. You never stop, never get to rest. It's one bloody fray after another.”― Shaun David Hutchinson
“Depression is like a bruise that never goes away. A bruise in your mind. You just got to be careful not to touch it where it hurts. It's always there, though.”― Jeffrey Eugenides
“There are wounds that never show on the body that are deeper and more hurtful than anything that bleeds.” - Laurell K. Hamilton
“I wonder if that's how darkness wins, by convincing us to trap it inside ourselves, instead of emptying it out. I don't want it to win.”― Jasmine Warga
“That is all I want in life: for this pain to seem purposeful.” - Elizabeth Wurtzel

The heroic act of expressing depressed feelings and inking them is one of the ways of communicating that you are not alone in your journey.

These quotations will definitely help you to feel less lonely in your trying time and struggle whereas the quotations below will help you cope with your gloomy state.

Quotes to Help You Make Feel Better Again

The collected quotes are a shout-out to the people who haven’t felt okay recently but are getting up every day and refusing to quit.

The quotes, rest assured, will help you remain strong and make you feel better again.

“Sometimes you have to swim through a bit of darkness if you’re ever going to surface in the light.” Sara Ella
"In the absence of hope we must still struggle to survive, and so we do-by the shin of our teeth" -William Styron
“Forgive yourself for the bad decisions you made, for the times you lacked understanding, for the choices that hurt others and yourself. Forgive yourself for being young and reckless. These are all the vital lessons. And what matters most right now is your willingness to grow from them” –Marcand Angel
“It’s dark because you are trying too hard. Lightly child, lightly. Learn to do everything lightly. Yes, feel lightly even though you’re feeling deeply. Just lightly let things happen and lightly cope with them. I was so preposterously serious in those days… lightly, lightly- it’s the best advice ever given me.. to throw away your baggage and go forward. There are quicksands all about you, sucking at your feet, trying to suck you down into fear and self-pity and despair. That’s why you must walk so lightly. Lightly my darling…” –Aldous Huxley
“I hope I haven’t already driven past my greatest moments. I hope there is something beautiful in the horizon that’s just as impatient as I am. Something so eager, it wants to meet me halfway. A moment that is diligently staring at its watch, frustrated and bursting at the seams. Wondering what’s taking me so long to arrive.” – Rudy Francisco
“Waste time this year. Go for long, rambling walks. Write poems. Try a new recipe just because. Pray. Paint. Knit something. Read that big old book. Work on your novel. Our world is obsessed with productivity, but “unproductive” hours are the most soul-shaping parts of our lives.” –Joy Clarkson
“When someone spews something really hurtful, don’t pick it up and hold it and rub it into your heart and snuggle with it and carry it around for a long time. Don’t even put energy into kicking it to the curb. You gotta see it and step over it or go around it and keep on going.” –Brene Brown
“Try not to resist the changes that come your way. Instead let life live through you. And do not worry that your life is turning upside down. How do you know that the side you are used to is better than the one to come?” –Rumi
“It’s okay to cry when there’s too much on your mind. The clouds rain too when things get heavy” – Amina Mehmood
“You have to take as long as you need. Take your time, you know? You are undoing yourself. Breaking apart. Collecting. Retrieving. Losing. Discovering. And at your own pace. This is something we all go through. This is something we all need. So please, don’t be so hard on yourself. You’re almost there. You’re almost home.” –R. M. Drake
“I was walking deep in the woods, and I saw how the sunlight reached down between the tress to touch the tiny plants. We are loved more than we will ever know.” –J. Lynn
“The fact that you’re struggling doesn’t make you a burden. It doesn’t make you unlovable or undesirable or undeserving of care. It doesn’t make you too much or too sensitive or too needy. It makes you human. Everyone struggles. Everyone has a difficult time coping, and at times, we all fall apart. During these times, we aren’t always easy to be around and that’s okay. No one is easy to be around one hundred percent of the time. Yes, you may sometimes be unpleasant or difficult. And yes, you may sometimes do or say things that make the people around you feel helpless or sad. But those things aren’t all of who you are and they certainly don’t discount your worth as a human being. The truth is that you can be struggling and still be loved. You can be difficult and still be loved. You can be difficult and still be cared for. You can be less than perfect, and still be deserving of compassion and kindness.” –Daniell Koepke
