The Curse of Worry

This monster dogs us from the cradle to the grave. There is no occasion so sacred but it is there. Unbidden it comes to the wedding and the funeral alike. It is at every reception, every banquet; it occupies a seat at every table.

This monster follows us from the cradle to the grave. No occasion is too sacred for it to appear. It comes uninvited to weddings and funerals alike. It is at every reception and every banquet. It has a seat at every table.

No human intellect can estimate the unutterable havoc and ruin wrought by worry. It has ever forced genius to do the work of mediocrity; it has caused more failures, more broken hearts, more blasted hopes, than any other one cause since the dawn of the world.

No human mind can measure the unspeakable damage and ruin caused by worry. It has always forced geniuses to perform like ordinary people. Since the beginning of the world, worry has caused more failures, broken hearts, and shattered hopes than any other single cause.

Did you ever hear of any good coming to any human being from worry? Did it ever help anybody to better his condition? Does it not always—everywhere—do just the opposite by impairing the health, exhausting the vitality, lessening efficiency?

Have you ever heard of worry doing anyone any good? Has it ever helped anyone improve their situation? Doesn't worry always do just the opposite, everywhere, by harming health, draining energy, and reducing efficiency?

What have not men done under the pressure of worry! They have plunged into all sorts of vice; have become drunkards, drug fiends; have sold their very souls in their efforts to escape this monster.

What haven't men done under the pressure of worry! They have turned to all sorts of vice and become alcoholics and drug addicts. They have sold their very souls trying to escape this monster.

Think of the homes which it has broken up; the ambitions it has ruined; the hopes and prospects it has blighted! Think of the suicide victims of this demon! If there is any devil in existence, is it not worry, with all its attendant progeny of evils?

Think of the homes worry has broken up, the ambitions it has ruined, and the hopes and prospects it has destroyed! Think of the people driven to suicide by this demon! If any devil exists, isn't it worry, with all the evils it brings?

Yet, in spite of all the tragic evils that follow in its wake, a visitor from another world would get the impression that worry is one of our dearest, most helpful friends, so closely do we hug it to ourselves and so loath are we to part from it.

Yet despite all the tragic harm worry causes, a visitor from another world might think it was one of our dearest and most helpful friends. We hold worry so close and are so unwilling to let it go.

Is it not unaccountable that people who know perfectly well that success and happiness both depend on keeping themselves in condition to get the most possible out of their energies should harbor in their minds the enemy of this very success and happiness? Is it not strange that they should form this habit of anticipating evils that will probably never come, when they know that anxiety and fretting will not only rob them of peace of mind and strength and ability to do their work, but also of precious years of life?

Isn't it baffling that people allow an enemy of success and happiness to occupy their minds? They know perfectly well that both depend on staying in shape to make the most of their energy. Isn't it strange that they develop the habit of expecting troubles that will probably never come? They know that anxiety and worry rob them of peace of mind, strength, and the ability to work. They also rob them of precious years of life.

No man can utilize his normal power who dissipates his nervous energy in useless anxiety. Nothing will sap one's vitality and blight one's ambition or detract from one's real power in the world more than the worrying habit.

No one can use their full natural power if they waste their nervous energy on needless anxiety. Nothing drains vitality, destroys ambition, or diminishes one's real power in the world more than the habit of worrying.

Work kills no one, but worry has killed vast multitudes. It is not the doing things which injures us so much as the dreading to do them—not only performing them mentally over and over again, but anticipating something disagreeable in their performance.

Work kills no one, but worry has killed countless people. Doing things hurts us less than dreading them. We not only do them over and over in our minds, but also expect something unpleasant to happen while doing them.

Many of us approach an unpleasant task in much the same condition as a runner who begins his start such a long distance away that by the time he reaches his objective point—the ditch or the stream which is to test his agility—he is too exhausted to jump across. Worry not only saps vitality and wastes energy, but it also seriously affects the quality of one's work. It cuts down ability. A man can not get the highest quality of efficiency into his work when his mind is troubled. The mental faculties must have perfect freedom before they will give out their best. A troubled brain can not think clearly, vigorously, and logically. The attention can not be concentrated with anything like the same force when the brain cells are poisoned with anxiety as when they are fed by pure blood and are clean and unclouded. The blood of chronic worriers is vitiated with poisonous chemical substances and broken-down tissues, according to Professor Elmer Gates and other noted scientists, who have shown that the passions and the harmful emotions cause actual chemical changes in the secretions and generate poisonous substances in the body which are fatal to healthy growth and action.

