--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: People tend to dwell more on negative…" description: "\"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 anx..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c8/eckhart-tolle-81_anxiety_people-tend-to-dwell-more-on-negative-th_1064612.jpg" --- # People tend to dwell more on negative things than on good… ![“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.” quote by Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c8/eckhart-tolle-81_anxiety_people-tend-to-dwell-more-on-negative-th_1064612.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c8/eckhart-tolle-81_anxiety_people-tend-to-dwell-more-on-negative-th_1064612.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2c8/eckhart-tolle-81_anxiety_people-tend-to-dwell-more-on-negative-th_1064612.jpg) > “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](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The mind habit on on negativity, creating anxiety and judgment about the future. **In simple terms:** Negativity fuels anxiety. Key Takeaway Shift focus to present positivity. Themes mental health awareness psychology Mood reflective calm Type philosophical self‑help When to use this quote - stress management - therapy - mindfulness practice - decision making Key Concepts cognitive bias rumination Questions to Reflect On - What triggers your negative focus? - How can you reframe future thoughts? 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Reuben Clark](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-reuben-clark/) > [Any technique, however worthy and desirable, becomes a disease when the mind is obsessed with it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-lee/any-technique-however-worthy-and-desirable-becomes-a-disease-when-the/) [Bruce Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-lee/) > [The largest part of what we call 'personality' is determined by how we've opted to defend ourselves against anxiety and sadness".](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alain-de-botton/the-largest-part-of-what-we-call-personality-is-determined-by-how-we/) [Alain de Botton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alain-de-botton/) > [If you trade your authenticity for safety, you may experience the following: anxiety, depression, eating disorders, addiction, rage, blame, resentment, and inexplicable grief.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bren-brown/if-you-trade-your-authenticity-for-safety-you-may-experience-the/) [Brené Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bren-brown/) > [The mental suffering you create is always some form of non-acceptance, some form of unconscious resistance to what is. 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Mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-allen/cause-and-effect-is-as-absolute-and-undeviating-in-the-hidden-realm/) [James Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-allen/) > [One can only see what one observes, and one observes only things which are already in the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-harris/one-can-only-see-what-one-observes-and-one-observes-only-things-which/) [Thomas Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-harris/) > [Some guys need to see things on a grease board, ... I like when you can see it in your mind. And that's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peyton-manning/some-guys-need-to-see-things-on-a-grease-board-i-like-when-you-can/) [Peyton Manning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peyton-manning/) > [I can picture certain things in my mind, while writing the script, but then I can also tell that everyone else might be a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rob-zombie/i-can-picture-certain-things-in-my-mind-while-writing-the-script-but/) [Rob Zombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rob-zombie/) ## More by Eckhart Tolle > [“The voice in the head that never stops speaking becomes a civilization that is obsessed with form and therefore knows nothing of the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/the-voice-in-the-head-that-never-stops-speaking-becomes-a/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Thinking, or more precisely identification with thinking, gives rise to and maintains the ego, which, in our Western society in particular, is out of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/thinking-or-more-precisely-identification-with-thinking-gives-rise-to/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [“A powerful spiritual practice is consciously to allow the diminishment of ego when it happens without attempting to restore it. 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How do you know this is the experience you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/life-will-give-you-whatever-experience-is-most-helpful-for-the/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [You may not yet be able to bring your unconscious mind activity into awareness as thoughts, but it will always be reflected in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/you-may-not-yet-be-able-to-bring-your-unconscious-mind-activity-into/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [“War is a mind-set, and all action that comes out of such a mind-set will either strengthen the enemy, the perceived evil, or, if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/war-is-a-mind-set-and-all-action-that-comes-out-of-such-a-mind-set/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Whenever you step out of the noise of thinking, that is meditation, and a different state of consciousness arises.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/whenever-you-step-out-of-the-noise-of-thinking-that-is-meditation-and/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Get the inside right, and the outside will take care of itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/get-the-inside-right-and-the-outside-will-take-care-of-itself/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [It is very hard to tell when I started to be a spiritual teacher. There was a time when occasionally somebody would come and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/it-is-very-hard-to-tell-when-i-started-to-be-a-spiritual-teacher/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Most people spend their entire life imprisoned within the confines of their own thoughts. They never go beyond a narrow, mind-made, personalized sense of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/most-people-spend-their-entire-life-imprisoned-within-the-confines-of/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [Let the end of the world be inside you, then you don't need to fear the end of the world out there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/let-the-end-of-the-world-be-inside-you-then-you-don-t-need-to-fear/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) > [“Jeste li zabrinuti? Razmišljate li često: »Što bi bilo da sam...?« To znači da ste se poistovjetili s umom, koji se projicira u neku…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eckhart-tolle/jeste-li-zabrinuti-razmi-ljate-li-esto-to-bi-bilo-da-sam-to-zna-i-da/) [Eckhart Tolle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) [Explore all 1,493 Eckhart Tolle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eckhart-tolle/) ## More Anxiety quotes > [“Anything that you find yourself worrying about regularly may find you suddenly wanting unrealistic changes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nagisa-tatsumi/anything-that-you-find-yourself-worrying-about-regularly-may-find-you/) [Nagisa Tatsumi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nagisa-tatsumi/) > [Bein Crazy is the least of my worries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kerouac/bein-crazy-is-the-least-of-my-worries/) [Jack Kerouac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kerouac/) > [The answer to deep anxiety is the deep adoration of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-voskamp/the-answer-to-deep-anxiety-is-the-deep-adoration-of-god/) [Ann Voskamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-voskamp/) > [“Fear of seeing a police car pull into the drive. 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If I'm nervous I know I'm going to have a good show.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beyonce-knowles/i-get-nervous-when-i-don-t-get-nervous-if-i-m-nervous-i-know-i-m/) [Beyonce Knowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beyonce-knowles/) > [“Every invention comes through anxiousness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rakesh-wadhwani/every-invention-comes-through-anxiousness/) [Rakesh Wadhwani](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rakesh-wadhwani/) > [“Do Not Be Anxious 25 e “Therefore I tell you,  f do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/do-not-be-anxious-25-e-therefore-i-tell-you-f-do-not-be-anxious-about/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Nothing happens on its own, you have to make things happen. 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