David D. Burns famous quotes

03-25-2025

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

#Mistake #Acceptance #People
After all, this is how you learned how to walk. You didn't just jump up from your crib one day and waltz gracefully across the room. You stumbled and fell on your face and got up and tried again. At what age are you suddenly expected to know everything and never make any more mistakes? If you can love and respect yourself in failure, worlds of adventure and new experiences will open up before you, and your fears will vanish.
-- David D. Burns

#Love #Mistake #Adventure
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. Burns

#Depression #Trying #Negative
Confronting your fears and allowing yourself the right to be human can, paradoxically, make you a far happier and more productive person.
-- David D. Burns

#Fear #Humans #Persons
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.
-- David D. Burns

#Anxiety #Nuisance #Uptight
Cognitive therapy is based on the idea that when you change the way you think, you can change the way you feel and behave. In other words, if we can learn to think about other people in a more positive and realistic way, it will be far easier to resolve conflicts and develop rewarding personal and professional relationships.
-- David D. Burns

#Thinking #Ideas #People
Depression has been called the worlds number one public health problem. In fact, depression is so widespread it is considered the common cold of psychiatric disturbances. But there is a grim difference between depression and a cold. Depression can kill you.
-- David D. Burns

#Differences #Numbers #World
A poor self-image is the magnifying glass that can transform a trivial mistake or an imperfection into an overwhelming symbol of personal defeat.
-- David D. Burns

#Mistake #Glasses #Self
Negative thinking patterns can be immensely deceptive and persuasive, and change is rarely easy. But with patience and persistence, I believe that nearly all individuals suffering from depression can improve and experience a sense of joy and self-esteem once again.
-- David D. Burns

#Self Esteem #Believe #Persistence
Powerful new drug-free treatments have been developed for depression and for every conceivable type of anxiety, such as chronic worrying, shyness, public speaking anxiety, test anxiety, phobias, and panic attacks. The goal of the treatment is not just partial improvement but full recovery.
-- David D. Burns

#Powerful #Recovery #Worry
Reaching for the stars, perfectionists may end up clutching air. They suffer from mood disorders, troubled relationships, and stress. They may even achieve less than others.
-- David D. Burns

#Stars #Stress #Air
It can be helpful simply to make a written or mental list of the things you do each day. Then give yourself a mental credit for each of them, however small. This will help you focus on what you have done instead of what you haven't gotten around to do. It may sound simplistic, but it works.
-- David D. Burns

#Giving #Focus #Sound
You feel the way you do right now because of the thoughts you are thinking at this moment.
-- David D. Burns

#Thinking #Way #Moments
That's one of the peculiar things about bad moods - we often fool ourselves and create misery by telling ourselves things that simply are not true.
-- David D. Burns

#Fool #Peculiar #Bad Mood
Kindness is the cause of all anxiety.
-- David D. Burns

#Kindness #Anxiety #Causes
When two people respect each other, the ability to be vulnerable and to reveal hurt feelings can create a powerful emotional connection that is the source of real intimacy and friendship.
-- David D. Burns

#Hurt #Powerful #Real
Perfection' is man's ultimate illusion. It simply doesn't exist in the universe.... If you are a perfectionist, you are guaranteed to be a loser in whatever you do.
-- David D. Burns

#Men #Perfection #Loser
Perfectionism becomes a badge of honor with you playing the part of the suffering hero.
-- David D. Burns

#Hero #Honor #Suffering

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