Nervousness Quotes

“For one, dazzling, infinite moment, August felt like he was standing on a precipice, the end of one world and the beginning of another, a whisper and a bang.”
― Victoria Schwab, This Savage Song

“Relax; the world's not watching that closely. It's too busy contemplating itself in the mirror.”
― Richelle E. Goodrich, Making Wishes: Quotes, Thoughts, & a Little Poetry for Every Day of the Year

“If you live with fear and consider yourself as something special then automatically, emotionally, you are distanced from others. You then create the basis for feelings of alienation from others and loneliness. So, I never consider, even when giving a talk to a large crowd, that I am something special, I am 'His Holiness the Dalai Lama' . . . I always emphasize that when I meet people, we are all the same human beings. A thousand people -- same human being. Ten thousand or a hundred thousand -- same human being -- mentally, emotionally, and physically. Then, you see, no barrier. Then my mind remains completely calm and relaxed. If too much emphasis on myself, and I start to think I'm something special, then more anxiety, more nervousness.”
― Dalai Lama XIV, The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World

“Good God, but life could be less than easy, not that he was unaware that it could certainly be a lot worse, but to go about in such a state, pulse high, face red, worried sick that someone would notice how nervous one was, was certainly less than ideal, and he felt sure that his body was secreting all kinds of harmful chemicals and that the more he worried about the harmful chemicals the faster they were pouring out of wherever it was they came from.”
― George Saunders, Pastoralia

“I feel as though I can chew up nails and spit out a barbed wire fence.”
― Khloe Beutler, Speaking Up for Each Other: A Collection of Short Stories for Tweens and Middle Grade Readers

“Be completely sincere in love; don’t love just because you want to fill a void or gratify a desire. Love, because you are convinced that your feelings are true.”
― Michael Bassey Johnson, The Infinity Sign

“The voices inside her head had awakened from their peace as they hissed in whisper through her ears. They slithered inside Sophia's mind and through her thoughts, entrancing her under a spell of anxiety, spilling all of her worries that she had stored away.”
― Arti Manani, The Colours of Denial

“Worry wastes time, envy wastes wealth.”
― Amit Kalantri, Wealth of Words

“She was white, wore perfume and smiled openly with the Negro customers, so I knew she was sophisticated. Other people's sophistication tended to make me nervous and I stayed shy of Louise.”
― Maya Angelou, Singin' and Swingin' and Gettin' Merry Like Christmas

“All things come to him who waits, and among them is that unpleasant sensation of a cold hand upon the portion of the body which lies behind the third waistcoat button.”
― P.G. Wodehouse, The White Feather

“These are icebreakers. You’re not supposed to break the ice, you’re just supposed to coat your voice with as many layers of confidence as possible so that they don’t hear your voice shake when it’s your turn to speak. Idiot.”
― Karl Kristian Flores, The Goodbye Song

“Parliament will also struggle with Shakespeare. Rappers stutter too when they flirt. The palms of poised politicians sweat. Police officers fart. Princesses get wedgies. Royal Guards had to keep from laughing. The last rep in the gym will make any arm shake. Presidents had to apply. Rome fell.”
― Karl Kristian Flores, The Goodbye Song

“What a shocking bad hat!' was the phrase that was next in vogue. No sooner had it become universal, than thousands of idle but sharp eyes were on the watch for the passenger whose hat shewed any signs, however slight, of ancient service. Immediately the cry arose, and, like the war-whoop of the Indians, was repeated by a hundred discordant throats. He was a wise man who, finding himself under these circumstances 'the observed of all observers,' bore his honours meekly. He who shewed symptoms of ill-feeling at the imputations cast upon his hat, only brought upon himself redoubled notice. The mob soon perceive whether a man is irritable, and, if of their own class, they love to make sport of him. When such a man, and with such a hat, passed in those days through a crowded neighbourhood, he might think himself fortunate if his annoyances were confined to the shouts and cries of the populace. The obnoxious hat was often snatched from his head and thrown into the gutter by some practical joker, and then raised, covered with mud, upon the end of a stick, for the admiration of the spectators, who held their sides with laughter, and exclaimed, in the pauses of their mirth, 'Oh, what a shocking bad hat!' 'What a shocking bad hat!' Many a nervous poor man, whose purse could but ill spare the outlay, doubtless purchased a new hat before the time, in order to avoid exposure in this manner.”
― Charles Mackay, Extraordinary Popular Delusions and The Madness of Crowds, Volume 1

“When angry, count to 10 before you speak. If very angry, a hundred.”
― Thomas Jefferson

“When walking into a room, worry not. Everyone else is afraid. People are scared of people who are scared of people.”
― Karl Kristian Flores, The Goodbye Song

“It's okay to have butterflies, you just have to tell them to fly into formation.”
― Richard Endres

“لم يعد هناك سوى صوت الأنفاس الثقيلة..سوى صوت الصمت..و للصمت صخب عال يؤذي الأذنين فعلا... إنه من أعلى الأصوات عندما تكون متوترا.”
― أحمد خالد توفيق, الساحر وأنا

