One of the best ways to gain deeper insight into your ADHD is by reading books written by authors with the condition or researchers who specialize in ADHD.
I want to put together a quick post on some of my best quotes about ADHD that can help you better understand the uniqueness and quirks of being neurodivergent.
If you have any ADHD quotes you think should be added to the list please feel free to reach out and send them my way.
Quotes From ADHD Authors And Experts:
“The Seven Habits of Highly Effective ADHD Adults:
1. Do what you’re good at. Don’t spend too much time trying to get good at what you’re bad at. (You did enough of that in school.)
2. Delegate what you’re bad at to others, as often as possible.
3. Connect your energy to a creative outlet.
4. Get well enough organized to achieve your goals. The key here is “well enough.” That doesn’t mean you have to be very well organized at all—just well enough organized to achieve your goals.
5. Ask for and heed advice from people you trust—and ignore, as best you can, the dream-breakers and finger-waggers.
6. Make sure you keep up regular contact with a few close friends.
7. Go with your positive side. Even though you have a negative side, make decisions and run your life with your positive side.”
― Edward M. Hallowell, Delivered from Distraction
“While we all need external structure in our lives—some degree of predictability, routine, organization—those with ADD need it much more than most people. They need external structure so much because they so lack internal structure.”
― Edward M. Hallowell, Delivered from Distraction
“A person with ADHD has the power of a Ferrari engine but with bicycle-strength brakes. It’s the mismatch of engine power to braking capability that causes the problems. Strengthening one’s brakes is the name of the game.”
― Edward M. Hallowell, ADHD 2.0
“it helps to think of ADHD as a complex set of contradictory or paradoxical tendencies: a lack of focus combined with an ability to superfocus; a lack of direction combined with highly directed entrepreneurialism; a tendency to procrastinate combined with a knack for getting a week’s worth of work done in two hours; impulsive, wrongheaded decision making combined with inventive, out-of-the-blue problem solving; interpersonal cluelessness combined with uncanny intuition and empathy; the list goes on.”
― Edward M. Hallowell, ADHD 2.0
“Make friends with structure, make friends with organization. We tend to see them as the enemy because, because we think that is going to inhibit our creativity. And so we resist structure. Oh no, that’s for boring people that have attention surplus disorder. I’m free; I have ADD. Big mistake. Structure, in fact, potentiates creativity. Structure sets you free.”
― Edward M. Hallowell, ADHD 2.0
ADHD is not a disorder of knowing what to do, it’s a disorder of doing what you know — at the right times and places.
― Dr. Rusell Barkley
Anyone who exhibits the classic symptoms of ADHD will have difficulty with all or most of the seven core executive functions.
― Russell Barkley, Ph.D.
“Rule 1: Stop the Action! Buy some time before you respond.
Rule 2: See the Past … and Then the Future See what’s coming.
Rule 3: Say the Past … and Then the Future Analyze before deciding; develop rules for the future.
Rule 4: Externalize Key Information Rely on something besides your memory.
Rule 5: Feel the Future Stay motivated.
Rule 6: Break It Down … and Make It Matter Bring the future a lot closer.
Rule 7: Make Problems External, Physical, and Manual Simplify problem solving.
Rule 8: Have a Sense of Humor! Accept your imperfections and get on with your life.”
― Russell Barkley, Ph.D.
“The brighter people struggle with the disorder longer, they’re not believed, nobody can think they got as far as they did and have ADHD.”
― Russell Barkley, Ph.D.
“ADHD is, to summarize it in a single phrase, time blindness… People with ADHD cannot deal with time; and that includes: looking back, to look ahead to get ready for what’s coming at you. (…) The now is more compelling than the information you’re holding in mind.”
― Russell Barkley, Ph.D.
“I do not believe ADD leads to creativity any more than creativity causes ADD. Rather, they both originate in the same inborn trait: sensitivity. For creativity, a temperamental sensitivity is indispensable. The sensitive individual, as we have seen, draws into herself the unseen emotional and psychic communications of her environment. On some levels of the unconscious, she will, therefore, have a deeper awareness of the world. She may also be more attuned to particular sensory input, such as sound, color or musical tone. Thus the sensitivity provides her with the raw materials her mind will rework and reshape. Thus sensitivity contributes to the emergence of attention deficit disorder, as well as to creativity.”
― Gabor Maté
“The warmth and satisfaction of positive contact with the adult is often just as good as a psychostimulant in supplying the child’s prefrontal cortex with dopamine. Greater security means less anxiety and more focused attention. The unseen factor that remains constant in all situations is the child’s unconscious yearning for attachment, dating back to the first years of life.”
― Gabor Maté
The DSM … defines attention deficit disorder by its external features, not by its emotional meaning in the lives of individual human beings.
― Gabor Maté
Quotes From ADHD Entrepreneurs And Business Leaders:
“ADHD isn’t a bad thing, it’s a different way of thinking.”
― David Neeleman
“In the midst of all the chaos swirling through your brain, all the disorganization and impulsiveness, the condition (ADHD) also seems to trigger a certain kind of creativity.”
— David Neeleman
“People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.”
— Simon Sinek
“When we know WHY we do what we do, everything falls into place. When we don’t, we have to push things into place.”
