These are anxious times – be it as a consequence of American presidential politics, or threats to our democracy, or the suffering begun on October 7 and continuing in the Gaza Strip, Israel and the West Bank, or in Russia’s war against Ukraine, or whatever each of us is experiencing personally. Anxiety can be suffocating. Hopefully, each of us has ways to relieve the tension that builds up from the sense of powerlessness of which anxiety and fear are the consequence. Strategies can include turning off the news, exercising, listening to music, binging on TV series’ re-runs and old films, eating chocolate and ice cream.

Over the past 30 years, I’ve collected wise quotations from Jewish and world literature on every imaginable theme. I checked today the theme of “anxiety and fear” and found following. I hope at least one or two help bring you a measure of calm and/or inspiration.  

“The only thing we have to fear is fear itself – nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.” —President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945)

“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’” —Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962)

“There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.” —Epictetus (1^st-2^nd Century AD Greek Stoic philosopher)

“Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength.” —Charles Spurgeon (19^th century English Baptist Preacher)

“Nothing diminishes anxiety faster than action.” —Walter Anderson (20^th century American painter and writer)

“You cannot always control what goes on outside, but you can always control what goes on inside.” —Wayne Dyer (20^th-21^st century American author)

“Life is ten percent what you experience and 90 percent how you respond to it.” —Dorothy M. Neddermeyer (20^th-21^st century psychotherapist)

“Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

“Calm mind brings inner strength and self-confidence, so that’s very important for good health.” —Dalai Lama (1935- )

“There are moments when all anxiety and stated toil are becalmed in the infinite leisure and repose of nature.” —Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

 “What else does anxiety about the future bring you but sorrow upon sorrow?” —Thomas á Kempis (14^th-15^th century Dutch-German author)

“Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.” —Pastor Reinhold Niebuhr (20^th century American Ethicist)

“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.” —Maya Angelou (1928-2014)

“America must not become a nation of onlookers. America must not remain silent. Not merely black America, but all of America. It must speak up and act … for the sake of the image, the idea and the aspiration of America itself… When I was the rabbi of the Jewish community in Berlin under the Hitler regime, I learned … under those tragic circumstances that bigotry and hatred is not the most urgent problem. The most urgent, the most disgraceful, the most shameful, and the most tragic problem is silence.” —Rabbi Joachim Prinz (1902-1988; words spoken on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, 1963 March on Washington)

“Despair is not an option.” —Yaron Shavit, Deputy Chairman of the Executive of the Jewish Agency for Israel, President of the 38^th World Zionist Congress  

“Get in good trouble, necessary trouble…Do not get lost in a sea of despair.” —Congressman John Lewis (1940-2020)

“The world is a very narrow bridge; the important thing is not to be afraid.” —Rabbi Nachman of Breslov (Ukraine, 1772-1810)