We all struggle with our mental health from time to time. In fact, nearly one in four adults in the U.S. are living with a mental health condition. The first step in improving your mental health is asking for help or talking about your feelings with a trusted friend, family member or mental health professional. The most important thing to know when embarking on your mental health journey is that you are never alone. There will be ups and downs, but never give up; better days will come.
As a society, we have made great strides in acknowledging mental health and reducing the stigma surrounding mental illness, but there is still work to do. Talking about mental health is one of the most powerful things we can do to crush the stigma surrounding mental illness.
Whether you’re struggling or well on your way to healing, prioritizing mental health is essential to living a good life. Striving for inner peace can help you achieve optimal health—both mentally and physically. Here are 75 mental health quotes to help guide you on your healing journey and lift you up when you’re feeling low.
Positive Mental Health Quotes
We all experience negative thoughts and feelings—it’s part of being human. Sometimes, finding our way back to a healthy mindset can feel overwhelming and difficult. Let these positive mental wellness quotes be the boost you need when you’re having trouble finding the light.
- “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, Return to Tipasa
- “I’m not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.” —Louisa May Alcott, Little Women
- “You don’t have to be positive all the time. It’s perfectly OK to feel sad, angry, annoyed, frustrated, scared or anxious. Having feelings doesn’t make you a negative person. It makes you human.” —Lori Deschene
- “Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.” —J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
- “Nothing can dim the light which shines from within.” —Maya Angelou
- “Finish every day and be done with it…. You have done what you could—some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in. Forget them as fast as you can; tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it well and serenely, and with too high a spirit to be cumbered with your old nonsense.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson
- “There is hope, even when your brain tells you there isn’t.” —John Green, Turtles All the Way Down
- “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” —Martin Luther King, Jr.
- “What if you moved through the world as if you were easy to be loved? Because I promise you, you are easy to love.” —Sonalee Rashatwar
- “You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” —Carter Crocker
Related: How to Improve Your Mental Health: 9 Keys To Your Well-Being
Mental Health Awareness Quotes
Mental health awareness and advocating against social stigma are crucial for improving the lives of those with mental illness. May is Mental Health Awareness Month and Oct. 10 is World Mental Health Day. Both are crucial times to advocate for those who are struggling. These mental health awareness quotes demonstrate the importance of recognizing mental illness, speaking out and seeking help when it’s needed.
- “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
- “There is hope. There is treatment. You are not alone, and while I know the struggle feels at times completely hopeless and futile, there is a far shore for the vast majority of people, and I wish you the best.” —John Green
- “Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting and less scary.” —Fred Rogers
- “The next generation must grow up knowing that mental health is a key component of overall health and there is no shame, stigma or barriers to seeking out care.” —Hillary Clinton Campaign
- “Mental health is not a dirty word—we all have mental health like we do physical health, good or ill.” —Prince William
- “If you break your leg, you’re going to go to the doctor to get that leg healed. If… something inside you feels like it’s wounded, it’s just like a physical injury. You’ve got to go get help. There’s nothing weak about that. It’s strong.” —Former President Barack Obama
- “There are wounds that never show on the body that are deeper and more hurtful than anything that bleeds.” —Laurell K. Hamilton, Mistral’s Kiss
- “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
- “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 live well with a mental health condition, as long as you open up to somebody about it… share your experience with people so that you can get the help that you need.” —Demi Lovato
- “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
Related: Mental Health First Aid: The Critical Skill Set Every Workplace Needs
Inspirational Quotes About Mental Health
Confronting your mental health struggles can feel lonely and daunting. Only you can do the work needed to get to a healthier place, but you don’t have to do it alone. Let these quotes inspire you to keep going when things get tough.
- “Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.” —Kahlil Gibran
- “It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.” —Aristotle Onassis
- “You can’t go back and make a new start, but you can start right now and make a brand new ending.” —James R. Sherman
- “When we deny our stories, they define us. When we own our stories, we get to write a brave new ending.” —Brené Brown
- “My dark days made me strong. Or maybe I already was strong, and they made me prove it.” —Emery Lord, When We Collided
- “Mental health… is not a destination but a process. It’s about how you drive, not where you’re going.” —Noam Shpancer, The Good Psychologist
- “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
- “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
- “The best thing you could do is master the chaos in you. You are not thrown into the fire, you are the fire.” —Mama Indigo
- “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
Celebrity Mental Health Quotes
More and more celebrities open up about their mental health battles every day. This just goes to show that mental illness does not discriminate, and no one is immune. Celebrities share wisdom gained from their mental health struggles in these celebrity mental health quotes.
