S K's Key Ideas from How to Stop Worrying and Start Living
by Dale Carnegie

“Our main task is not to see what lies in the vague distance, but only to do what is closest.”

The best possible way to prepare for tomorrow is to concentrate with all your intelligence, with all your enthusiasm, on doing today’s work superbly today. That is the only possible way you can prepare for the future.

“One of the most tragic things I know about human nature is that all of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical rose garden over the horizon – instead of enjoying the roses that are blooming outside our windows today.”

“Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday.”

“The difference between good thinking and bad thinking is this: good thinking deals with causes and effects and leads to logical, constructive planning; bad thinking frequently leads to tension and nervous breakdowns”

"Be willing to have it so. Acceptance of what has happened is the first step to overcoming the consequences of any misfortune."

"When we have accepted the worst, we have nothing more to lose. And that automatically means – we have everything to gain!”

“I keep six honest serving-men, they taught me all I knew. Their names are What and Why and When. And How and Where and Who.”

“Confusion and ambiguity are the main causes for anxiety.”

“A problem well stated is a problem half-solved.”

“Once a decision is carefully reached, act! Get busy carrying out your decision – and dismiss all anxiety of the outcome.”

“If a person will devote their time to securing facts in an impartial, objective way, their worries will usually evaporate in the light of knowledge”

“We only want to know the facts that justify our actions, that fit our wishful thinking and reinforce our prejudices.”

“Everything that is in agreement with our personal desires seems true. Everything that is not puts us into a rage.”

“My life has been full of terrible misfortunes, most of which never happened.”

“As the years went by, I gradually discovered that ninety-nine per cent of the things I worried about never happened.”

“It is claimed that almost all our fears and worries, our unhappiness, are caused by our imagination and have nothing to do with reality.”

“If you spent even half the time you are now wasting on brooding to solve your problems, you would no longer have any. Worrying is just a bad habit.”

“Those who don’t know how to deal with anxiety and worries die earlier.”

“70% of all people that go to the doctor could heal themselves by getting rid of their anxiety and worries.”

“The biggest misconception of all doctors lies in wanting to heal the body without thinking of the spirit. Body and spirit are one and shouldn’t be treated separately.”

“The biggest and most effective healing powers are faith, sleep, music and laughter. Believe in god, learn how to sleep, love good music and see all the odd sides of life – then you will be healthy and happy.”

“The only way to avoid being miserable is not to have enough leisure to wonder whether you are happy or not.”

“Our thoughts make us who we are.”

“I am deeply convinced that our peace of mind and the joy we get out of living depends not on where we are, or what we have, or who we are, but solely on our mental attitude.”

“Our life is what our thoughts make it.”

“You’re not what you think you are, but what you think, you are!”

“Nothing can bring you peace but yourself.”

“We have to think about our problems, but not worry about them. [...] Worrying means recognising where the problem lies and then doing something to sort it out. Worrying means going round in circles in despair and hopelessness.”

“A man is not hurt so much by what happens, as by his opinion of what happens.”

“Action seems to follow feeling, but really action and feeling go together; and by regulating the action, which is under more direct control of the will, we can indirectly regulate the feeling, which is not. Therefore, the ideal and conscious way to cheerfulness - when you have lost it - is to sit calmly and act and speak as if you were already cheerful.”

“Think and act cheerfully, then you will also feel cheerful.”

“If I am faced with a problem and can do something, I do something. If I can't do anything, I just forget about it.”

“There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.”

“When we stop fighting the inevitable, we release energy which enables us to create a richer life”

“There is only one way on God's green earth to benefit from the past - if we objectively analyse the mistakes made, learn from them and then forget them.”

“Of course, you can’t saw sawdust! It’s already sawed! And it’s the same with the past. When you start worrying about things that are over and done with, you’re merely trying to saw sawdust.”

“Did [Jack Dempsey] constantly admonish himself not to ruminate on the past? No, that would only have forced him to think about past problems. Rather, he accepted his defeat, came to terms with it and concentrated on his future.”

“He was so busy with positive things that he had no time or inclination to think about the past.”

“Wise men do not sit idly by and moan about what they have lost, but cheerfully strive to repair the damage.”

“We seldom think of what we have, but always of what we lack.”

“There are two things to aim at in life: first, to get what you want, and after that to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second.”

“When we hate our enemies, we are giving them power over us: power over our sleep, our appetites, our blood pressure, our health, and our happiness”

“When you devote yourself to a cause infinitely greater than yourself, it is a sure way of being able to forgive your enemies and forget them. Insults and hostilities become totally unimportant, because you think only of your great goal and become insensitive to everything else.”

“Gratitude is the fruit of great cultivation; you do not find it among gross people.”

“There is only one way to get love - if any: you have to stop demanding it and start giving love without any hope of getting anything in return."

 “The most important thing in life is not to capitalize on your gains. Any fool can do that. The really important thing is to profit from your losses. That requires intelligence; and it makes the difference between a man of sense and a fool.”

“You can be cured in fourteen days if you follow this prescription. Try to think every day how you can please someone.”

“Never do something you don’t want to do.”

"When you are good to others you are best to yourself."

“Faith is one of the forces by which men live, and the total absence of it means collapse.”

“Do what you think is right in your heart - because you will be criticised anyway. You will be condemned if you do it and if you don't you will also be condemned.”

“Every man is a damn fool for at least five minutes a day. Wisdom consists of not exceeding the limit.”

“One of the chief causes of fatigue is boredom.”

“Our fatigue is often caused not by work, but by worry, frustration and resentment.”

“By talking to yourself every hour of the day, you can direct yourself to think thoughts of courage and happiness, thoughts of power and peace.”

“Don't worry about insomnia. It does far more damage than the actual lack of sleep.”

“A feeling of security is particularly important for healthy sleep.”

“Worries go when the movement comes.”