Many of us approach an unpleasant task like a runner who starts too far back. By the time the runner reaches the ditch or stream that will test his agility, he is too exhausted to jump across. Worry not only drains vitality and wastes energy, but also seriously affects the quality of our work. It reduces our ability. A person cannot work at peak efficiency when his mind is troubled. Our mental faculties must be completely free to do their best. A troubled mind cannot think clearly, vigorously, and logically. We cannot concentrate with nearly the same force when anxiety poisons our brain cells as when pure blood feeds them and keeps them clean and clear. According to Professor Elmer Gates and other noted scientists, the blood of chronic worriers is contaminated by poisonous chemicals and broken-down tissues. These scientists have shown that passions and harmful emotions cause actual chemical changes in bodily secretions. They also generate poisonous substances in the body that are fatal to healthy growth and activity.

One of the worst forms of worry is the brooding over failure. It blights the ambition, deadens the purpose and defeats the very object the worrier has in view.

One of the worst forms of worry is dwelling on failure. It weakens ambition, dulls determination, and defeats the very goal the worrier wants to achieve.

Some people have the unfortunate habit of brooding over their past lives, castigating themselves for their shortcomings and mistakes, until their whole vision is turned backward instead of forward, and they see everything in a distorted light, because they are looking only on the shadow side.

Some people have the unfortunate habit of dwelling on their past lives and blaming themselves for their faults and mistakes. They do this until they look entirely backward instead of forward. As a result, they see everything in a distorted light because they look only at the dark side.

The longer the unfortunate picture which has caused trouble remains in the mind, the more thoroughly it becomes imbedded there, and the more difficult it is to remove it.

The longer a troubling image stays in your mind, the more deeply it takes root and the harder it is to remove.

Are we not convinced that a power beyond our control runs the universe, that every moment of worry detracts from our success capital and makes our failure more probable; that every bit of anxiety and fretfulness leaves its mark on the body, interrupts the harmony of our physical and mental well-being, and cripples efficiency, and that this condition is at war with our highest endeavor?

Aren't we convinced that a power beyond our control governs the universe? Don't we see that every moment of worry uses up resources we need for success and makes failure more likely? Every bit of anxiety and fretting leaves its mark on the body. It also disrupts our physical and mental well-being and weakens our efficiency. Doesn't this anxious condition work against our highest efforts?

Is it not strange that people will persist in allowing little worries, petty vexations, and unnecessary frictions to grind life away at such a fearful rate that old age stares them in the face in middle life? Look at the women who are shriveled and shrunken and aged at thirty, not because of the hard work they have done, or the real troubles they have had, but because of habitual fretting, which has helped nobody, but has brought discord and unhappiness to their homes.

Isn't it strange that people keep letting little worries, petty annoyances, and needless conflicts wear them down so quickly? By middle age, they are already facing old age. Look at the women who are shriveled, shrunken, and old at thirty. This is not because of hard work or real troubles, but because they worry constantly. Their worrying has helped no one, but it has brought conflict and unhappiness to their homes.

Somewhere I read of a worrying woman who made a list of possible unfortunate events and happenings which she felt sure would come to pass and be disastrous to her happiness and welfare. The list was lost, and to her amazement, when she recovered it, a long time afterwards, she found that not a single unfortunate prediction in the whole catalogue of disasters had been realized.

Somewhere I read about a woman who worried about everything. She made a list of misfortunes she felt sure would happen and ruin her happiness and well-being. She lost the list and found it again a long time later. To her amazement, not one of the disasters she had predicted had happened.

Is not this a good suggestion for worriers? Write down everything which you think is going to turn out badly, and then put the list aside. You will be surprised to see what a small percentage of the doleful things ever come to pass.

Isn't this a good suggestion for worriers? Write down everything you think will turn out badly, then put the list aside. You'll be surprised by how few of those gloomy predictions ever come true.

It is a pitiable thing to see vigorous men and women, who have inherited godlike qualities and who bear the impress of divinity, wearing anxious faces and filled with all sorts of fear and uncertainty, worrying about yesterday, to-day, to-morrow—everything imaginable.

It is sad to see strong men and women with anxious faces, filled with all kinds of fear and uncertainty. They have inherited godlike qualities and bear the mark of divinity. Yet they worry about yesterday, today, tomorrow, and everything imaginable.

"Fear runs like a baleful thread through the whole web of life from beginning to end," says Dr. Holcomb. "We are born into the atmosphere of fear and dread, and the mother who bore us had lived in the same atmosphere for weeks and months before we were born. We are afraid of our parents, afraid of our teachers, afraid of our playmates, afraid of ghosts, afraid of rules and regulations and punishments, afraid of the doctor, the dentist, the surgeon. Our adult life is a state of chronic anxiety, which is fear in a milder form. We are afraid of failure in business, afraid of disappointments and mistakes, afraid of enemies, open or concealed; afraid of poverty, afraid of public opinion, afraid of accidents, of sickness, of death, and unhappiness after death. Man is like a haunted animal from the cradle to the grave, the victim of real or imaginary fears, not only his own, but those reflected upon him from the superstitions, self-deceptions, sensory illusions, false beliefs, and concrete errors of the whole human race, past and present."