- “Be kind to yourself; be kind to others. Have courage and talk about it. There’s a lot of love out there for you.” —Ellie Goulding
- “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
- “We all have our struggles and fears, but no one should fight them alone. Let’s remember to be kind to each other, there for each other and ask for the help we need because everyone deserves to live free, happy and healthy.” —Sterling K. Brown
- “What mental health needs is more sunlight, more candor and more unashamed conversation.” —Glenn Close
- “You are allowed to be both a masterpiece and a work in progress simultaneously.” —Sophia Bush
- “Asking for help is the first step. You are more precious to this world than you’ll ever know.” —Lili Reinhart
- “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
- “I found that with depression, one of the most important things you could realize is that you’re not alone. You’re not the first to go through it; you’re not going to be the last to go through it.” —Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
- “I still struggle with it but just remember every day that everyone deals with some level of anxiety or pressure. We’re all in it together.” —Shawn Mendes
- “Getting a psychiatrist was the best thing I ever did for myself. Don’t let anyone shame you into not getting help” —Rachel Bloom
Motivational Sayings to Support Mental Wellness
No matter where you are on your mental health journey, you’re never quite finished—mental wellness doesn’t have a destination. Let these quotes motivate you to be yourself, love yourself and strive for mental wellness daily.
- “You can live well with a mental illness. It may take time, but it’s worth it. You deserve to live a happy and healthy life.” —Demi Lovato
- “You don’t have to control your thoughts. You just have to stop letting them control you.” —Dan Millman
- “The curious paradox is that when I accept myself just as I am, then I can change.” —Carl Rogers
- “Self-compassion is simply giving the same kindness to ourselves that we would give to others.” —Christopher Germer
- “Your present circumstances don’t determine where you go; they merely determine where you start.” —Nido Qubein
- “Your mental health is everything—prioritize it. Make the time like your life depends on it, because it does.” —Mel Robbins
- “No need to hurry, no need to sparkle, no need to be anybody but oneself.” —Virginia Woolf, A Room of One’s Own
- “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
- “You just have to trust that people are out there waiting to love you and celebrate you for who you are. In the meantime… you might have to be your own best friend… so start the work of loving yourself.” —Wentworth Miller
- “Judge each day not by the harvest you reap but by the seeds you plant.” —William A. Ward
Short Mental Health Quotes
These bite-sized mental wellness quotes make the perfect mantra or daily affirmation. What these short mental health quotes lack in size, they make up for in wisdom and positivity.
- “He knows not his own strength who hath not met adversity.” —William Samuel Johnson
- “To heal is to touch with love that which we previously touched with fear.” —Stephen Levine
- “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” —Frederick Douglass
- “Enlightenment is when the wave realizes that it is the ocean.” —Thich Nhat Hanh
- “Self-care is how to take your power back.” —Lalah Delia
- “There is a crack, a crack in everything; that’s how the light gets in.” —Leonard Cohen
- “Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves.” —Henry David Thoreau
- “The best way out is always through.” —Robert Frost
- “Our wounds are often the openings into the best and most beautiful part of us.” —David Richo
- “Not all battles are visible, and neither are the victories.” —Brittany Burgunder
- “You know what they say—when you’re going through hell, for Pete’s sake, don’t stop.” Linda Crew, Ordinary Miracles
- “This feeling will pass. The fear is real but the danger is not.” ―Cammie McGovern
- “Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.” —Unattributed
Uplifting Sayings to Encourage Better Mental Health
No one is immune to occasional mental health struggles. Strengthen your mental health muscles by practicing self-care and self-love every day. These uplifting mental health quotes are the motivation you need.
- “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
- “You have power over your mind—not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” —Marcus Aurelius
- “We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace within ourselves.” —Dalai Lama
- “Healing takes courage, and we all have courage, even if we have to dig a little to find it.” —Tori Amos
- “It’s not selfish to love yourself, take care of yourself, and make your happiness a priority. It’s necessary.” —Mandy Hale
- “Life gets better when health becomes your first priority.” —Maxime Lagacé
- “I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.” —Jimmy Dean
- “When you take care of yourself, you’re a better person for others. When you feel good about yourself, you treat others better.” —Solange Knowles
- “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
- “Your mental health is a priority. Your happiness is an essential. Your self-care is a necessity.” —Melody Beattie
- “Being able to be your true self is one of the strongest components of good mental health.” —Lauren Fogel Mersy
- “Increasing the strength of our minds is the only way to reduce the difficulty of life.” —Mokokoma Mokhonoana
Continue On Your Mental Health Journey
This collection of inspiring and motivational mental health quotes is a testament to the fact that people from all walks of life deal with mental health struggles every day. Don’t let feelings of isolation or fear of stigma stop you from telling your story or asking for help. Let these mental health awareness quotes inspire you to advocate for yourself and others who are in the midst of mental health struggles, and always know that you are not alone.
Words are powerful tools for healing. Share these uplifting sayings about mental health with family, friends and colleagues to spread mental health awareness and help someone who may be struggling.
