Small minds are much distressed¹ by little things. Great minds see them all but are not upset by them.

Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613 - 1680)

If you ask what is the single most important key to longevity², I would have to say it is avoiding worry, stress and tension. And if you didn't ask me, I'd still have to say it.

George Burns (1896 - 1996)

I deal with stress in two ways because there are two kinds of stress. There's stress that you can take care of and there's stress that you can't. The first one, I take care of it as fast as possible, because putting it off always makes it worse. Things that I can't fix? I think about the fact that I can't fix them. I think about why I can't fix them and I come to terms with the fact that this is a problem that I'm not going to overcome and that the world is not a wish granting factory.

Hank Green, Vlogbrothers, Raw Onion, Twerking, and Speech Jam, 08-30-13

Reality is the leading cause of stress amongst those in touch with it.

Jane Wagner, (and Lily Tomlin)

If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke³ at any moment.

Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121 AD - 180 AD)

It is how people respond to stress that determines whether they will profit from misfortune or be miserable⁴.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Flow: The Psychology⁵ of Optimal⁶ Experience, 1990

Stress is an ignorant state. It believes that everything is an emergency. Nothing is that important.

Natalie Goldberg

Before you agree to do anything that might add even the smallest amount of stress to your life, ask yourself: What is my truest intention? Give yourself time to let a yes resound⁷ within you. When it's right, I guarantee that your entire body will feel it.

Oprah Winfrey (1954 - )

Throw out an alarming alarm clock. If the ring is loud and strident, you're waking up to instant stress. You shouldn't be bullied⁸ out of bed, just reminded that it's time to start your day.

Sharon Gold

If you had to define stress, it would not be far off if you said it was the process of living. The process of living is the process of having stress imposed on you and reacting to it.

Stanley J. Sarnoff, Man Under Stress, 1963

Exercise relieves stress. Nothing relieves exercise.

Takayuki Ikkaku, Arisa Hosaka and Toshihiro Kawabata, Animal Crossing: Wild World, 2005