"Living with depression isn’t something to wish upon anyone. Everyone should have a chance to the live the life they want to live without emotional hurt or constant sadness. Dealing with depression means doing something productive that keeps depression from taking over you. You shouldn’t feel ashamed or embarrassed if you want to improve yourself, but take it as a sign of hope and light from within that you want to see change. It takes hard work, diligence, and persistence to fight depression. To look at things in life in a better light is a battle worth fighting for." – Tanisha Herrin
"If you could only sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to the people you may never even dream of. There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person." — Fred Rogers
“There are wounds that never show on the body that are deeper and more hurtful than anything that bleeds.” ― Laurell K. Hamilton (Author: Mistral’s Kiss)
“When you're surrounded by all these people, it can be lonelier than when you're by yourself. You can be in a huge crowd, but if you don't feel like you can trust anyone or talk to anybody, you feel like you're really alone.” ― Fiona Apple
“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
"The greatest degree of inner tranquility comes from the development of love and compassion. The more we care for the happiness of others, the greater is our own sense of well-being." — Tenzin Gyatso
“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing. That’s why we recommend it daily.” – Zig Ziglar
“If you know someone who’s depressed, please resolve never to ask them why. Depression isn’t a straightforward response to a bad situation; depression just is, like the weather. Try to understand the blackness, lethargy, hopelessness, and loneliness they’re going through. Be there for them when they come through the other side. It’s hard to be a friend to someone who’s depressed, but it is one of the kindest, noblest, and best things you will ever do.” ― Stephen Fry
“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.” ― Ned Vizzini (Author: It’s Kind of a Funny Story)
“Listen to the people who love you. Believe that they are worth living for even when you don't believe it. Seek out the memories depression takes away and project them into the future. Be brave; be strong; take your pills. Exercise because it's good for you even if every step weighs a thousand pounds. Eat when food itself disgusts you. Reason with yourself when you have lost your reason.” ― Andrew Solomon (Author: The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression)
"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." — Susan Polis Schutz
“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
“Killing oneself is, anyway, a misnomer. We don't kill ourselves. We are simply defeated by the long, hard struggle to stay alive. When somebody dies after a long illness, people are apt to say, with a note of approval, "He fought so hard." And they are inclined to think, about a suicide, that no fight was involved, that somebody simply gave up. This is quite wrong.” ― Sally Brampton (Author: Shoot the Damn Dog: A Memoir of Depression)
"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved." — Helen Keller
“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 (Author: Cloud Atlas)
“It’s like someone unplugged you from the socket of feelings.” – Brenda Sue Hagen
"Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them -- every day begin the task anew." - Saint Francis de Sales
“Having depression is like seeing a rainbow in grayscale.” – Hazel Strickland
“If you don't think your anxiety, depression, sadness and stress impact your physical health, think again. All of these emotions trigger chemical reactions in your body, which can lead to inflammation and a weakened immune system. Learn how to cope, sweet friend. There will always be dark days.” – Kris Carr
“We live in a society bloated with data yet starved for wisdom. We're connected 24/7, yet anxiety, fear, depression and loneliness is at an all-time high. We must course-correct.” - Elizabeth Kapu'uwailani Lindsey
“Good humor is a tonic for mind and body. It is the best antidote for anxiety and depression. It is a business asset. It attracts and keeps friends. It lightens human burdens. It is the direct route to serenity and contentment.” - Grenville Kleiser
“I think one thing is that anybody who's had to contend with mental illness - whether it's depression, bipolar illness or severe anxiety, whatever - actually has a fair amount of resilience in the sense that they've had to deal with suffering already, personal suffering.” - Kay Redfield Jamison
“I feel like I’m in the ocean with big waves and small waves, just trying to keep my head above water and not drown – but the waves come and go and I’m alone without a life preserver trying to stay afloat.” – Melissa Cote
“I thought depression was the part of my character that made me worthwhile. I thought do little of myself, felt that I had such scant offerings to give the world, that the one thing that justified ny existence at all was my agony.” – Elizabeth Wurtzel
“Having depression is being in an abusive relationship with yourself.” – Emily Dotterer
“What you believe is very powerful. If you have toxic emotions of fear, guilt and depression, it is because you have wrong thinking, and you have wrong thinking because of wrong believing.” - Joseph Prince
“Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” – John Wooden
“Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.” – Helen Keller
“Here is the tragedy: when you are the victim of depression, not only do you feel utterly helpless and abandoned by the world, you also know that very few people can understand, or even begin to believe, that life can be this painful.” - Giles Andreae
“Never react emotionally to criticism. Analyze yourself to determine whether it is justified. If it is, correct yourself. Otherwise, go on about your business.” – Norman Vincent Peale
“The deepest fear we have, ‘the fear beneath all fears,’ is the fear of not measuring up, the fear of judgment. It’s this fear that creates the stress and depression of everyday life.” - Tullian Tchividjian
“There are far, far better things ahead than anything we leave behind.” – C.S. Lewis
“Often, we ignore the fact that our spiritual condition and psychological state of mind are highly affected by what is happening to us physically. Sometimes depression is simply the result of exhaustion.” - Tony Campolo
“Happiness does not depend upon who you are or what you have. It depends solely upon what you think.” – Dale Carnegie
“Every time you feel depressed about something, try to identify a corresponding negative thought you had just prior to and during the depression. Because these thoughts have actually created your bad mood, by learning to restructure them, you can change your mood.” - David D. Burn
"Yes, I suffer terribly from depression. I have to work at being happy, it’s not my natural instinct. My natural instinct is, if something wonderful happens, to throw water in my own face.” - Fannie Flaggs
“There is no fulfillment in things whatsoever. And I think one of the reasons that depression reigns supreme amongst the rich and famous is some of them thought that maybe those things would bring them happiness. But what, in fact, does is having a cause, having a passion. And that’s really what gives life’s true meaning.” - Benjamin Carson