Negativity can drag you down. Beat you up. Make any situation feel worse than it actually is.
I know. I used to fall into the trap of pessimism and negativity a lot when I was younger.
But in the past 15 years since I started this website I have learned to adopt a more positive mindset (you can find many of my favorite habits for that in this post).
And today I’d like to share other people’s perspective on negativity and on how to handle it. These are 80 of the most powerful negativity quotes that will help you to live a more positive and successful life.
I hope you’ll find something uplifting and perspective changing here.
And if you want more help to overcome negative thinking have a look at this post containing my top tips and this one that will give you boost of positive energy.
Quotes on Negativity to Help You Live a Better Life
“If you accept the expectations of others, especially negative ones, then you never will change the outcome.”
Michael Jordan
“No one can create negativity or stress within you. Only you can do that by virtue of how you process your world.”
Wayne Dyer
“Life is too short to spend in negativity. So I have made a conscious effort to not be where I don’t want to be.”
Hugh Dillon
“Your beliefs, either positive or negative, helpful or hurtful, largely determine everything you do and how you do it.”
Brian Tracy
“People tend to dwell more on negative things than on good things. So the mind then becomes obsessed with negative things, with judgments, guilt and anxiety produced by thoughts about the future and so on.”
Eckhart Tolle
“When we are aware of our weaknesses or negative tendencies, we open the opportunity to work on them.”
Allan Lokos
“Nobody can motivate himself in a positive direction by continually using negative words.”
John C. Maxwell
“There’s a way that you can throw negativity out there that seems rebellious. But I’ve always taken pleasure in a different kind of rebellion, which is putting a positive spin on everything, trying to enjoy myself at all times.”
Zac Efron
“Negativity, in general, is one of the things that holds people back, and you have to see what’s holding you back to get away from it.”
Lucy Dacus
“You can’t think away your self-defeating thoughts; you have to dissolve them through action.”
Marty Rubin
“The best way out is always through.”
Robert Frost
“If you find yourself complaining a lot then you are problem-oriented. Focus on what you can do – not on what you can’t – to become solution-oriented.”
Akiroq Brost
“Curiosity is what keeps me open to a sense of hope. It staves off negativity.”
Carrie Brownstein
“Negative results are just what I want. They’re just as valuable to me as positive results. I can never find the thing that does the job best until I find the ones that don’t.”
Thomas Edison
“Negativity is the enemy of creativity.”
David Lynch
“Just as negative beliefs at some point entered your subconscious mind, and began to subtly shape your lives, new, positive beliefs can also be “planted” there: beliefs that will gradually begin to improve your behavior, your thinking, the way you feel, and thus, your life.”
David Bolton
“It takes but one positive thought when given a chance to survive and thrive to overpower an entire army of negative thoughts.”
Robert H. Schuller
“If we give something positive to others, it will return to us. If we give negative, that negativity will be returned.”
Allu Arjun
“Negativity is an addiction to the bleak shadow that lingers around every human form, and you can transfigure negativity by turning it toward the light of your soul.”
John O’Donohue
“It is better to dwell on the beautiful things in life than the negative.”
Lailah Gifty Akita
“Negative words are powerful boomerangs so be careful what you say about people and yourself.”
Mary J. Blige
“Here is a magnificent, beautiful, wonderful painting in front of you! It is intricate, detailed, a painstaking labor of devotion and love! The colors are like no other, they swim and leap, they trickle and embellish! And yet you choose to fixate your eyes on the small fly which has landed on it! Why do you do such a thing?”
C. JoyBell C.
“If your thoughts are negative, you’ll probably attract negative events into your life. You will see the bad, not the good. The reverse is also true in that thoughts of creating a positive life find their origin in a positive mind.”
Byron Pulsifer
“However vast the darkness, we must supply it with our own light.”
Stanley Kubrick
“Bad times have a scientific value. These are occasions a good learner would not miss.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
“I feel like the bad times have fired me up: you have to turn negativity into positivity.”
Tulisa
“If you have a positive attitude and constantly strive to give your best effort, eventually you will overcome your immediate problems and find you are ready for greater challenges.”
Pat Riley
“A lot of people will ignore positive words when they are down and accept negative words. Those people will never get better.”
Travis J. Dahnke
“The way to overcome negative thoughts and destructive emotions is to develop opposing, positive emotions that are stronger and more powerful.”
Dalai Lama
“Don’t let negative thoughts of the past or the future ruin your today.”
Avina Celeste
“The thing that I’ve learned is that there really is no joy, and nothing ever good is going to come from negativity. Those are thoughts that, even if you were presenting an honest version of yourself, there’s just no point in sharing.”
Stephen Amell
“Adopting the right attitude can convert a negative stress into a positive one.”
Dr. Hans Selye
“I’ll always use the negativity as more motivation to work even harder and become even stronger.”
Tim Tebow
“Don’t focus on the negativity. Focus on the positivity and the people that want you to do well; then, do it for them and for yourself. Sometimes I do things for myself. Sometimes I do things for my family. Sometimes I do things for my friends.”
Roman Reigns
“Gratitude can transform any situation. It alters your vibration moving you from negative energy to positive.”
Oprah Winfrey
“Dwelling on the negative simply contributes to its power.”
Shirley MacLaine
“There’s too much negativity in the world. Staying positive is a better investment.”
Mark Kostabi
Negativity Quotes on Dealing with Toxic Family and People
“No matter how valuable you are and your ideas, fools will certainly play both of you down, so exclude yourselves from the inflammatory environs of fools.”
Michael Bassey Johnson
“I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet.”
Mahatma Gandhi
“Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.”