“Going on stage always felt like being shot out of a cannon. My stomach would tighten as I got closer to the backstage area. You wondered why you put yourself through all the stress. Then BOOM! You're on, adrenalin pumping, and thinking: "THIS is why I do it!”
― Stewart Stafford

“Instead of imagining worst case scenarios,
I visualize best case scenarios.
Instead of avoiding my fears,
I find a reason to be excited despite my fear.”
― Lauren Martin, Fear is a Volcano

“As the words tumble from her mouth, she looks down at her shoes, over my shoulder, toward the barista. Anywhere but at me. I don't mind. Annika's mannerisms are like slipping into a comfortable pair of shoes, and though I feel bad admitting it, even to myself, her nervousness has always made me feel at ease.”
― Tracey Garvis Graves, The Girl He Used to Know

“Limbic consonance is the little-known process through which the mood of a room changes when a happy or nervous person walks in.”
― Douglas Rushkoff, Team Human

“You see, humans shrunk themselves when talking. Traditionally, one must succumb to the correspondence of politeness and must be careful not to step over anyone’s toes. This meant nodding your head at rather unthoughtful, sporadic moments, raising your voice an octave, and repeating the last few words a person said to assure them that you were respectfully listening. Everyone shrunk, but she kept. If she did not want to listen, Soriah would tell you. If she didn’t know what you were saying, she’d stop you and ask you to repeat yourself. Many people didn’t like that. It was a difficult, naked territory to be in—to be told by someone they weren’t listening to you, but she was a conversational nudist. Soriah withstood the awkwardness of confrontation, the nervousness of acknowledgment, and lived in it, and almost enjoyed it. Even if you tried, no preparation could ever prepare you in a conversation with her. She was point-blank. Her beauty was that of a certain wildness and her choice of conversation was just as predictable as the heartbeat in your chest in which she too controlled.”
― Karl Kristian Flores, The Goodbye Song

“It is perhaps symbolic of power, Anand mused, that nervousness trails confidence like a shadow. You do something that you think is right, but the very next moment you are no longer sure. A host of critics assail you at once.
They believe that you can't do anything right anyway, whatever you do. You end up with more doubts. Until you lose your sensitivity and persuade yourself that you're always right, whatever you do.”
― P.V. Narasimha Rao

“My friend Jenny said once that I have a calming presence. Maybe it's because I am so quiet. Dogs and cats always seem relaxed around me. Even the crazy ones. I don't know. I'm a pretty nervous guy on the inside. I think Jenny only talks to me because we work together. It's not like we hang out after work. Most of my life I've had a small group of friends. People make me nervous. They take a lot out of me.”
― Charles Forsman, Celebrated Summer

“I seriously doubt that the smile is our species’s “happy” face, as is often stated in books about human emotions. Its background is much richer, with meanings other than cheeriness. Depending on the circumstances, the smile can convey nervousness, a need to please, reassurance to anxious others, a welcoming attitude, submission, amusement, attraction, and so on. Are all these feelings captured by calling them “happy”? Our labels grossly simplify emotional displays, like the way we give each emoticon a single meaning. Many of us now use smiley or frowny faces to punctuate text messages, which suggests that language by itself is not as effective as advertised. We feel the need to add nonverbal cues to prevent a peace offer from being mistaken for an act of revenge, or a joke from being taken as an insult. Emoticons and words are poor substitutes for the body itself, though: through gaze direction, expressions, tone of voice, posture, pupil dilation, and gestures, the body is much better than
language at communicating a wide range of meanings.”
― Frans de Waal, Mama's Last Hug: Animal Emotions and What They Tell Us about Ourselves

“Do not be proud of the fact that your grandmother was shocked at something which you are accustomed to seeing or hearing without being shocked. There are two meanings of the word "nervous," and it is not even a physical superiority to be actually without nerves. It may mean that your grandmother was an extremely lively and vital animal, and that you are a paralytic.”
― G.K. Chesterton, Selected Essays

“There is more to stuttering than the mere repetition of words and phrases. And more to anxiety than just being nervous.”
― Michael Bassey Johnson, Stamerenophobia

“Being nervous. Having anxiety. Stuttering. Autism. When you have any of those, at some point, you're forced to spend most of your time alone.”
― Michael Bassey Johnson, Stamerenophobia

“My husband is nervous about a lot of things down here, like the monstrous size of the fire ants and the quality of the gasoline, because half the time the gas stations are out, the nozzles bundled up in black garbage bags, or the credit card readers don't work or the attendant is a shirtless man with a hip flask tucked into the waistband of his shorts. I keep trying to explain that this is a place with its own laws.”
― Laura van den Berg, State of Paradise

“Eider's belly tightened in nervousness or excitement. Sometimes they felt very similar.”
― Kirsten Hubbard, Race the Night