“Fear runs like a harmful thread through the whole fabric of life, from beginning to end,” says Dr. Holcomb. “We are born into an atmosphere of fear and dread. The mother who bore us lived in that same atmosphere for weeks and months before we were born. We are afraid of our parents, teachers, playmates, and ghosts. We are afraid of rules, regulations, and punishments. We are afraid of the doctor, the dentist, and the surgeon. Our adult life is a state of constant anxiety, which is a milder form of fear. We are afraid of failure in business, disappointments, mistakes, and enemies, whether open or hidden. We are afraid of poverty, public opinion, accidents, sickness, death, and unhappiness after death. From the cradle to the grave, a person is like a haunted animal. Each person is a victim of real or imaginary fears. These include not only personal fears, but also fears passed on from the whole human race, past and present. These fears come from its superstitions, self-deceptions, illusions of the senses, false beliefs, and definite errors.”

Most of us are foolish children, afraid of our shadows, so handicapped in a thousand ways that we can not get efficiency into our life work.

Most of us are foolish children, afraid of our own shadows. We are held back in countless ways, so we cannot work effectively.

A man who is filled with fear is not a real man. He is a puppet, a mannikin, an apology of a man.

A man filled with fear is not a real man. He is a puppet, a dummy, a poor excuse for a man.

Quit fearing things that may never happen, just as you would quit any bad practise which has caused you suffering. Fill your mind with courage, hope, and confidence.

Stop fearing things that may never happen, just as you would stop any bad habit that has caused you suffering. Fill your mind with courage, hope, and confidence.

Do not wait until fear thoughts become intrenched in your mind and your imagination. Do not dwell upon them. Apply the antidote instantly, and the enemies will flee. There is no fear so great or intrenched so deeply in the mind that it can not be neutralized or entirely eradicated by its opposite. The opposite suggestion will kill it.

Do not wait until fearful thoughts take root in your mind and imagination. Do not dwell on them. Apply the antidote immediately, and the enemies will flee. No fear is too great or too deeply rooted in the mind to be neutralized or completely erased by its opposite. The opposite thought will kill it.

Once Dr. Chalmers was riding on a stage-coach beside the driver, and he noticed that John kept hitting the off leader a severe crack with his whip. When he asked him why he did this, John answered: "Away yonder there is a white stone; that off leader is afraid of that stone; so by the crack of my whip and the pain in his legs I want to get his mind off from it." Dr. Chalmers went home, elaborated the idea, and wrote "The Expulsive Power of a New Affection." You must drive out fear by putting a new idea into the mind.

Once, Dr. Chalmers was riding on a stagecoach beside the driver. He noticed that John kept striking the right-hand lead horse hard with his whip. When Dr. Chalmers asked why, John answered: "There is a white stone up ahead. That horse is afraid of it. So I want to take his mind off it with the crack of my whip and the pain in his legs." Dr. Chalmers went home, developed the idea, and wrote "The Expulsive Power of a New Affection." You must drive out fear by putting a new idea into the mind.

Fear, in any of its expressions, like worry or anxiety, can not live an instant in your mind in the presence of the opposite thought, the image of courage, fearlessness, confidence, hope, self-assurance, self-reliance. Fear is a consciousness of weakness. It is only when you doubt your ability to cope with the thing you dread that fear is possible. Fear of disease, even, comes from a consciousness that you will not be able to successfully combat it.

Fear, including worry or anxiety, cannot remain in your mind for a moment alongside an opposite thought. Such thoughts include courage, fearlessness, confidence, hope, self-assurance, and self-reliance. Fear is an awareness of weakness. Fear is possible only when you doubt your ability to deal with what you dread. Even fear of disease comes from knowing that you will not be able to fight it successfully.

During an epidemic of a dreaded contagious disease, people who are especially susceptible and full of fear become panic-stricken through the cumulative effect of hearing the subject talked about and discussed on every hand and the vivid pictures which come from reading the newspapers. Their minds (as in the case of yellow fever) become full of images of the disease, of its symptoms—black vomit, delirium,—and of death, mourning, and funerals.

During an epidemic of a feared contagious disease, people who are especially susceptible and fearful can become panicked. They hear the disease discussed everywhere and read vivid accounts in the newspapers. The combined effect fills their minds with images of the disease and its symptoms. In the case of yellow fever, these symptoms include black vomit and delirium. Their minds also fill with images of death, mourning, and funerals.

If you never accomplish anything else in life, get rid of worry. There are no greater enemies of harmony than little anxieties and petty cares. Do not flies aggravate a nervous horse more than his work? Do not little naggings, constantly touching him with the whip, or jerking at the reins, fret and worry him much more than the labor of drawing the carriage?

