Whenever this troper is feeling particularly down or is in a scary place - suddenly, without willing it, "I believe the morning sun, always gonna shine again, and, I believe a pot of gold, waits at every rainbow's end, oh. I believe in roses kissed with dew, why shouldn't I believe the same in you!" Pollyanna is very good at cheering her up.

This troper has adopted "Semper Fi, do or die." as his mantra. Got him through the ending shootout of Killzone 2 after MANY attempts.

This troper will on occasion mutter the running cadences from Full Metal Jacket to himself.

This troper uses ''"Finish what you started, human"'' from SpiritedAway as hers. Oddly enough, it only works especially well if she includes the "human" on the end. Just saying "finish what you started" is't enough for some reason.

That's because the 'human' makes it sound like something bad is going to happen to you if you don't do what is being asked.

To cross into MadnessMantra, I have KILLFRENZYKILLFRENZYKILLFRENZYKILLFRENZY! Mostly as a way to freak the hell out of people, my other one is chanting "Heresey!" and "The Emperor Protects!" Most of my chants are of Warhammer40,000 origin. Minor ones are, "Hail the Emperor" "I shall die for Kay-Oss!" and the ever unforgettable "BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL THRONE!" Mostly said while charging in airsoft. I have made my friend piss himself by sneaking up on him and yelling it. And because I can sound quite inhuman, I am walking HighOctaneNightmareFuel for any airsoft opponents.

This troper uses Dorie's little song from Finding Nemo as her mantra. "just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming...". She also uses the 101st Airborne's (and specifically Easy Company's) rallying cry "Currahee!" (we stand alone) to psych herself up when she's feeling down.

This troper uses the 23rd psalm, despite not being a Christian anymore; it got her through a string of horrible panic attacks in high school when nothing else that wasn't prescription worked. In a pinch she finds she can use just about any inspirational fictional dialog from a series or film she likes, though.

Ditto with psalm 23, only I ''am'' a Christian. But interestingly, I used it for that purpose ''before'' I converted.

This troper had a similar situation (minus the meds), and her mantra before getting a specialist was either "It's not real" for the fictional scares, or "It's over by now" for the truth. Half the time, she has to admit she was only fooling herself.

Whenever I'm going through something really annoying, I repeat to myself, "It's coming to an end."

My scout troop on our Philmont hike (12 day backpacking trek): Double-Double Animal Style. It's a type of cheeseburger sold at the nearby burger joint. Double cheese, double burger, animal style sauce (not sure what's in that though)

This (Roman Catholic) troper uses the Shema as one of her many Survival Mantras. (It's the Jewish prayer that begins with "Shema Yisrael.") She also uses the Hail Mary, the Litany Against Fear, the opening paragraph of "The Cat That Walked By Himself", and, of course, "Saint Jude, hope of the hopeless, pray for me."

This troper wishes he could remember where he got it from, but he uses "in time this too shall pass" - and the Bene Gesserit's Litany

I'm not at all sure that it's the same thing, but a line much like the former that you mention was, as I recall, inscribed on a dagger in the story "The Magic Goes Away" by Larry Niven. again as I recall, that even the unenchanted dagger would pass in time, as the world's mana was. That said, my memory turns up "And this too shall pass away" as the quote from that story, although it may well be wrong.

If this troper is not mistaken, it comes from a legend regarding King Solomon of Biblical Fame. He was feeling depressed (or something) and asked if anyone in the land could cheer him up. Someone gave him a ring with the inscription "This too shall pass." It also may have allowed him to control demons, but that may have been a different "King Solomon's Ring" story...

It might well be of biblical origin but I know it from ''Harold and Maude''

I heard it as a Buddhist story - in it a lord asks for a ring that will cheer him up when he's down, but stop him from becoming overconfident when he's doing well - and this is inscribed on it.

This troper uses another variation: "Like all things, this too shall pass."

This troper uses the chorus of Savage Garden's "Affirmation." 'I believe in karma, what you give is what you get returned/I believe you can't appreciate real love till you've been burned/I believe the grass is no more greener on the other side/I believe you don't knwo what you've got until you say goodbye.' I feel much better!

This troper likes to repeat the Samurai Creed to himself as a meditation mantra.

This troper was seriously depressed last year because of one topic, and now anytime her thoughts go near that topic, she has to repeat to herself, "Stop it stop it stop it stop it."

This troper used to like "People have been through worse - so can I.", but he now likes "I've had worse.". Sounds more BadAss to me.

This troper uses "Just stay calm, just stay calm, just stay calm..."

This Troper either uses "Ichi Ni San Shi Go Ichi..." (1 through 5 in Japanese as a song. Ralph Wiggum and Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" work especially well.

This Troper, who sees evil as an alternative choice of lifestyle, has noticed a tendency to repeat 'No rest for the wicked' until churning into a such a fury that the indignation of being forced into a situation compels him to see it through.

After reading this, this troper suddenly recalls her own previous mantra of "And the tears do not fall." It never actually kept any tears from falling, however, so if another is ever needed, it'll probably have to be a different one.

This troper says "I am Captain (name withheld), I fight space aliens" whenever she has to give a speech, or, you know, talk to anyone in a public setting. She is not a captain of any sort in real life, nor will she be if she has anything to say about it.

This troper also uses the Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear.

This troper has used said Litany to snap herself out of more than one panic attack.

This troper used the Litany [or what she could remember of it] to help her pass a Tae Kwon-Do grading, when she'd failed the last one due to being a nervous wreck.

This troper tends to rant "forget about it, forget about it!" to himself when he is reminded of the many things he is suppose to be doing rather than taking things easy. It works.

This troper has no set mantra... but the only way to get himself down from a panic attack is to rant the first thing that comes to mind.

This troper does the same to distract herself from something. A surprise lockdown drill at her school once had her murmuring lyrics from Linkin Park's "Hands Held High", while more recently when waiting for the Sky Wheel at Niagara Falls with moths flying everywhere where she muttered "keep low, they won't get you down here."

This troper, like several others, uses the Bene Gesserit Litany in times of stress. It's even more appropriate in this situation - my father named me after Lady Jessica!

