Frederik Pohl Quotes

Do not craze yourself with thinking, but go about your business anywhere.

There are two kinds of people: one who goes on thinking about the future, not bothering about the present at all. That future is not going to come, that future is just a fool's imagination. I don't think about the future. I am a totally different kind of person. I don't think about the future at all, it is irrelevant.

You're stressing too much about what might be. Do something to take your mind off thinking about what might never happen.

I try not to think too much about what the audience is thinking and what they think I should do. I'd be self-conscious if I did. Anyone becomes mannered if you think too much about what other people think.

I think I've developed, as many people do, this sense of, 'Don't say the wrong thing, or else people will point at you and laugh.'

I worry that's what people are going to think about me if they kind of go backwards. But if that didn't happen to you, I'll feel better.

In fact most of what we call anxiety is overconcern about what someone thinks of you.

Even painfully shy and awkward people are not painfully shy or awkward when they are alone. The way to access this natural, comfortable alone-self when you are with others is by choosing to forbid yourself to wonder what "they" are thinking. Instead, force yourself to exist in the instant, then take it- and give it- as it comes.

I have a way of dealing with situations where I come off awkward, or people think I’m purposely trying to make things uncomfortable. But normally I’m talking really slowly or there’s a lot of silence because there’s just nothing going on. I’m just totally freaking out, but from the outside perspective it looks like I’m in control.

We remain unnecessarily worried. All worries are futile because that which is going to happen is going to happen.

One thing that blocks flow is self-consciousness.

Worries are the most stubborn habits in the world. Even after a poor man has won a huge lottery prize, he will still for months wake up in the night with a start, worrying about food and rent.

Let's not go and ruin it by thinking too much.

The moment I think about past letdowns or future hypotheticals, I mentally put myself on shaky ground. If I clear my mind of chatter, I can succeed, just like I did in 2006.

If you are worrying about tomorrow, you can't possibly enjoy today. Think about it: you can't really give God tomorrow; you can give him only what you have, and today is all you have.

Most people when they're walking are thinking about where they have to go and what they have to do. But that removes us from happiness.

People are always worried about what's happening next. They often find it difficult to stand still, to occupy the now without worrying about the future. People are generally not satisfied with what they have; they are very concerned with what they are going to have.

If I am incapable of washing dishes joyfully, if I want to finish them quickly so I can go and have dessert, I will be equally incapable of enjoying my dessert. With the fork in my hand, I will be thinking about what to do next, and the texture and flavor of the dessert, together with the pleasure of eating it, will be lost. I will always be dragged into the future, never able to live in the present moment.

I think a lot of people are afraid of being happy because of what others might think of it.

I think I prioritize other people's opinions of me very highly, which is not necessarily a good thing - it's a thing that causes a lot of anxiety.

Sometime, when you start thinking too much what an audience is going to think, when you're too self-conscious about it, you make mistakes.

Do not brood. It makes the moment you are living in unavailable for learning and life.

So many people are paralyzed by worrying, "What are these people going to think?"

My whole effort is how to beautify this present moment, how to make people more celebrating, how to make people more joyous, how to give them a little glimpse of blissfulness, how to bring laughter to their life. Then the future takes care of itself. You need not think of the tomorrow, it comes. It comes out of this moment. Let this moment be of great celebration.

most people worry so much, they think you're not right if you don't worry.