80 Quotes About Trying Too Hard

Are you trying too hard? In life? Your relationship and your friends?

Trying too hard seems to have a negative impression on people since it portrays someone who tries to blend in and keep up to date but it shows that they are overdoing or overacting. 

“Trying too hard” can be anything. Too much effort is being made. Everybody has seen it. Everybody has done it at some point.

Because of unmet needs as children, you may have a problem that persists into adulthood. 

You may be acting out of desperation because we’re feeling undervalued or underappreciated at the moment.

Regardless of the reason, overworking yourself is never a good idea. While effort is essential, our actions often have the opposite effect of what you want when you come across as trying too hard.

Desperation drives people away from us because you want to connect with them.

80 Quotes About Trying Too Hard

Aiming for perfection is supposed to lead to success. Can you ever ‘try too hard? The answer is yes, but only if you forget to have fun while we’re at it. It’s impossible to foresee the moments when everything goes awry.

Some things never quite live up to your hopes and expectations, no matter how hard you try. You’ve made it this far.

When things don’t go according to plan, it’s important to adopt the “what’s meant to be, will be” mindset.

You may be putting in too much effort. Because we’ve all been there, you’ll be fine. As a child, you’re taught that putting in the most effort possible will always yield the best results.

Becoming a copycat of popular people is a recipe for failure. That’s because desperate people tend to overdo their attempts to make friends.

You’re your own worst enemy more often than not. It is possible to gain the admiration of others without appearing fake or desperate, however. It all comes down to being yourself.

No matter what your struggles are, here are 80 quotes about trying too hard to give you enlightenment, confidence, and inspiration:

What identifies an individual as a king is how other people behave towards him. All authority is assumed, and if other people don’t accept your authority then you don’t have it. Perhaps the critical thing to being a convincing figure of authority is actually not to try too hard. 

–Patrick Stewart–

Try really, really hard not to judge your own work too harshly. 

–Rebecca Stead–

The most common trouble with advertising is that it tries too hard to impress people.

–James Randolph Adams–

Yeah, the first thing that comes to mind is not to try too hard.

–Leo Kottke–

I don’t like guys who overdress. And I don’t like guys who try too hard. 

–Taylor Momsen–

The only mistake guys can make is to try too hard with their appearance. There’s something very unmanly about it. 

–Jeremy Irvine–

You try too hard. Winners forget they’re in a race. They just love to run.

–Joe Pesci–

Try but don’t try too hard. Just try hard enough, and things will go better. 

–Rodney Crowell–

A man who doubts himself shouldn’t have to try too hard for too long, not until he’s seasoned. 

–Stephen King–

When I was a rapper, the groupies didn’t have to try too hard with me. Just show up at the hotel. 

–Mark Wahlberg–

I am the world’s worst reporter. I am apt to try too hard to help rather than just document my subjects. 

–David Rakoff–

Whether you try too hard to fit in or you try too hard to stand out, it is of equal consequence: you exhaust your significance. 

–Criss Jami–

Wear something you feel gorgeous in and don’t try too hard; it’s much sexier when it appears effortless. Clothes that don’t fit, or don’t fit the wearer’s personality, don’t help. 

–Heidi Klum–

Be yourself. Don’t try too hard – it shows.

–Amar’e Stoudemire–

I think that comics can do things movies can’t and vice versa. In my opinion, you only expose their weaknesses if you try too hard at making one exactly like the other. 

–Lee Bermejo–

Don’t try too hard to be something you’re not.

–Daniel Radcliffe–

There’s a particularly British wariness of appearing to try too hard. It’s somehow distasteful. Everything should come to us seamlessly and, if you have to work at it, you’re somehow a loser.

–Kate Reardon–

Don’t try too hard to be young. Be who you are. 

–Tony Danza–

Men shouldn’t try too hard or think about what they wear too much. I like when there’s something about a look that throws it off a little perfection is really imperfect. 

–Thom Browne–

To try too hard to make people good is one way to make them worse. The only way to make them good is to be good, remembering well the beam and the mote. 

–George MacDonald–

Fashion is supposed to be light and not try too hard. 

–Carine Roitfeld–

The biggest risk I’ve ever taken is going on American Idol and trying to be myself. I wasn’t going to try too hard to conform, and I knew that it could possibly not work out. 

–Adam Lambert–

I wish somebody would have told me, ‘Don’t try too hard,’ because when I was younger I wanted to try really hard. I wanted to please everybody and be this perfect, polite little girl. 