This troper suffers from an untreatable illness which damaged the retina of her right eye, and she is gradually going blind. (Jury is still out on whether the left eye will eventually start to go.) She was rather intrigued, therefore, to discover ''MetalGear Solid 3'' and watch how Naked Snake gets along without ''his'' right eye. So her mantra, at least where her disease is concerned, is borrowed from him: "It's not like I can't see. I've got one good eye and I can still fire a gun."

This troper is left-eye blind and would like to say she finds the above troper's survival mantra to be supremely awesome.

Thanks. :) Hey, if we could only join forces, between us we have two good eyes!

This troper uses "Put up and shut up." No prizes for guessing where she stands on this one.

This troper has successfully controlled his shakes with, of all things, the British 1st Airborne's cry of "Wahai, Mohammed"(And he also knows the correct cry, but prefers this fictional version.). He's also used For the Emperor and other Imperial cries. Oddly enough, they work better if said to himself instead of yelled out as they would normally be used.

This editor has many: "Sticks and stones might break my bones, but fear shall never harm me." and "We have nothing to fear but the fear itself." when being afraid or panicking.

This troper takes a page from {{Aria}} and says to himself "There is beauty in everything" whenever he gets lost or frustrated. It works so well he could cry.

This troper likes 'fix bayonets!'

A fan of {{Gettysburg}}, I see!

This troper likes to alternate between the Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear, Psalm 23, the Jedi Code, and the phrase Don't panic.

This troper prefers, "You'll feel better in the morning." Maintaining an ironic detachment towards everything, including one's own survival, well-being and general status, also helps.

This troper likes "Ishin na'telleth" from the Ivory books by Doris Egan. ("I'm not about to care.")

This troper recites sequences from ''SpaceChannel5'' or random song lyrics ("Through the fire and the flames we carry on...").

This troper deals with panic attacks either by calculating the squares up through twenty, or cubes up through ten.

It's a brand new me, I've got no remorse, now the water's rising but I know the course...

This troper has many but tends to go with "Save your fears, take your place, save them for the Judgement Day" (Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex opening song lyrics)

To psych myself up to talk to an important person, I said to myself "Come on, ''move Zig''!"

This troper uses the Sith Code. It helps her focus on getting through things...the imagined burst of evil power from channelling all that frustration doesn't hurt either. "Peace is a lie, there is only passion..."

Join the club; that was the only way this troper managed to reach his rental accommodation after picking up [=DnD=] boxed sets, having gotten off the bus far too early. He now knows the town rather better.

"I'm getting time-and-a-half for this, I'm getting time-and-a-half for this..."

"The pain shall pass, the glory will remain." "I refuse this!" and "My willpower will prevail."

This Troper uses Poe's "The Raven", said without any rhythm or pause between the words. And yes, all 18 verses.

This troper has started using "Fred Phelps is still alive". Seriously. After many months of worrying that people will physically harm each other over words, actions, or beliefs that they disagree with, is there a better source of perspective than knowing that a man so despised has yet to be a victim of lethal vigilantism?

This Troper tend to use "Who Dares Win" in summoning the courage to do something, and "Even Falling is Flight, In Flight there is Freedom" to deal with her strangely specific acrophobia.

This troper's mantra depends on the situation, but it just has to be said in the voice of Professor Layton. Try it. It's calming.

This troper uses Willy Wonka's "What if my beard were made out of green spinach?" to get him to stop worrying about imagined outcomes. It ''almost'' works. Also:

Sokka's "You can do this" to Aang when I was faced with a final-year project,because I ''wasn't'' alone or not capable of doing it.

'Hakuna matata' got this troper through close to two years of learning Korean.

This troper has a few. When still in school and the target for bullies it was; "This is war. If I break they win. I will not let them win"(or variations thereof), "I'm better then them," or simply "I will not let them affect me." General purpose ones are "there's no choice so get on with it", "it's not over until it's over", or in emergencies "people have dealt with a lot worse then this. Don't be a wuss", "No emotion", and "Don't get upset, get angry". The last one has occasionally led to SmiteMeOhMightySmiter moments.

This troper keeps a little book of reassuring quotes for just this purpose. It contains - among other things - the aforementioned Litany Against Fear, Psalm 23 and a surprisingly large amount of quotes from Confucius.

This troper has appropriated "stand up on it" from the supplemental material to ''ShadowUnit''.

This troper has adopted ''yu mo gui gui fie di sow'', despite not really knowing what it meant until... well, reading it on this site. Serenity Now works too, in that meta-humorish way.

This Troper likes to slip into a Row Row Fight da Power! when things get stressful. Honestly the belief that bad things can be overcome through determination and the occasional friend goes a long way.

"I am not anybody else but ME" used to be this troper's mantra when bad thoughts of a certain kind came along. Nowadays, it's a firm "SHUT UP" repeated a few times.

This troper alternates between "Fly to Florida. Get in a rocket. Run away to the Moon. The Appennine Mountains." (Sometimes shortened to just "The Appennine Mountains.") and Ernest Shackleton's motto "By Endurance, We Conquer."

This troper, when fatigued with girlfriend drama, repeats a vague and garbled quote he once heard. "When God created woman out of the rib of man, he didn't take out of man's head, to rule over him, nor from his feet, to be trampled underneath. Instead, he took from the side, to be man's equal, from under his arm, to be protected, and from close to his heart, to be loved." It makes things a lot better.

When stressed, this trooper takes a deep breath, remembers Dak'Kon from Planescape: Torment, and breathes out while saying "Balance, in all things." It helps to calm me down and find my center. However, my housemates have pointed out that, when I'm raiding in World of Warcraft, my mantra seems to be "oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck" punctuated by whatever boss we're fighting's raid-wipe ability. "Oh fuck, don't let me get Burn, oh fuck, don't let me get Burn..."

When this troper is under some duress, he likes to belt out (or just hum) the songs of the classic GonnaFlyNowMontage. Singing this while running track elicits some... odd looks.

For this troper there's two different mantras. For homework or exam trouble, its "If I try hard, I ''will'' succeed", which was something a memorable and optimistic substitute teacher said during an inspiring speech to the class. For general pinches, its "Everything will work out fine in the end", which this troper's best friend said when the whole of our group had big problems going on.

