117 Quotes by David D. Burns

Practically everybody knows what its like to feel anxious, worried, nervous, afraid, uptight, or panicky. Often, anxiety is just a nuisance, but sometimes it can cripple you and prevent you from doing what you really want with your life. But I have some great news for you: You can change the way you feel.

Confronting your fears and allowing yourself the right to be human can, paradoxically, make you a far happier and more productive person.

What sentence will you choose to impose on yourself? Are you willing to stop suffering and making yourself miserable when your sentence has expired? This would at least be a responsible way to punish yourself because it would be time-limited.

Can you predict the future with absolute certainty? Your answer must be no. You have two options: You can either decide to accept yourself as an imperfect human being with limited knowledge and realize that you will at times make mistakes, or you can hate yourself for it.

Assert your right to make a few mistakes. If people can't accept your imperfections, that's their fault.

We're staying in town tonight, where should we go party? ... We haven't had a break in so long.

It is a weird experience being in a cafeteria with everyone. But let's have fun!

Be funny, be daring, and be as creative as possible, ... Embarrassment is only in your minds; it's not really happening.

Self-esteem can be defined as the state that exists when you are not arbitrarily haranguing and abusing yourself but choose to fight back against those automatic thoughts with meaningful rational responses.