Quotes About Bad Dreams
We’ve all had our share of bad dreams that jolt us awake in a cold sweat. Those unsettling visions that feel all too real in the moment often leave us rattled even after waking. Bad dreams make us face our innermost fears and anxieties played out through vivid subconscious symbolism.
While scary, these nightmares can provide insight into stresses plaguing our waking thoughts. They prompt us to confront troubling emotions so we can process them rather than allowing them to loom over our days and disrupt our sleep. As the famous quote goes, “Your visions will become clear only when you can look into your own heart. Who looks outside, dreams; who looks inside, awakes.”
To gain wisdom from our dark dreams, here are 31 revealing quotes to shed light on these nightly frights.
On The Role Bad Dreams Play
- “All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible.” – T.E. Lawrence
- “Dreams are often most profound when they seem the most crazy.” – Sigmund Freud
- “Trust those who seek the truth but doubt those who say they have found it.” – André Gide
- “You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge yourself one.” – Henry David Thoreau
- “Dreams are illustrations… from the book your soul is writing about you.” – Marsha Norman
On Nightmares Personifying Our Fears
- “We don’t actually fear death as much as the things that lead to it.” – Charles de Lint
- “In both dreams and nightmares we create everything ourselves.” – Bilal H. Saib
- “Fear doesn’t shut you down; it wakes you up.” – Veronica Roth
- “I have had dreams and I have had nightmares, but I have conquered my nightmares because of my dreams.” – Jonas Salk
- “Focus on where you want to go, not on what you fear.” – Tony Robbins
On Using Bad Dreams For Reflection
- “Our worst dreams contain neither more nor less than is required to reveal the potential that has not been realized within us.” – James Hillman
- “Dreams prepare us for waking life. Similarly, waking life prepares us for our death. So in truth, there is only the present moment.” – Alan Watts
- “Fear keeps us focused on the past or worried about the future. If we can acknowledge our fear, we can realize that right now we are okay. Right now, today, we are still alive, and our bodies are working marvelously.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
- “Anxiety is love’s greatest killer. It makes others feel as you might when a drowning man holds on to you. You want to save him, but you know he will strangle you with his panic.” – Anaïs Nin
- “Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed.” – Alexander Pope
The Symbolism Hidden In Our Dreams
- “The interpretation of dreams is the royal road to a knowledge of the unconscious activities of the mind.” – Sigmund Freud
- “Dreams are often most profound when they seem the most crazy.” – Sigmund Freud
- “Dreams are the touchstones of our character.” – Henry David Thoreau
- “All dreams spin out from the same web.” – Rush drummer and lyricist Neil Peart
- “The dream reveals the reality, which conception lags behind. That is the horror of life ― the terror of art.” – Franz Kafka
Finding Solace After A Disturbing Dream
- “There is no coming to consciousness without pain…People will do anything, no matter how absurd, to avoid facing their own souls.” – Carl Jung
- “Bad dreams, bad dreams go away, good dreams, good dreams here to stay.” – Unknown
- “Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: For thou art with me…” – Psalm 23:4
- “Fear secretes acids; but love and trust are sweet juices.” – Helen Keller
- There’s nothing in the world I wouldn’t do to make sure that my bad dreams don’t come true.” – Unknown
Harnessing The Power Of Our Subconscious
- “Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.” – Edgar Allan Poe
- “Trust in dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.” – Khalil Gibran
- “Dream deliver us from darkness and lead us into light.” – Florence Scovel Shinn
- “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
- “Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly.” – Langston Hughes
- “Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.” – Carl Jung
The world of dreams remains largely an unmapped mystery. Yet as these quotes suggest, nudging us to explore this strange land can lead us to confront long-buried truths about ourselves. By bringing subconscious worries to light, bad dreams prompt self-reflection – the first steps to banishing anxiety’s shadows from our slumber.
Though jarring in the moment, nightmares often carry profound wisdom that weekday consciousness overlooks. So next time you bolt upright after one of those dark visions, ask what buried emotions and passions might be bubbling to the surface.
With time and a little self-exploration, you may come to welcome these nocturnal frights as gateways to expanded self-awareness and personal growth hidden within your soul’s unpublished pages. Sweet dreams!