45 Quotes From Influential Men To Help You Connect With Your Emotions
Many may feel that historically, men’s mental health has been—neglected and even ignored—in favor of telling men and boys to “man up.” However, this type of thinking can promote unhealthy patterns of behavior and can lower the quality of life for those affected overall. It can be important for men to learn how to connect with and express themselves.
Sometimes, seeing other men opening up about their feelings can be what motivates them to do the same—especially when it’s done in the context of a constructive, inspirational experience. This article contains a list of 45 different quotes from influential men that may be useful for those seeking to connect with their emotions who identify as male or male-adjacent.
The prevalence of mental health discrepancies in men
An even higher percentage of men (30.6%) are reported to have experienced at least one depressive episode in their lifetime. Details show that men can also have four times the suicide rate as women.
Online therapy, peer support and other supportive strategies can help to lower this number and promote a higher quality of life for all involved.
Quotes about what mental health conditions feel like
Being open about your emotions can feel difficult when you’re experiencing something like a mental health concern. Reading quotes about mental health conditions may feel counterintuitive at first. However, it can be validating to have others put words to what you feel to be your feelings and experiences are.
The following quotes focus on what depression and general mental health struggles feel like on a personal level:
“Mental pain is less dramatic than physical pain, but it is more common and also more hard to bear. The frequent attempt to conceal mental pain increases the burden: It is easier to say ‘My tooth is aching’ than to say ‘My heart is broken”.—C.S. Lewis
“Every act of life, from the morning toothbrush to the friends at dinner, became an effort. I hated the night when I couldn’t sleep, and I hated the day because it went toward night”.—F. Scott Fitzgerald
“People who have never dealt with depression think it’s just being sad or being in a bad mood. That’s not what depression is for me; it’s falling into a state of grayness and numbness”.—Dan Reynolds
“It was against my principles and all, but I was feeling so depressed I didn’t even think. That’s the whole trouble. When you’re feeling very depressed, you can’t even think”.—J.D. Salinger
“I cry a lot. My emotions are very close to my surface. I don’t want to hold anything in so it festers and turns into pus—a pustule of emotion that exploded into a festering cesspool of depression”.—Nicolas Cage
“Well, you know, there’s depression and depression. What I mean by depression in my own case is that depression isn’t just the blues. It’s not just like I have a hangover on the weekend… the girl didn’t show up or something like that. It isn’t that. It’s not really depression; it’s a kind of mental violence which stops you from functioning properly from one moment to the next. You lose something somewhere, and suddenly you’re gripped by a kind of angst of the heart and of the spirit…”.—Leonard Cohen
“Depression is like a bruise that never goes away. A bruise in your mind. You just got to be careful not to touch it where it hurts. It’s always there, though”.—Jeffrey Eugenides
“There comes a time when the blankness of the future is just so extreme; it’s like such a black wall of nothingness. Not of bad things like a cave full of monsters, and so, you’re afraid of entering it. It’s just nothingness, the void, emptiness, and it is just horrible. It’s like contemplating a future-less future, and so you just want to step out of it. The monstrosity of being alive overwhelms you”.—Stephen Fry
“I didn’t want to wake up. I was having a much better time asleep. And that’s really sad. It was almost like a reverse nightmare like when you wake up from a nightmare, you’re so relieved. I woke up into a nightmare”.—Ned Vizzini
“Reality is never as bad as a nightmare, as the mental tortures we inflict on ourselves”.—Sammy Davis Jr.
“The hardest thing about depression is that it is addictive. It begins to feel uncomfortable, not to be depressed. You feel guilty for feeling happy”.—Pete Wentz
Quotes about vulnerability as a sign of strength
“To actually accept that you have an eating disorder or mental health issue is actually a sign of great, great strength. It is not a sign of weakness at all.” – Nigel Owens
“I knew well enough that one could fracture one’s legs and arms and recover afterward, but I did not know that you could fracture the brain in your head and recover from that too.” – Vincent van Gogh
“Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary.” – Fred Rogers
“I’ve been in therapy for years. I’m handling my issues head-on, not running from them…I was so scared for so long to say that because society has led me to believe that my anxiety is stupid and shouldn’t be talked about.” – Logic
Quotes that offer validation and advice
“I found that with depression, one of the most important things you could realize is that you’re not alone. You’re not the first to go through it; you’re not going to be the last to go through it.” – Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
“I cannot stand the words ‘get over it.’ All of us are under such pressure to put our problems in the past tense. Slow down. Don’t allow others to hurry your healing. It is a process, one that may take years, occasionally, even a lifetime – and that’s okay.” – Beau Taplin
“You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection.” – Buddha
“There is hope, even when your brain tells you there isn’t.” – John Green
Quotes about the stigma around men’s mental health
“I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and I’m a suicide attempt survivor. Being a black male and dealing with these issues, I always felt like I couldn’t talk to anyone about this stuff. I’m now a therapist to address these issues within my community.” – Rwenshaun Miller
The prevalence of mental health discrepancies in men
It is estimated that over 14 million men in the US experience depressive or anxiety disorder-related thoughts daily. This listed count, on average, makes up 9% of the population of men.