This troper alternates between muttering the rap from Libera Me From Hell and humming Lilium.

This troper has three, actually. For situations that involve physical endurance or being scared spitless she tends to mutter "Pain (or fear) is of the body, I am of the mind. Embrace it, change it, make it your own." Academic challenges warrant "I can do this, I am fucking brilliant, I will do this, bring it on." In situations where it's all up to luck, she chants a traditional Hindu mantra invoking Ganesh.

This troper has a few. The first from "Heroes" I often use to psyche myself when I need to do something that demands courage, like talking to certain people..." We are all, at our cores, the sum of our fears. To embrace destiny we must inevitably face those fears and conquer them. Whether they come from the familiar or the unknown." The other is the speech from Rocky Balboa, Rocky talks to his son about life. It's truly and inspiring speech, and it might help some people out even more! Check it out: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c49Ef5Bpzd8&feature=related]]

This troper runs through variations of the Green Lantern Oath. There are quite a few of them, as it turns out, but the one that tends to help him most is the one voiced by the now-deceased and much-lamented Jack T. Chance: "You who are wicked, evil and mean/I'm the nastiest creep you've EVER seen!/Come one, come all/Put up a fight/I'll pound yer butts with Green Lantern's light/Yowza!" And yes, the last word IS necessary...

This troper also uses the Green Lantern Oath, though she prefers the more traditional one. "In brighteest day, in blackest night/No evil shall escape my sight/Let those who worship evil's might/Beware my power! Green Lantern's Light!"

This troper uses what may be an altered from of some wrestler's quote. "It doesn't how many times I fall down, what matters is how many times I get back up."

I'm rather ashamed to say that I've stolen "Azarath metrion zinthos" from a certain {{goth}}...

Mostly because he can rarely remember them for too long, this troper has written down two - one for bad situations, the other for good. The first is "The Emperor protects", which he does; the second is ...let's just say it involves being a farmer of some kind of metal.

''Fear cuts deeper than swords''. This troper also reminds herself that she's a ''balance'' druid for a reason.

This troper also uses "fear cuts deeper than swords", as well as "If nothing we do matters, than all that matters is what we do" from Buffy, "carpe diem, carpe noctem" (whenever I have insomnia), and several Bible verses, mostly from Luke and Matthew. (I am a very New Testament oriented Christian, excepting Psalms and Proverbs.)

This troper doesn't use "Fear cuts deeper than swords," but he ''does'' use ''All men must die.'' Not in a morbid way, I think of it just as a mildly awesome way of saying "We're all gonna die some day, so seize the moment now."

For This Troper's love of languages there's the badly formed "deus bios, dea thanathos" (God of life, goddess of death) and "Teos Vitae, Tea Mori" which is the same in latin; more on the belief that "things happen, I shouldn't worry too much"

For scary situations, this troper chants the word 'safe' in her head; in any other situation, it's "don't worry, froidnum (corrupted version of freedom) will be attained soon"

This troper, it appears to be the rather non-cheery Weeping Song by Nick Cave. Try to sing that song quickly, or angrily, or while hyperventilating. Difficult, no? Or, inexplicably, on roller coasters- the Hail Mary, which I will insist to the day I die is INTENDED for such use...

This troper can no longer read Psalm 23 without hearing Hard On For Love (thanks, Nick), but the effect is still strangely cheering.

This troper prefers just imitating heavy metal guitar, which ends up becoming "DADADADADADA DADA DADA DADADADA DADADADADADADA..." or a personal litany of hate, like "FuckFuckerFuckemallFuckemallFucken..."

This troper either uses the Hymn of the Fayth or "We All Come From The Goddess" as her own survival mantra.

This troper, many times, will screw up small details that end up really complicating things down the line, or have someone ELSE screw up those details. His mantra for those complications is: "Forget about 'should'. Deal with 'is'"

As well, for situations that suck, but are good for him: "If I liked everything good for me, I'd pour cough syrup on my pancakes."

And, one he likes since his totem animal is a jaguar: "A jaguar doesn't fear. A jaguar ''is'' fear."

I use the Lord's Prayer when I start having morbid thoughts. (e.g. What if there's no afterlife and death is just a big black nothingness?

When it's my cool that needs help surviving, I use "There is no way to peace. Peace ''is'' the way." When it's me, I used "Cheer up, emo kid," until I decided that it was worthless and switched to the Bene Gesserit's Litany, which worked like magic. Seriously, there's something about that thing.

This troper has 4 survival mantras. Either she begins singing "Hey Jude" by the Beatles, "Born to Run" by Bruce Springsteen, imagining herself in a happy place with pink ponies jumping from cloud to cloud or repeating "Everything will be okay in the end, if it's not okay, it's not the end."

This troper uses Satan's NewEraSpeech from Book I of ''ParadiseLost'', starting from "The mind is its own place" and on through "Better to reign in Hell than serve in Heaven." MisaimedFandom at its finest. In a similar vein with this, when things get ''really'' bad, he's composed a short prayer, best said while looking to an open sky: "Is that all you've got? What the ''fuck'' are you waiting for? I'm ''right here''." Seriously, it works surprisingly well, particularly when you ''scream'' it.

This troper has "It's just reality, I should really just relax."

I use Still Alive from {{Portal}}. If [=GLaDOS=] can be that positive in her situation, what have I got to be upset about? First person to tell me I'm missing the point gets... something... bad.

Haven: I've had a few throughout my life; lately, "I have fear, but fear does not have me," though it hasn't really been put to the test yet.

"Voila! In view, a humble vaudevillian veteran cast vicariously as both victim and villain by the vicissitudes of fate…" This troper went to the trouble to memorize the whole thing. Strangely enough, it helps.

"Whatever tomorrow brings I'll be there, with open arms and open eyes."

Stole mine from {{Cardcaptor Sakura}} : "Everything will be all right." If that doesn't work, I resort to "Everything will be better in the morning."

This troper also says her invincible spell whenever she feels like she's doing badly. "I'm sure I'll be alright!"