If you never accomplish anything else in life, get rid of worry. Nothing disrupts harmony more than little anxieties and petty cares. Don’t flies bother a nervous horse more than his work does? Don’t constant little irritations, like taps with the whip or jerks on the reins, bother him more than pulling the carriage?

It is the little pin-pricks, the petty annoyances of our everyday life, that mar our comfort and happiness and rob us of more strength than the great troubles which we nerve ourselves to meet. It is the perpetual scolding and fault-finding of an irritable man or woman which ruins the entire peace and happiness of many a home.

The little irritations and petty annoyances of everyday life spoil our comfort and happiness. They drain more of our strength than the great troubles we brace ourselves to face. The constant scolding and fault-finding of an irritable person destroy all the peace and happiness in many homes.

The most deplorable waste of energy in human life is caused by the fatal habit of anticipating evil, of fearing what the future has in store for us, and under no circumstances can the fear or worry be justified by the situation, for it is always an imaginary one, utterly groundless and without foundation.

The most terrible waste of energy in human life comes from the fatal habit of expecting bad things and fearing what the future holds. Fear or worry is never justified by the situation, because the situation is always imaginary and completely groundless.

What we fear is invariably something that has not yet happened. It does not exist; hence is not a reality. If you are actually suffering from a disease you have feared, then fear only aggravates every painful feature of your illness and makes its fatal issue more probable.

What we fear is always something that has not yet happened. It does not exist, so it is not real. If you are suffering from a disease you feared, fear only makes every painful symptom worse. It also makes a fatal outcome more likely.

The fear habit shortens life, for it impairs all the physiological processes. Its power is shown by the fact that it actually changes the chemical composition of the secretions of the body. Fear victims not only age prematurely but they also die prematurely. All work done when one is suffering from a sense of fear or foreboding has little efficiency. Fear strangles originality, daring, boldness; it kills individuality, and weakens all the mental processes. Great things are never done under a sense of fear of some impending danger. Fear always indicates weakness, the presence of cowardice. What a slaughterer of years, what a sacrificer of happiness and ambitions, what a miner of careers this monster has been! The Bible says, "A broken spirit drieth the bones." It is well known that mental depression—melancholy—will check very materially the glandular secretions of the body and literally dry up the tissues.

The habit of fear shortens life because it impairs all the body’s processes. Its power is clear: it actually changes the chemical composition of the body’s secretions. People who suffer from fear not only age prematurely but also die prematurely. Work done under a sense of fear or foreboding is not very effective. Fear strangles originality, daring, and boldness. It kills individuality and weakens all mental processes. Great things are never done under the fear of impending danger. Fear always indicates weakness and cowardice. What a destroyer of years, happiness, ambitions, and careers this monster has been! The Bible says, "A broken spirit drieth the bones." It is well known that mental depression, or melancholy, greatly reduces the secretions of the body’s glands and literally dries up the tissues.

Fear depresses normal mental action, and renders one incapable of acting wisely in an emergency, for no one can think clearly and act wisely when paralyzed by fear.

Fear disrupts normal thinking and makes a person incapable of acting wisely in an emergency. No one can think clearly or act wisely when paralyzed by fear.

When a man becomes melancholy and discouraged about his affairs, when he is filled with fear that he is going to fail, and is haunted by the specter of poverty and a suffering family, before he realizes it, he attracts the very thing he dreads, and the prosperity is crushed out of his business. But he is a mental failure first.

When a man becomes unhappy and discouraged about his affairs, he may fear that he will fail. He may be haunted by the prospect of poverty and a suffering family. Before he realizes it, he attracts the very thing he fears, and his business loses its prosperity. But he is a mental failure first.

If, instead of giving up to his fear, a man would persist in keeping prosperity in his mind, assume a hopeful, optimistic attitude, and would conduct his business in a systematic, economical, far-sighted manner, actual failure would be comparatively rare. But when a man becomes discouraged, when he loses heart and grip, and becomes panic-stricken and a victim of worry, he is not in a position to make the effort which is absolutely necessary to bring victory, and there is a shrinkage all along the line.

If a man, instead of giving in to fear, would keep prosperity in mind, stay hopeful and optimistic, and run his business systematically, economically, and with foresight, actual failure would be relatively rare. But when a man becomes discouraged, loses heart and control, panics, and falls victim to worry, he cannot make the effort absolutely necessary to succeed. As a result, everything suffers.

There is not a single redeeming feature about worry or any of its numerous progeny. It is always, everywhere, an unmitigated curse. Although there is no reality in fear, no truth behind it, yet everywhere we see people who are slaves to this monster of the imagination.

There is nothing good about worry or any of the many troubles it produces. Worry is always and everywhere an absolute curse. Although fear has no reality and no truth behind it, we see people everywhere who are slaves to this monster of the imagination.