An even higher percentage of men (30.6%) are reported to have experienced at least one depressive episode in their lifetime. Details show that men can also have four times the suicide rate as women.
Online therapy, peer support and other supportive strategies can help to lower this number and promote a higher quality of life for all involved.
Quotes about what mental health conditions feel like
Being open about your emotions can feel difficult when you’re experiencing something like a mental health concern. Reading quotes about mental health conditions may feel counterintuitive at first. However, it can be validating to have others put words to what you feel to be your feelings and experiences are.
The following quotes focus on what depression and general mental health struggles feel like on a personal level:
“Mental pain is less dramatic than physical pain, but it is more common and also more hard to bear. The frequent attempt to conceal mental pain increases the burden: It is easier to say ‘My tooth is aching’ than to say ‘My heart is broken”.—C.S. Lewis
“Every act of life, from the morning toothbrush to the friends at dinner, became an effort. I hated the night when I couldn’t sleep, and I hated the day because it went toward night”.—F. Scott Fitzgerald
“People who have never dealt with depression think it’s just being sad or being in a bad mood. That’s not what depression is for me; it’s falling into a state of grayness and numbness”.—Dan Reynolds
“It was against my principles and all, but I was feeling so depressed I didn’t even think. That’s the whole trouble. When you’re feeling very depressed, you can’t even think”.—J.D. Salinger
“I cry a lot. My emotions are very close to my surface. I don’t want to hold anything in so it festers and turns into pus—a pustule of emotion that exploded into a festering cesspool of depression”.—Nicolas Cage
“Well, you know, there’s depression and depression. What I mean by depression in my own case is that depression isn’t just the blues. It’s not just like I have a hangover on the weekend… the girl didn’t show up or something like that. It isn’t that. It’s not really depression; it’s a kind of mental violence which stops you from functioning properly from one moment to the next. You lose something somewhere, and suddenly you’re gripped by a kind of angst of the heart and of the spirit…”.—Leonard Cohen
“Depression is like a bruise that never goes away. A bruise in your mind. You just got to be careful not to touch it where it hurts. It’s always there, though”.—Jeffrey Eugenides
“There comes a time when the blankness of the future is just so extreme; it’s like such a black wall of nothingness. Not of bad things like a cave full of monsters, and so, you’re afraid of entering it. It’s just nothingness, the void, emptiness, and it is just horrible. It’s like contemplating a future-less future, and so you just want to step out of it. The monstrosity of being alive overwhelms you”.—Stephen Fry
“I didn’t want to wake up. I was having a much better time asleep. And that’s really sad. It was almost like a reverse nightmare like when you wake up from a nightmare, you’re so relieved. I woke up into a nightmare”.—Ned Vizzini
“Reality is never as bad as a nightmare, as the mental tortures we inflict on ourselves”.—Sammy Davis Jr.
“The hardest thing about depression is that it is addictive. It begins to feel uncomfortable, not to be depressed. You feel guilty for feeling happy”.—Pete Wentz
Quotes about vulnerability as a sign of strength
We might often be told that to be strong, we must hide our emotions or keep them bottled up. However, being emotional does not generally equate to being weak. In fact, it can be a sign of bravery to admit you need help.
The quotes below depict how being vulnerable and in touch with your emotions can actually be a sign of strength, and could be one of the first steps to healing.
“To actually accept that you have an eating disorder or mental health issue is actually a sign of great, great strength. It is not a sign of weakness at all”.— Nigel Owens
“You are not your illness. You have an individual story to tell. You have a name, a history, a personality. Staying yourself is part of the battle”.—Julian Seifter
“Coming back from depression, I identified with Prosper and his melancholy and downcast state. Through the power of imagination, he improves his condition, and so that’s what I did as a composer…We all get depressed from time to time, but the suffering from clinical depression is unimaginable. I guess I’m proof that you can get help and go on”.—Paul Moravec
“Sadness is a super important thing not to be ashamed about but to include in our lives. One of the bigger problems with sadness or depression is there’s so much shame around it. If you have it, you’re a failure. You are felt as being very unattractive”.—Mike Mills
“I knew well enough that one could fracture one’s legs and arms and recover afterward, but I did not know that you could fracture the brain in your head and recover from that too”.—Vincent van Gogh
“Self-reliance is the key to vigorous life. A man must look inward to find his own answers”.—Robin Williams
“Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary”.—Fred Rogers
“Since that day [I opened up about my emotions], it’s just been so much easier to live and so much easier to enjoy life”.—Michael Phelps
“I’ve been in therapy for years. I’m handling my issues head-on, not running from them…I was so scared for so long to say that because society has led me to believe that my anxiety is stupid and shouldn’t be talked about”.—Logic
“I want to encourage anyone suffering from mental health issues to seek the support they need. There’s no shame in it. We all need to ask for help sometimes”.—Harry Kane
“Mental health problems don’t define who you are. They are something you experience. You walk in the rain, and you feel the rain, but, importantly, you are not the rain”.—Matt Haig
“To show weakness, we’re told in sports, is to deserve shame. But showing weakness, addressing your mental health, is strength”.—Mardy Fish
Quotes that offer validation and advice
Sometimes everything can feel hopeless, and you might feel as if you need to hear some positivity in those times of need. Although it may not always feel like it, life can improve, and you can get through this. These quotes can be helpful and can support you through this time.