Radioactive Zombie's mantra, stolen from Whose Line - ''Nothing Really Scares Me/I know no fear/Nothing really scares me since Ryan licked my ear...]]''

This troper either uses The Lord's Prayer, or if I have my .mp3 player on me, set "Indestructible" by {{Disturbed}} to repeat.

This troper likes to use Terry Pratchett's "I am me, we are here, this is now" as a focus.

This troper is fond of GaoGaiGar Final GGG's lyrics. While he was in the hospital it was the only thing that kept him stable.

For physical or emotional troubles, this troper goes with, "You're a human. Your species is well on the way to conquering the whole damn world. There's no reason you can't do this. Suck it up." For mental challenges, it's "My brain is being lazy and making me feel insecure because it's bored and wants to give up. I am NOT giving in to this tantrum. This is within my capabilities."

Mind if I borrow those?

When faced with a particularly daunting task this troper has been known to utter: "Settle thy studies Faustus, and begin." ...Bizarrely.

In what may be a subversion, he ''would'' use the Litany Against Fear but he can never remember it while under stress.

''Always look on the briiiight side of life~''

This troper usually says "No, come on, I can do this. I make my own luck!

Blood for the Blood God! Skulls for the Skull Throne! It works, although not by calming oneself down ...

This troper was ''named after'' Lady Jessica. Three guesses what my favorite SurvivalMantra is, and the first two don't count. :P Oddly, the opening theme to Main/NeonGenesisEvangelion works as well...

This troper prefers a very quiet wordless scream, or maniacal laughter. Yes, he gets funny looks. Why do you ask?

Me too, though I usually wait til I'm alone in my car. Very therapeutic.

I think of music. It's been Wizards in Winter lately. Or, if applicable, I imagine everything going slow mo in black and white.

Rider}} This Troper is fond of using 'There is no spoon', 'Endure, in endurance grow strong' and 'This won't end well' from and for different settings. However, there is a little personal, very privately understood statement between him and his brother, when the stuff is about to go down and you know it's on, there is just one mantra, one phrase that will cut it; "but I don't want to go to the zoo"

This troper has prepared the mantra "I am the protagonist. This story moves at MY command. The scale is set to idealistic, the plot shields are on, I will succeed. Failure is only an option for climbing to greater success. GO!" for future use, but has not tried it yet. In past times, he has used "If I can't believe in myself, believe in those who believe in me" or some similar TTGL-inspired variant, which has met with mixed success.

This troper sometimes uses the Spartan wives' saying, "Come back with your shield or on it" when he has to do something difficult, and during stress hums the beginning of the Ode to Joy, by Beethoven.

This troper mutters "fuck my life" from Superbad. When he's trying to be reaffirming. And it works.

This troper mutters "For when the Great Scorer comes/To write against your name/He marks - not that you won or lost/But how you played the game" when things start getting heavy and stressful. Keeps him going to see things through to the end.

This troper has replaced his old one "This is irrelevant" with a slightly more visceral mantra "Doesn't matter, I'll be dead either way".

This troper uses "You may call me whatever you wish, but I'm taking your cake," so I don't get angry at insults.

This troper uses "meh" for just about anything that makes me agitated. It works surprisingly well at keeping me cool. My other mantra is "It's too troublesome..."

yet another user of the Litany Against Fear. Among other things...

This troper has actually used Unlimited Blade Works for this purpose.

This Troper started out Junior year with the phrase "freedom is the right of all sentient beings" scribbled all over her assignment notebook. It was replaced by the ubitiquous "Courage is the magic that turns dreams into reality". There's also "Everything is for the best in this best of all possible worlds," which is Pangloss's catchphrase from ''Candide.'' Although that one tends to be more of a Madness Mantra...

In trying to teach my niece and nephews not to panic (which they do a lot), This Troper hit upon teaching the youngest of them (now 5) the exchange "Is it time to panic?" "No!" Upgraded now with the help of {{Freefall}}: When on occasion he gets it in his head to say "Yes," This Troper replies with (mock) "Aaaaauuugghhh! When in trouble, when in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout!"

Also, though it's not a phrase, This Troper also found a way to deal with nightmare seeds... by making them bigger and correspondingly less likely. E.g., start with "Oh no, I think there's a spider in my room!" and expand it to either a giant spider that fills up the room or a herd of spiders that fills up the room. Since this is very unlikely to be real, This Troper can then laugh at the idea and get on with her life (or sleep).

This troper, has taken to using "I am a MAYUN!" from Linkara whenever his OCD is acting up. Other times, he just remembers the songs he's memorized.

This troper said to one of her friends who is an aspiring actress (who wants to be in {{Rent}}, as Mimi), "A pole is NOT a penis." It is now her friend's personal mantra.

This troper got through his gcse exams and a number of frankly scary situations whilst on his adventures by repeating the immortal "Don't Panic!" in a calm voice to himself. He also uses "Oh, on with the song!" to break out of a ponderous mood, and occasionally "Bright the hawk's flight, on an empty sky" from Trilogy}} "Earthsea" as a general purpose one. He's not sure why the last one works, but it does.

This troper's:

"Ignore those idiotic bastards-Ignore them, ignore them, IGNORE THEM! They'll all wind up at [=McDonald's=] anyway..."

"There's only ___ periods left until school ends; YOU CAN GET THROUGH THIS!"

Simply "It's okay, you're okay, it's okay, you're okay, it's okay, you're okay..." Surprisingly effective; this one can get me through fear, embarrassment, or depression. Part of it is just being nice to yourself.

The more stressed I am, the faster I think/say it.

This troper has a friend who when in physical pain will mutter obsceneties. When he broke his toe he walked to his car to be driven which wasn't a small distance, and the entire time he was muttering things like "God damn badger dick sucking ass humping cock mongering..." and so on, and while it is structured like he's directing it as someone it is never at anyone in paticular. I asked him about it and he said it just seemed natural to do this rather than shout or yelp or so on.

This Troper loves to quote the Emperor from StarWars, "UNLIMITEEEEED POOOOOOOWEEEEER!". It always cheers him up, no matter what.

This troper mentally sang the CodeLyoko theme song to herself one time when she got caught in a hurricane. It's a very upbeat little song, but if it has lyrics, I forgot them. "♪Code Lyoko, doo doo doo doo..."