“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
“Fear is strange. It settles on chests and seeps through skin, through layers of tissue, muscle and bone and collects in a soul-sized black hole, sucking the joy out of life, the pleasure, the beauty. But not the hope. Somehow, the hope is the only thing resistant to the fear, and it is that hope that makes the next breath possible, the next step, the next tiny act of rebellion, even if that rebellion is simply staying alive.” –Amy Harmon
“You will be someone’s best thing” –R. H. Sin
“So recommit. Recommit as many times as you need to your well-being, your dreams, your spiritual health, your workouts, or your promises. Recommit to your self-belief. Failure is an illusion and the idea that you can’t start over will do nothing but keep you in a space of sadness. You can start over at any time, at any minute. And this one feels perfect.” –Cara Alwill Leyba
“I keep moving ahead, as always, knowing deep down inside that I am a good person and that I am worthy of a good life.” –Jonathan Harnisch
“The only thing that is wrong with you, is you thinking that there is something wrong with you. Love yourself. Accept yourself.” –Anujj Elviss
“Life is a beautiful song. It is up to you the lyrics and tune.” –Gillian Duce
“Doing yoga, listen to meditation music, clean-eating. You won’t be okay by doing all of it, but it helps to calm yourself down and be better.” –Shaa Zainol
“Sometimes life’s a shit boat, and it feels like nothing’s ever gone right. And sometimes the only comfort you have is the fact that other people are also in your awful situation. And maybe, just maybe, you’ll make them feel a little less alone.” –Ruby Walker
“Pause, breathe, and lift, undefined, what is possible. Let the feeling of celebration come upon you, even if you do not comprehend cerebral reasons to justify it. For from that center, it will generate its own, able to carry you, until the original ones manifest, from that very portal you chose to fashion, unrestricted.” –Tom Althouse
“There is always a door, no matter how dark the room is, find it and get out” –Shafqat Bashar
“Always seek the light even in the darkest atmosphere.. That’s how we become victorious” –Torron Lee Dewar
“Light existed all along. Of course it did. Who says it didn’t because I couldn’t see it?” –Gillian Marchenko
“My only choice was to fight my way out, even if I didn’t think I would make it.” –Laure Halse Anderson
“Feels strange, doesn’t it? The awkward in-between phase you’ve been passing through on the way to your new chapter. It’s a confusing period of your life where the only thing you’re sure of is that your soul is expanding to newer heights. You’ve been through periods like this in the past but something about this one just feels different. This one has your heart beating in urgency while your mind basks in calmness. This one has you reflecting more while saying a lot less. This one has you reflecting more while saying a lot less. This one has you exercising your patience vigorously while the Universe bombards you with signs relating to you dreams. It’s like your spirit is being split in two as your new and old self fight over it. Fear keeps threatening to take control but you’re so much stronger than you used to be; that’s why you’re not going to let it. Ground yourself in the present repeatedly, no matter how uncomfortable it feels. Resistance will have you permanently stuck in a chapter that was meant to e temporary. Acceptance will allow you to naturally flow right through it. You’ve reached a very pivotal moment in your journey; you can either suppress your magic or revitalize it. Welcome to the wonderful world of ascension.” –Esther T.

You can write motivational quotes on sticky notes and post them nearby your bed or desk.

Concluding Thoughts

There are people who go through clinical depression, fight it, recover from it, and become a support system for those who are suffering. Just like them, you can also become happy and satisfied with your life.

Keep doing your best in order to feel better again and understand that healing takes time.

Book Recommendation: Feeling Good Book by David D Burns is a really helpful book for those suffering from depression and mood problems. It saved my life and it might save yours too.

Seth Adam Smith’s words below summarize it so comprehensively and beautifully: “One day, you will stand at the summit of a figurative mountain and look back on your life’s journey. And, to your utter amazement, you will see how your experiences with depression, dark and painful as they were, only added to the overall beauty of your life.”

Psychological therapy and medicines can be life savers sometimes so you should consult professional help if you are feeling depressed.

Things may feel really tough right now, but I want you to know that things will get better. You have so much strength and resilience inside of you - it’s in these tough times when we must dig deep and find it. Remember you are not alone and there are people who care about you.