“To all those like me who over-schedule, over-think, over-work, over-worry and over-everything, please know you’re not alone”.—Ryan Reynolds
“I found that with depression, one of the most important things you could realize is that you’re not alone. You’re not the first to go through it; you’re not going to be the last to go through it”.—Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson
“I keep moving ahead, as always, knowing deep down inside that I am a good person and that I am worthy of a good life”.—Jonathan Harnisch
“I cannot stand the words ‘get over it.’ All of us are under such pressure to put our problems in the past tense. Slow down. Don’t allow others to hurry your healing. It is a process, one that may take years, occasionally, even a lifetime – and that’s okay”.—Beau Taplin
“You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection”.—Buddha
“Just keep showing up. Ask for help when you need it. Remember, the voices in your head are just voices. You don’t need to act on them. And be kind to yourself because hard experiences are hard”.—Brad Stulberg
“There is hope, even when your brain tells you there isn’t”.—John Green
“Listen to the people who love you. Believe that they are worth living for even when you don’t believe it. Seek out the memories depression takes away and project them into the future. Be brave; be strong; take your pills. Exercise because it’s good for you, even if every step weighs a thousand pounds. Eat when food itself disgusts you. Reason with yourself when you have lost your reason”.—Andrew Solomon
Quotes about the stigma around men’s mental health
Men’s mental health matters. With the prominent stigma surrounding men’s mental health, it can be helpful to understand that it’s okay not to be okay. Consider the quotes of several men of history that.
“There is no health without mental health; mental health is too important to be left to the professionals alone, and mental health is everyone’s business”.— Vikram Patel
“The criterion of mental health is not one of individual adjustment to a given social order, but a universal one, valid for all men, or giving a satisfactory answer to the problem of human existence”.—Erich Fromm
“I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and I’m a suicide attempt survivor. Being a black male and dealing with these issues, I always felt like I couldn’t talk to anyone about this stuff. I’m now a therapist to address these issues within my community”.—Rwenshaun Miller
“Anxiety was born in the very same moment as mankind. And since we will never be able to master it, we will have to learn to live with it – just as we have learned to live with storms”.—Paulo Coelho
“Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not, and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad”.—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“Mental health isn’t just an athlete thing. What you do for a living doesn’t have to define who you are. This is an everyone thing”.—Kevin Love
“Mental health problems do not affect three or four out of every five persons, but one out of one”.—Karl A. Menninger
“I believe the biggest stigma right now, with mental health, is that a lot of men are not talking about it”.—Mauro Ranallo
“Mental health is a sensitive subject amongst a lot of people, but it doesn’t need to be. We need to talk about it more, get rid of the stigma”.—Prince Harry
“Too many Americans who struggle with mental health illnesses are suffering in silence rather than seeking help, and we need to see to it that men and women who would never hesitate to go see a doctor if they had a broken arm or came down with the flu, that they have that same attitude when it comes to their mental health”.—Barack Obama
“Mental health needs a great deal of attention. It’s the final taboo, and it needs to be faced and dealt with”.—Adam Ant
“The problem with the stigma around mental health is really about the stories that we tell ourselves as a society. What is normal? That’s just a story we tell ourselves”.—Matthew Quick
“There is increasing evidence that cultivating positive mental states like kindness and compassion definitely leads to better psychological health and happiness”.—Dalai Lama
“I’m a man and no less of a man for admitting ‘I’m not okay, and for openly talking about the constant struggle and battle I face with myself every single day”.—Joe Plumb
Online therapy for emotional expression
While inspirational quotes may be helpful during a bad day or week, they are not a replacement for professional support.
If you are finding it consistently difficult to express your emotions, speaking with a professional could be a useful next step. With an online platform like BetterHelp, you can match with a provider who understands your need for a safe space. Many may feel more comfortable with the virtual format that online therapy provides, allowing someone to chat with your therapist through videoconferencing, phone calls or in-app messaging.
Is online therapy effective?
Studies have found details that suggest that online therapy can be useful for those seeking to control their emotions. In one study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, researchers examined the effects of online cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) on emotional control. They found details that suggests that participants experienced reductions in anxiety disorder and depression-related symptoms and increases in health-related quality of life.
These outcomes were maintained at a 3-month follow-up, possibly suggesting similar efficacy rates between online and in-person therapeutic intervention.
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