The troper adding this uses a few mantras depending on the situation (and what show got stuck in my head most recently), but the one most often used is "I am the universe experiencing itself. This world cannot destroy me. I am the unstoppable willpower. This problem cannot defeat me. I am the eternal optimist. This life cannot discourage me. I am indigo. I am invulnerable. ''I am INVINCIBLE!!''"

This troper has several, for different situations. For getting over things like her fear of heights, which are justified but not rational, she thinks/sings "Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...". When she's facing one of her less rational fears or being picked on, she'll sing "Heart on my Sleeve" by the amazing Idina Menzel. Whenever she's nervous about something, she'll say "Courage is the magic that turns dreams into reality." Finally, when she's having a bad day or is afraid for the consequences of what she has done, she'll recite "No Day But Today"... What do you mean, it's not butter]] awesome?

Excel-2009. I like to say "Take a crazy chance" when I'm about to do something that I know can bring physical harm to myself and/or others around me. If it won't, I say to myself, "Can you survive?"

This Troper heard from friends a mantra that caught on with himself for a time: "Hominahominahomina-grits!" This is to be chanted before trying something supremely risky. Add 'hominas' gratuitously until sufficiently psyched up.

The daimoku chant of Nicheren Buddhism is a reassuring chant that seems to actually grease karmic consequences. Best chanted when cops are knocking on the driver's side window, when angry husbands come stalking, when something foul is rising from the toilet bowl, or when facing an exam without preparation. It's also a great voice conditioning exercise, and relieves pre-show stage fright.

For some reason, every time this troper goes to the dentist to get a cleaning, she says "Think about bunnies" to herself.

If this troper is in public, she hums "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen" to herself. Alone, she flat-out dances.

This troper, who gets by on less than the recommended daily intake of self esteem, chants "Just pretend you're worth something".

"Hail HYDRA! Immortal HYDRA! We will never be destroyed! Cut off a limb and two more shall take its place!" is oddly inspiring for this troper.

This Troper used "I'm still flyin'" for a long time.

This troper has "Get up and face the day", for those mornings when getting out of bed is a challenge. Repeated in increasing tones of annoyance and profanity until it finally works.

A few for me. First, "Love is stronger than death," which is more a summary of my religious beliefs than anything. The second, from the Ballad of Serenity, "I don't care. I'm still free. You can't take the sky from me."

This troper read The Hobbit at a very young age, and during elementary would use "Bilbo Baggins." It worked pretty well. Cured my roller coaster phobia, and pretty much every other fear I had as a kid.

"No one cares but you. They are wrapped up in their own petty lives. No one cares but you..." seems to have overtaken "You have both your arms and know you are loved" ''and'' "Everything will work out" for this troper.

On a lighter note: "at least it ain't IWannaBeTheGuy." Works for most every video game this troper has played... well, except LaMulana, the BonusBoss in CaveStory, NetHack, DungeonCrawl, and, of course, IWannaBeTheGuy.

This troper has "I'm the smartest, and the toughest! I will find a hole and fuck it!" Which is sometimes added with "if there ain't one, I will make one!"

This Troper tells himself "My turn." after something bad happens. It works.

This Troper uses "I WILL NOT BACK DOWN" or "I promised her I'd live til I'm sixty." cuz This Troper did with his ex

I musn't run away, musn't run away, musn't run away...for when I was facing down a bully from my childhood, when I was so damn scared of him.

Hey there Shinji, ready for 2012?

I use lyrics from this song. I can't exactly remember how it started or why it comforted me at the time, but it works.

I have several. For something bad that's already happened, there's what my sister told a kid on her team when he was complaining about some law of the game: "That's life. Suck it up, be a man, and play the game." For general stress, there's either the Jedi Code or Sith Creed, the first if I has no control over the situation, the second if I do. And for a quickly approaching, inescapable event (oral reports come to mind), there's always, "It'll all be over in 10 minutes... It'll all be over in 9 minutes..."

This troper frequently uses "Stay calm, ignore them" as a mantra, though this is mostly for another person's survival rather than my own.

This Troper's mantra comes in a variety of forms, namely fractions. You're halfway done, just a half more. You're three quarters done, you're too close to give up. Just one more, that all it takes. Must reach the halfway point. Marking progress by fractions seems to break it down quite a bit from one hundred push ups, to just four sets of twenty five which is great for mentality.

This troper went through some really hard times, including over half a decade of being stalked by two people (one of them a former marine), bad social anxiety disorder, increasing levels of disability, and near-fatal food poisoning. Her mantra has become "I will not despair, I will hope; I will not suffer, I will endure; I will not be a victim, I will be a survivor." at times where that doesn't work she sings the first two verses of "Sora" from the Escaflowne movie softly to herself or recites Twa Corbies.

This Troper thought he was the only one that recited Corbies!

"My name is (Insert list of aliases here) and I can do whatever I want because I AM AWESOME!" It works too.

This Troper has started praying to the Random Number God. While not spoken, it involves making an altar with the dice with the favorable results (usually sixes) pointed upwards. "Random Number God," says I, "Bestow upon me thine boxcars in thy grace and thy mercy. Carry me, your herald, through this trial and/or tribulation, for my faith is strong. My cause is just. And my gun is very, very large." Oh yeah, and that bit from the {{Doom}} comic, and what I'm pretty sure is YeOldeButcheredeEnglishe.

Addendum: Since joking in an Introduction to Criminal Justice class that "I'm training to be {{Batman}}," This Troper has added "Batman has no limits" when worn out.

In situations of being genuinely frightened, this troper has said or repeated, "This is my story. Here would make a really stupid ending" and "I'm not even afraid of the dark - it's afraid of me" to encourage herself.

This Troper uses "I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I'm sorry...". (It's not very effective.)

This troper has multiple survival mantras. They are...strange. For instance "you should never fear the things that go bump in the night. The things you should really fear will stalk you silently" and (now that I've discovered the nightmare fuel category for folklore and urban legends) "Tailypo, tailypo, give me back my tailypo." (Yes, I'm a nightmare fetishist.) Another one, which is more of a joke that only my sister and I understand than anything, is "I highly doubt that Ryo Bakura is in my house." (Don't ask.)