— Simon Sinek
“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”
— Simon Sinek
“You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over.”
— Richard Branson
As soon as something stops being fun, I think it’s time to move on. Life is too short to be unhappy. Waking up stressed and miserable is not a good way to live.
— Richard Branson
“Screw it, let’s do it!”
— Richard Branson
“When you are young find mentors who sense your greatness and let them lead you. That was me to a ‘T’ and oh, likely the mentors themselves were ADHD. Mine were.”
— Kenneth “Bucky” Buckman
“Every brain comes with its own challenges but it’s when you acknowledge those challenges and learn to optimize your strengths that you will really begin to understand what you are capable of. In my experience, people who have brains that work like ours are capable of extremely interesting and valuable contributions to the world. But try to be understanding, not everyone can think like we think. Sometimes you just have to be patient.”
— Lisa Castenada
“Notice the things you do that give you energy and stimulate you in a positive way. Choose to spend time on these every day. “
— Shana Pearson
“Except your ADHD as a gift. Embrace it. Harness the creative energy that ADHD gives you to dream differently.”
— Brian Scudamore
“To change your life you must start by changing your daily habits and creating daily routines. Moreover, know that you have an amazing mind and creative capacities. Success can be unlocked through learning to harness your strengths and leverage your ADHD abilities.
— Erin Smith
“Don’t shy away from your ADHD. Embrace it! For many it can be a blessing is disguise leading you to new places, new careers and new people. Ultimately, ADHD has the potential to enrich your soul and create a fascinating life that others only dream of having”
— Trey Archer
“Learn what is important to you, then choose to become intentional with your ADHD gifts, time and energy. You will be much happier in living your life and the byproduct is you will be seen as more productive by outsiders.
— Deshon Wort
“Accept that there are many ways to be productive. Lighten up on yourself.
— Ruth Joy Burnell
“I always say I am ADHD rather than I have ADHD. It reminds others and myself that ADHD isn’t a disease or a disorder it’s just the way your brain processes like being right or left brained.
— Anita Erickson
Quotes That ADHDers Can Related To:
“The creative adult is the child who has survived.”
― Prof. Julian F. Fleron.
“We’re all born geniuses, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will go its whole life believing it’s stupid.”
― Albert Einstein
“I guess I could be pretty pissed off about what happened to me, but it’s hard to stay mad when there’s so much beauty in the world. Sometimes I feel like I’m seeing it all at once, and it’s too much; my heart fills up like a balloon that’s about to burst. And then I remember to relax, and stop trying to hold onto it. And then it flows through me like rain, and I can’t feel anything but gratitude—for every single moment of my stupid, little life. You have no idea what I’m talking about, I’m sure… ”
― Alan Ball, American Beauty
“The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.” ― Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
“Sometimes you climb out of bed in the morning and you think, I’m not going to make it, but you laugh inside — remembering all the times you’ve felt that way.” ― Charles Bukowski
“Above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.
― Roald Dahl
“I must not fear.
Fear is the mind-killer.
Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration.
I will face my fear.
I will permit it to pass over me and through me.
And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path.
Where the fear has gone there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.”
― Frank Herbert, Dune
“There’s such a lot of different Annes in me. I sometimes think that is why I’m such a troublesome person. If I was just the one Anne it would be ever so much more comfortable, but then it wouldn’t be half so interesting.”
― Anne of Green Gables
“Alice laughed: “There’s no use trying,” she said; “one can’t believe impossible things.”
“I daresay you haven’t had much practice,” said the Queen. “When I was younger, I always did it for half an hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”
― Lewis Caroll, Alice In Wonderland
“There are more things in heaven and earth Horatio, than are dreamed of in your philosophy” – Shakespeare
Other ADHD Quotes:
“ADHD isn’t a bad thing, and you shouldn’t feel different from those without ADHD. Remember that you are not alone. There are others going through the same thing.”
― Adam Levine
“I prefer to distinguish ADD as attention abundance disorder. Everything is just so interesting, remarkably at the same time.”
― Frank Coppola
“ADHD is just another word for fun, exciting and adventurous.”
― Julie Posey
Even mild stress floods the prefrontal cortex with dopamine, essentially taking it offline.
– Adele Diamond, Ph.D.
Children with ADHD have lower brain arousal; this decreases their ability to screen out distractions.
– ADDitude Magazine
For kids with undiagnosed dyslexia, everyday schooling is like being taught in a foreign language.
– Roberto Olivardia, Ph.D.
“If we run every class the way we run it for kids with ADHD, we’d probably have a much stronger education system.”
– Robert Reid
“I probably suffered from ADHD, but they weren’t so quick to diagnose it back then. For PE, they’d drop you in the woods with a compass and a pack of matches. It gave you confidence that you could rely on yourself.”
— Will Arnett
“I was a very focused kid. I always had this crazy lifestyle… billions of jobs, two hours of gymnastics every day, handball, anything with a ball, really. I must have had ADHD or something. I was very energetic, and very small. I didn’t start growing until the last year of high school.”
― Mads Mikkelsen
“One of the places where research is needed is all the sensory problems. And you get sensory problems not just with autism, but with dyslexia, learning problems, ADHD, attention deficit, you know, things like sound sensitivity, problems with fluorescent lighting.”
― Temple Grandin