Mark Twain
“When we choose to spread negativity, the bad vibes, or focus too much on spreading rumors and gossiping about the other person, it doesn’t show who that other person is but, it shows who we are to the world.”
Jyoti Patel
“Stop letting people who do so little for you control so much of your mind, feelings and emotions.”
Will Smith
“People who project negativity typically have low self-esteem. They feel badly about themselves, and their negativity is simply a reflection of those feelings.”
Hendrie Weisinger
“Some people are in such utter darkness that they will burn you just to see a light. Try not to take it personally.”
Kamand Kojouri
“Negative people can only infest you with discouragements when they find you around. Just get lost and be saved.”
Israelmore Ayivor
“People will try to pull you down, but you need to fight the negativity in your life. It’s always good to stay positive and think positive.”
Vivek Oberoi
“If you attach to the negative behavior of others it brings you down to their level.”
Guru Singh
“Life is too short to waste any amount of time on wondering what other people think about you. In the first place, if they had better things going on in their lives, they wouldn’t have the time to sit around and talk about you. What’s important to me is not others’ opinions of me, but what’s important to me is my opinion of myself.”
C. JoyBell C.
“Don’t let negativity affect your vision. A lot of people have said harsh things, but I don’t let it affect me. If anything it gives me more enthusiasm and pushes me to do better in my career so I can prove them wrong.”
Nicole Polizzi
“Sensitive souls draw in the negativity of others because they are so open.”
John Gray
“I think we manifest the very thing we put out. If you’re putting out negativity, then you’re going to retrieve that same sentiment. If you emanate joy, it comes back to you.”
Robin Wright
“Arguing with a toxic person is like trying to argue with an actor in a play. It doesn’t matter what you say, they will stick to their lines, because it is the only role they know.”
Anthony Gucciardi
“To all the other dreamers out there, don’t ever stop or let the world’s negativity disenchant you or your spirit. If you surround yourself with love and the right people, anything is possible.”
Adam Green
“Protect your enthusiasm from the negativity of others.”
H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
“Save your skin from the corrosive acids from the mouths of toxic people. Someone who just helped you to speak evil about another person can later help another person to speak evil about you.”
Israelmore Ayivor
“The most important thing is to try and inspire people so that they can be great in whatever they want to do.”
Kobe Bryant
“Spend time with people who know how to use their days well. Just as iron sharpens iron, positive people will inspire you to be positive.”
Rihanna
If you want more help to deal with negative people then have a look at this post with timeless advice on toxic people.
Positive Quotes on Staying Away From or Ignoring Negativity
“There are so many great things in life; why dwell on negativity?”
Zendaya
“Having the strength to tune out negativity and remain focused on what I want gives me the will and confidence to achieve my goals.”
Gisele Bundchen
“There is little difference in people, but that little difference makes a big difference. The little difference is attitude. The big difference is whether it is positive or negative.”
W. Clement Stone
“If I could teach people to be grateful, we could have an amazing world where negativity could not grow and foster, and children would have a smile on their face.”
Catriona Gray
“Having a strong sense of self-discipline helps us to avoid negativity and achieve the greatness we desire.”
Amr Okasha
“Negativity is cannibalistic. The more you feed it, the bigger and stronger it grows.”
Bobby Darnell
“Negative thinking definitely attracts negative results.”
Norman Vincent Peale
“It’s hard to let go of all that negativity, which will seriously drain your motivation, but you got to let it go.”
Oscar Auliq-Ice
“If you find yourself plagued by a recurrent worry, train yourself to think of something else. Your conscious mind can concentrate on only one thought at a time, and driving the negativity away will free you up to move forward again.”
Harvey Mackay
“We can either work on the negative things and turn them into positive things, or we can accept that the negative is negative and leave it at that.”
Jennifer N. Smith
“When you have a lot of stress and negativity around you, when you cut that away, you cleanse.”
Lil Jon
“Negativity doesn’t pay my bills.”
Michelle Q. Chu
“That’s my gift. I let that negativity roll off me like water off a duck’s back. If it’s not positive, I didn’t hear it. If you can overcome that, fights are easy.”
George Foreman
“I do believe in bad energy and not wanting to be around negativity.”
Kyle Richards
“An entire sea of water can’t sink a ship unless it gets inside the ship. Similarly, the negativity of the world can’t put you down unless you allow it to get inside you.”
Goi Nasu
“The amount of negativity I hear on a daily basis is unbelievable. But that’s the kind of stuff you have to tune out, focus, stick with your vision and keep plugging every day.”
Dana White
“Problems are not stop signs, they are guidelines.”
Robert H. Schuller
“It would be easy to become a victim of our circumstances and continue feeling sad, scared or angry; or instead, we could choose to deal with injustice humanely and break the chains of negative thoughts and energies, and not let ourselves sink into it.”
Erin Gruwell
“All negativity is caused by an accumulation of psychological time and denial of the present. Unease, anxiety, tension, stress, worry – all forms of fear – are caused by too much future, and not enough presence. Guilt, regret, resentment, grievances, sadness, bitterness, and all forms of nonforgiveness are caused by too much past, and not enough presence.”
Eckhart Tolle
“Your positive action combined with positive thinking results in success.”
Shiv Khera
“Despair not. Refuse to be gloomy or negative. Don’t allow challenges and situations to rob your joy. Don’t allow anything or anyone to take your peace away.”
Patricia Dsouza
“A positive attitude causes a chain reaction of positive thoughts, events, and outcomes. It is a catalyst, and it sparks extraordinary results.”
Wade Boggs
“I’ve had a lot of worries in my life, most of which never happened.”
Mark Twain
Want even more motivation? Check out this post with inspiring quotes about knowing your true worth and value.