This troper uses a Friedrich Nietzsche quote. "That which does not kill me can only make me stronger". Some observant people may notice that the 'us' in the original quote is replaced with 'me'.

A personal favorite for this troper is "Uri nara maesae...Uri nara maesae...." Which in Korean transalates as "Hooray for our country" sometimes I like "Maesae....Maesae..." which means hooray. Depends on my mood if it works. Sometimes I like singing random Earworms to calm me down, which usually works if the "Maesae" thing doesn't work.

I tend to use the Animae Christi when I feel like I'm losing my mind. I don't know why, I'm by no means devout, but it gives me something to focus on.

"Keep moving forward! Like a shark! You stop, you die!" when trying to get somewhere by foot. "You Quit, They Win!" when trying to beat someone/put up with other people's crap/etc.

This Troper has several, but his personal favorite comes from Boxer: "I will work harder!"

This Troper happens to like the extremely simple "So it goes" from Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five. It also works as a greeting. And as a parting. So it goes.

This troper too.

I am an aspiring novelist, and say "Write with the door closed" whenever I'm getting bogged down, don't know what to write next, or am just losing faith in my ability as a writer. It comes from StephenKing's book ''On Writing,'' and means that when you write a first draft, you need to write just for yourself and forget about the imperfections. "Where you're at is where you are" works when I'm getting depressed about how badly I've screwed up my life and need to focus instead on what I can do constructively.

One briefly chanted lyric from ''Hold on'' by Subseven: ''"Head up high / Hold the line / The fire inside must never die."''

For this troper, on a particularly shitty day: Something along the lines of "Today sucked/sucks, but tomorrow's a new day, a chance to put today's crap aside and have an awesome day." Or, for those who play ''Tetris: The Grand Master'': go better next day."

This troper possibly fell in love, and became really afraid of speaking with the girl. So, while studying for a test, and becoming desperate: "This is not talking with the freshie, you can do it!" Considering he ended up successful in the test (and the silence with the girl continued), any tranquility mantra of his now involves her. And after she ended up with someone, he tries not to react badly to said relationship it by invoking the Force (playing "Duel of the Fates", quoting "Fear is the path to the Dark Side...").

I personally go for songs like 'Ice Queen' by Within Temptation and 'Amaranth' by Nightwish. I don't know why, but it helps.

This troper has a a few she uses for varying situations. "'''I''' am the thing in the dark to be feared" for fear. Either "THEY don't know you're not strong/smart/tough/experienced/confident (whatever applies to situation) - fake it fake it fake it fakeitfakeitfakeitFAKE IT!" or "DO '''NOT''' FUCK WITH ME, YOU '''WILL''' REGRET IT" said silently work well for confidence in pretty much any other situation.

''"You do not matter. You are insignificant. You are not even worth the trouble to kill, or push aside. I can't even be bothered to dodge your punches. Why? Because you are nothing. Pathetic. Worthless. Look at you... I'm surprised you can even find the will to live."'' ~Ninjat_126, repeated in variations Ad Nauseum.

"Two, Four, Six, Eight. Never too late. Never too late. Two, Four, Six, Eight...". Alternatively (and only when applicable), "After this I'm getting ripped and watching cartoons".

This troper prefers "I do not know fear, I do not know weakness, I do not know defeat."

This troper uses "___ months left until college. ____ weeks left until college. ____ days left..." Depending on how much she's taking at the moment, she may go well into the minutes and seconds. Not only for the Mantra part of it, but because mental calculations are also strangely calming.

When I've done something (turned in an application, taken a test, done a big assignment) and won't know the results for awhile, but are still worried: "Now is here, here is now. Fear not the past. Fear not the future."

This troper uses his full Russian name combined with a cluster f bomb to pump himself up. It usually goes something like, "My fucking name is (First name) motherfucking (patronym)-ich (surname)-ov." With various versions of the word fuck thrown about somewhere between words.

This troper's Mantra is Finish the job, James. If you can.

This troper tends to repeat "There is no try" in her head whenever she is stressed. Thanks Yoda.

This troper's phrase, when faced with something difficult, is, "I'll live. I always do."

This troper used to have one for when he woke up from a nightmare when he was little, although he can't recall it. These days, during times of stress and situations with high potential for humiliation, "Momentai. Take it easy." seems to help.

This Troper uses the phrase, "Get up and get moving, you weak-kneed sonuvabitch." It works.

This troper has a few. If she's feeling paranoid at night or just woke up from a nightmare, she uses "Every nightmare needs a tap break". (She was once in a musical where there was a nightmare-tap-break, and it was hysterically funny.) If just the words don't do it, she imagines whatever was scaring her (Weeping Angels or creepy shadow-piranhas, anyone?) performing an elaborate dance routine. For anger or pain, she curses as elaborately and specifically (and ridiculously) as possible, as in "Fuck your grandmother with a bottle of maple syrup" or "Suck my left pinky toe, you syphilitic son of a male prostitute and an orangutan." For nervousness, she attempts to remember songs and/or dances she hasn't sung/heard/done in years. For depression, it's the Canticle of the Romans, from the Bible: #QUOTE# "Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor heights, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

So I'm not the only person to think of that one! Although I still can't seem to memorize it...

This troper has gone through several (his most favorite usually being Caine's line: "''Keep your head down and inch toward daylight''"), but he recently came up with these four lines, which double as a BadassCreed: #QUOTE# ''At the lowest point, I will rise.'' #QUOTE# ''To the bitter end, I will fight.'' #QUOTE# ''At the hour of death, I will live.'' #QUOTE#''For the good of all, I will serve.''

For this troper, it's "Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange." Over. And over. Actually, her record is a full hour...she's not sure why the hell it works, either.

This troper has 3 words:...Kill! Maim! Burn!

This troper has actually provided one at his work place. "Impossible is a word that was made up by quitters, there is no such thing to those who do not quit." This troper works in a hospital, the reciever was in the emergency room.

This troper has developed "I, (troper's name), command you to LIVE!" as a survival mantra. The only thing missing is a little mirror for the full self-Geassing effect.