–Taylor Spreitler–

The worst is when men try too hard because it’s not very masculine. Your outfit has to look like ‘Oh, I just grabbed that.’ Not too calculated. Jeans, a t-shirt: the simpler the better. 

–Eva Green–

Firstly the cars aren’t too complicated. They have no traction control, which means you can spin if you try too hard and damage your tires if you’re not careful with your driving style.

–Nigel Mansell–

There is a real vulgarity in the way women dress at the moment. They show off too much and try too hard. They don’t understand where the line is between sexy and vulgar. I know where that line is. 

–Roberto Cavalli–

I think that writers often try too hard in the name of expression when often it’s just a matter of reframing what’s around you or republishing a preexisting text into a new environment that makes for successful work. 

–Kenneth Goldsmith–

Mama used to say that when you don’t know what to do, do nothing. She meant you can try too hard to solve a problem. If you give it a little time, the answer might just come to you plain as day.

–Amy Hill Hearth–

I think comedy has a range, with multiple peaks in different areas. It’s like trying to compare Beethoven and the Beatles. Sometimes I hear from people, ‘I think you try too hard in your comedy.’ And that’s what I worry about. 

–Bo Burnham–

It isn’t surprising that many children consider their parents to be a little dim, and that they sometimes try to update them. The fact that they don’t usually try too hard is just as well; a thoroughly updated parent is an unappetizing sight. 

–Peg Bracken–

Seven out of my nine films were hits. 80 percent of the audience loves my films; the remaining 20 per may be right in their opinion, but that doesn’t make me wrong. If I try too hard to woo them, I’d be cheating my core audience.

–Rohit Shetty–

I think great songs can come from anywhere and you constantly have to be able to look out for those. I think a lot of the times people will try too hard to write everything themselves and therefore miss out on great songs that way. 

–Jason Aldean–

If you’re trying too hard to be the girl next door, you’re not going to be. 

–Taylor Swift–

Television provokes strong opinions, and sometimes we try a bit too hard to appeal to everyone. 

–Jo Brand–

If I had to perform in a comedy club I would bomb; I would be trying too hard. 

–Henry Rollins–

I try not to push myself too hard, but I also need to perform and earn the results. 

–Im Dong-Hyun–

I think trying too hard to be sexy is the worst thing in the world a woman can do.

–Christian Bale–

On a daily basis, jeans and a t-shirt are still sexy, but it doesn’t look like you’re trying too hard. 

–Tila Tequila–

I’ve now discovered that if you know what you want and try hard to achieve it, everyone else will try hard, too.

–Paul Arden–

I really try to write every day. It’s hard, but it’s my favorite thing to do, so it’s usually not too, too hard.

–Karen Russell–

I wish I were brave, although I try. I work too hard and don’t play enough. Too much work ethic, not enough ‘fun’. 

–Danielle Steel–

I try to not be too hard on myself regarding my diet. I’ve always been a workout-to-eat kind of a girl. I like to eat, to say the least.

–Jennie Finch–

Some secrets can’t be kept too long. No matter how hard you try to hide them, sooner or later they scurry out from your cupboards, cockroaches on the run.

–Ellen Hopkins–

It’s dark because you are trying too hard. Lightly child, lightly. Learn to do everything lightly. Yes, feel lightly even though you’re feeling deeply. Just lightly let things happen and lightly cope with them. So throw away your baggage and go forward. There are quicksands all about you, sucking at your feet, trying to suck you down into fear and self-pity and despair. That’s why you must walk so lightly. Lightly my darling.

–Aldous Huxley–

I think trying too hard to be sexy is the worst thing in the world a woman can do.

–Christian Bale–

Why are trying so hard to fit in, when you’re born to stand out

–Oliver James–

You can say we’re trying too hard or that we didn’t try hard enough, but we’re not trying at all; we’re just doing what we do. 

–Taylor Hanson–

How to fail: Try too hard. 

-Malcolm Forbes–

I killed the whole world, and you can too if you try hard.

–Robert Jordan–

Try to live with a generous heart. Doing anything else is too hard. 

–Susan Elizabeth Phillips–

Try not to cry too much because it can be pretty heartbreaking and pretty hard.

–Maggie Smith–

I try not to be too hard on myself. My husband reminds me that life is a marathon, not a sprint. 

–Ivanka Trump–

I’m not resigning, and I’m going to try very hard to go back to work as a better man and a better husband too. 

–Anthony Weiner–

War had the effect of encouraging people to try to stay alive. Poverty, too. Survival was simply too hard-won to be given up lightly.