When I'm feeling weak or afraid, "You. Are. Not. Alone." or, when unsure how to act "You always have a choice." Finally, for when the bad things happen "It could be worse."

This Troper has: "It's all going to be all right. ''Or else''".

When this isn't enough, she tends to think about how sooner or later she ''will'' snap out of it and, if she screws up now, she's going to be really mad at herself then.

This troper's mantra for when he feels like shit is: "Bone by bone, feather by feather, I put my wings back together."

I tend to hum the Mickey Mouse Club theme tune in times of trouble, that or Pilgrimage by Nine Inch Nails.

I have absolutely horrible stamina, and in recent years I've started to chant various things to myself when faced with problems involving physical fitness, especially running. When I ran the mile in 8th grade P.E. class I found myself gasping "Dragons, my dragons!" over and over (I'm really not sure where that came from). The next year, I survived another P.E. class by reciting meaningless poetry that sounded Shakespearean (We were reading Romeo and Juliet in L.A. class. I forget most of what I said, but I think it was about madness and love).

Also, I recite phrases from books and movies when I'm scared: "Now, go to sleep. You'll see me in the morning, and I'll explain everything then," or "We're all mad here," usually.

This troper does what she calls "playing the walk-in-a-straight-line game," which involves placing each foot directly in front of the other wherever she's walking and repeating "foot, foot, foot," under her breath.

This troper has used the Lord's Prayer in the past, as well as (when really scared) a modified version of Psalm 23 (Yea, though I walk through the valley of the Shadow of Death, I will fear no evil. For thou art with me, and thou art the biggest, baddest, scariest thing in that valley), the Lord of the Rings alphabet (A is for Aragorn, B is for Boromir...) and (when upset) the phrase "There are loads of people out there having a worse day than you. Put on your big girl panties and deal with it."

Your version of Psalm 23 is amazing. I think I'll memorize that one for future use.

This she-troper always challenges self with "You miss out on even one single day, people will not be able to experience enlightenment from the distilled badassery that you are."

It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter.

"Mother Superior", by CoheedAndCambria. Yes, the whole song, though out loud this troper usually abbreviates it down to "GROW UP AND BE THAT MAN."

This troper has a mini-breakdown every time there's a cliffhanger and it looks like [insert loved character's name here] is gonna die, complete with: "No. No. No. [Name] can't be dead. [Author name] isn't that evil. Nonononono. [Name]'s not dead. No. No. He can't be dead. No, no, no. Not dead. No."

I tend just to go with "I can do this, I can do this, I can do this..." especially for physical challanges. (I have very poor stamina.) I've also used "It's gonna be ok," "I've seen/had/felt worse," and "one step at a time." Also, I tend to second-guess myself when it comes to directions, e.g. thinking I've gone to far when I really haven't. When that happens, I have to convince myself that I ''couldn't'' have passed it, and I should go on for another couple of blocks, so I keep telling myself "Have a little faith!"

Plus I have a new one: "I climbed the Great Wall of China! I can do this!" (Seriously, it's HARD. You're not climbing to the top of a wall, you're climbing a mountain with a wall on top of it.)

This troper has several. My first one is having an imaginary {{Drill Sergeant Nasty}} yelling in my ear that I am the most pathetic, worthless peice of shit to ever exist (It works; I don't like people underestimating me). The second one is to have something like a catchy, funny tune playing in my head like a Rucka Rucka Ali song "Check your butt for a butthole- AIDS!". The third is I envision whatever my challenge is laughing at me. Then, I get really pissed at it and yell "FUCK YOU, FUCK YOU, FUCK YOU!" The fourth is I yell "I'm-a firin' mah lazor!" and then go for it. Fifthly and finally, when I need more endurance, I start singing the running chants from Full Metal Jacket.

This editor just realized that he habitually uses "I think I'll live with that" when things don't go as they should.

This troper never ''used'' to use/need one, and wasn't able to settle on anything when I tried to pick something in case I eventually needed it. However, I'm currently going through a crisis - driven mainly by some kind of anxiety disorder and also me turning into a hypochondriac - and have thus acquired two: lines from "Float On" ("And we'll all float on okay, now, don't you worry, we'll all float on all right" - I tend to mash the lines together but it works out the same), which provides an excellent combination of optimism and repetitive lyrics, and "There's nothing wrong with my eyes". The latter sometimes verges on MadnessMantra, so it's clearly not ''that'' effective, but it does work somewhat.

This troper has used a number of Kipling poems (''If'', particularly the 2nd and 4th verses, is particularly good, as is ''Hymn Before Action''), as well as Takeda Shingen's ''Fu Rin Ka Sen''famously had that on a banner, meaning Wind, Forest, Fire, Mountain, i.e. "Move as swift as a wind, stay as silent as forest, attack as fierce as fire, undefeatable defense like a mountain." and the Bene Gesserit Litany Against Fear, plus a (butchered) quote from ''{{Zulu}}'': "Colour Sergeant Chard! On the word of command...". Recently though, this troper has found himself quoting a homily from a martial arts instructor: "I am Wind, I am Water. I am the Ebb and the Flow. I am Smoke, I am Storm, and none can stand against me."

Tropers/{{Zadia}} talks to herself in her head. When things get bad, she tells herself, "It's going to be OK, kid."

"Every day you have the possibility to start it all over". My mum used to say this is about love, but I insist it's about all of life. In my native language it sounds better though.

This tropers alledged survial mantra is the rather basic:"I'm Alive I'm Alive I'm Alive". Apparently, he keeps chanting it when completely drunk, and thus, he has only his friends' words for it.

For some reason, this troper has gotten into the habit of repeating the chorus of either Monster, by The Automatic or Monster, by Skillet when running cross country races. The first one I use to keep going, the second one I use to go faster, so I have a tendency to switch between them mid phrase.

This troper once met a kid at a birthday party (he couldn't have been older than eleven) who was working on some arts-and-crafts project. When he started to burn himself on glue from a hot glue gun, he repeated to himself "pain is an illusion, pain is an illusion, pain is an illusion." It was more than a little creepy, even if it was probably a joke. I picked this up (I never used obsessively or literally, though) and, six years later, still use this occasionally. I also have a tendency to say "The darkest hour is just before dawn, the darkest hour is just before dawn" when I feel like a problem (no matter how small) is never going to go away. Lastly, if I am worried or depressed, I will sometimes start singing ''"So, So what! I am a rock star! I got my rock moves! And I don't neeeeeeeed yoooooou..."'' I don't even like the song, but somehow, it works.

Stolen unabashedly from her best friend in high school, "I'm not fucked. If I were fucked, I'D BE HAPPY."

This troper has a few.

''"Parce que j'ai un raison d'etre."'' is my BadassCreed, so I sometimes use "raison d'etre" as my SurvivalMantra. It only gets used when I'm really desperate.

"Never Give Up! Never Surrender!" is my chant for whenever I'm feeling beaten.

"ROW ROW, Fight Da Powa!" is used whenever I'm doing something physically taxing. I'm fairly unfit (not overweight), so it is used a lot.

I recite random latin phrases when I'm in any sort of stressful situation, at first it was to help get my mind off things... and now it's annoyingly instinctive. -_-

This troper use "She's holding her weapon to her side, loading it full of her good byes, she holding an enemy across the line" from the Linkin Park song 'Across the line' when her agoraphobia hits. When she's afraid she's going to fail, she remembers "I'm still betting on you" from the Hunger Games. For everything else she just repeats “You’ve gotten this far, (name), you just have to keep going. Things will get easier soon” or she starts to sing “100 suns” by 30 Seconds to Mars

To keep herself from getting stressed out to the point of crying, this troper has adapted "The laws of X are mine, and they will obey me!" Also to calm herself, she finds herself mentally reciting the lyrics to My Beige Bear. Her MadnessMantra (You hate X you hate X you hate X you hate X...) also doubles as a mantra. Or just a simple "stop it" to herself.

This troper uses "Hesitation sucks!" However, when things start to get really intense, she starts using "JUST DO IT MOTHERFUCKER!"

This troper uses "Pain is a sensation. It is different at different times and situations. There is no such thing as pain" during pain and "I have not come this far, for it to end here". Also, this troper also clenches his fist or does a slight hand movement and a "tsum" noise to send goosebumps over the body at will to give a small kick of energy and motivation

This troper uses "Try to find/Before you die/From what you run/To what and why." Dunno where its from, but it always starts going through my head when I need it. Also, sometimes, "Doubt is for the dying" to psyche myself up for something.

"Never give up! Never surrender!" is this troper's mantra for life. I'm generally known as a laid-back, vaguely apathetic person among my group of friends, but when it comes down to the wire, I fight tooth and nail for what I believe in, and don't give an inch.

This Troper has several for several situations. Now that it's winter "I reject slipping on the ice and/or falling on it; I reject falling and/or hurting myself on the ice, I reject..." Othertimes it takes a bit of a cake "I reject dark things, I reject dark thing, I reject..." Hell, half my mantras would be considered Lovecraftian of madness for those who don't know what I'm into... At least I don't say them out loud. There's also the "I am a God, I am a God, nothing can hurt me!" again and again. They all have effects, depending on the circumstances.

This troper found herself staring into the darkness of her own mind (it's very dark) and came up with "The fear is strong, but I am stronger than the fear." Very effective.

This troper uses "It could always be worse," not just as a SurvivalMantra, but just sort of as a motto for living life. Might be ironic in that he didn't start using it until AFTER he needed it, but what the hell? Might be TemptingFate though...

Just a single word: "Stronger." Feeling depressed and struggling to find a reason to get out of bed? "Stronger." Despise flying but have to endure a two-hour flight? "Stronger." Trying to lose weight and tempted by the last doughnut? "Stronger."

This troper has recently used humanity's boast from NobodyDies as this. It's hard to feel hopeless or afraid when you're proclaiming why your species is not to be messed with.

I seem to've made one just half an hour ago when my character was trying to protect his memories from being destroyed- "Lose sight of nothing."

"The sun will always rise." Long ago, I realized that no matter what happens, my will to live will always come from my desire to see the next day. The mantra reminds me of that no matter how bad I feel.

"I'm alive, I'm alive, all things die but I'm alive. I'm alive, I'm alive, corpses have no heartbeat. I'm alive, I'm alive, corpses do not breathe." I repeat it whenever I get drunk and accidentally convince myself that I'm dead.

I'm a good boy. I'm a good boy. I'm a good boy. I'm a good boy. I'm a good boy. I'm a good boy. I'm a good boy. I'm a good boy. I'm a good boy. I'm a good boy. I'm a good boy. I'm a good boy. I'm a good boy. I'm a good boy. I'm a good boy. I'm a good boy. I'm a good boy. I'm a good boy...

This troper has developed two:

Whenever I need motivation to do something difficult, that would better myself in the long run once all is said and done, I use the lyrics to Libra Me from Hell to get myself pumped up

Whenever I consider quitting my job because of how much I hate my boss, who seems to have everybody else brainwashed into blindly following him, I just remember what the G-Man said at the start of ''Half-Life 2'': "The right man in the wrong place makes all the difference in the world"

This troper has two as well:

When playing a racing game or anything else where speed is important (one stupid attempt of chasing King Bulblin on foot when playing Twilight Princess comes to mind), she usually repeats "Must go faster. Must go faster."

In any other situation when she's afraid, a translated version of Groves's speech, re-translated in to English it's something like "We must gather our courage ... or face death". Yeah. Pretty positive.

when I'm feeling particularly angry at certain members of my family, I tell myself "one day, he will beg for you to help him, and you'll smile when you do.". When I'm feeling overwhelmingly sad, I'll mutter "it gets better."

When this troper tries to motivate their group during school events, they choose a three word mantra to keep them going. More often than not, it's "Time's running out!"

Oddly enough, This Troper uses Gorillaz' "Clint Eastwood" to keep himself calm. He has no idea how or why it works.

This troper tends to say "We're half-way there" when she's doing something that makes her nervous. Her favourite, however, is "Stay awake, stay alive".

This troper sings "The Cellblock Tango" to calm herself down. Don't question it, it works.