–Aminatta Forna–

It’s really hard not to think too much. If I try to control the sled too much so that I have perfect lines, I’m really slow.

–Katie Uhlaender–

I’m constantly striving to break through to something new. You try to maintain a neutral approach to your work, and not be too hard on yourself. 

–Al Pacino–

Golf is a difficult game, but it’s a little easier if you trust your instincts. It’s too hard a game to try to play like someone else. 

–Nancy Lopez–

When I try to speak perfectly then I am not Jackie Chan anymore. Some words sound like I am trying too hard. The whole thing is not me. 

–Jackie Chan–

Let the world unfold without always attempting to figure it all out. Let relationships just be, since everything is going to stretch out in Divine order. Don’t try so hard to make something work – simply allow. Don’t always toil at trying to understand your mate, your children, your parents, your boss, or anyone else because the Tao is working at all times.

–Wayne Dyer–

What’s your heart telling you to do? I don’t know.’ Maybe, you’re trying too hard to hear it.

–Nicholas Sparks–

Relationships are like farting, If you push too hard things could get messy real fast.

–Kevin Hart–

There’s a thing about trying too hard, which I think is in all forms, which is if you really try to do things really well, you can get to a less good place than if you just let go and let it fly. Especially in creativity.

–Eddie Izzard–

It’s no good telling somebody they’re trying too hard. It’s very much like ordering a child to go stand in a corner for a half hour and never once think about elephants.

–John D. MacDonald–

When you do your best, people notice.

–Oprah Winfrey–

If I had to perform in a comedy club I would bomb; I would be trying too hard.

–Henry Rollins–

I’m about to reach my dreams and I ain’t even got my arms stretched.

–Drake–

That’s basically the gangster code. Just be yourself. Just be you, dog. The easiest way to get your card plucked around a gangster is to be a fake. If we feel like you’re trying too hard, if you’re trying to act like you’re from the street, you’re in trouble.

–Ice T–

Trying too hard to follow every trend. You want to look fashionable and put-together, not like you hit every sale rack this season.

–Tommy Hilfiger–

It was hard for me to walk away. But even harder when you didn’t even bother to try and stop me. 

–Unknown–

I know that the hard work got me here. And the day I stop working hard, this can all go away. 

–Kevin Durant–

When I look at a lot of older stuff that I’ve written, I think one sign of amateur humor writing is when you see people trying too hard.

–David Sedaris–

Inside I’m treading waters steady tryna swim ashore.

–Drake–

Once you start something don’t stop until you complete it. Don’t let excuses, problems, hard work, or anything stop you from completing it. 

–Sonya Parker–

Trying too hard to be too good, even when trying to be bad, is too good for the bad, too bad for the good.

–Dejan Stojanovic–

I just don’t like showing everything I’ve got. I don’t want to look like I’m trying too hard to be sexy.

–Elisha Cuthbert–

You’re trying too hard to find a correlation here. You don’t know these people, you don’t know what they intended. You try to compile statistics and correlate them to a result that amounts to nothing more than speculation.

–Marc Racicot–

We used to have more references to things that we pulled out because they almost felt like they were trying too hard to allude to something.

–J. J. Abrams–

I don’t like it when people are trying too hard. That goes for clothes, for acting, for everything. It’s just not good when it seems like you’re making too much of an effort.

–Clive Owen–

It is possible to tell things by a handshake. I like the “looking in the eye” syndrome. It conveys interest. I like the firm, though not bone-crushing shake. The bone crusher is trying too hard to “macho it.” The clammy or diffident handshake – fairly or unfairly – get me off to a bad start with a person.

–George H. W. Bush–

A lot of young actors have the idea that, “I’ve got to do this right. There’s a right way to do this.” But there’s no right or wrong. There’s only good and bad. And “bad” usually happens when you’re trying too hard to do it right. There’s a very broad spectrum of things that can inhibit you. The most important thing for actors – and not just actors, but everybody – is to feel loose enough to create what you want to create, and be free to try anything. To have choices.

–Robert De Niro–

Maybe it’s not about getting what you want, when you want it, in life after all? Perhaps life is meant to be enjoyed, rather than imposed upon.

When you cling too tightly to any one plan, you’re stifling the flow of other possibilities that could enrich your life.

You could be severely limiting yourself by insisting on what you want exactly as you see it. When in doubt, don’t try.

Allow yourself to believe that things are working out for your highest good, even if it isn’t obvious at the time.

People in this situation should be given more space. It’s not a sign that you’re giving up on yourself. It’s the opposite. You’re not keeping yourself contained.