"We never worry about the big things, just the small things"
About this Quote
The subtext is about control. Big things are often uncontrollable - mortality, fame’s churn, the fact that a plane might not land. The mind, trying to feel useful, grabs the small things it can micromanage: the missed cue, the text left on read, the wrong tone, the comment section. Barker’s phrasing has a drummer’s economy: no metaphors, no self-pity, just a blunt rhythm that mirrors how anxiety actually operates. It’s not noble dread; it’s petty, repetitive, daily.
There’s also a quiet indictment of modern life baked in. Culture trains us to treat tiny frictions as emergencies because they’re trackable and constant. Notifications, deadlines, optics - the manageable becomes the maddening. In that light, the quote is both a flex and a warning: if you’re only “worrying” about small things, you’ve either mastered perspective or you’re stuck in a loop where the trivial is the only place your fear can safely land.
Quote Details
| Topic | Wisdom |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Barker, Travis. (2026, January 16). We never worry about the big things, just the small things. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/we-never-worry-about-the-big-things-just-the-103184/
Chicago Style
Barker, Travis. "We never worry about the big things, just the small things." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/we-never-worry-about-the-big-things-just-the-103184/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"We never worry about the big things, just the small things." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/we-never-worry-about-the-big-things-just-the-103184/. Accessed 12 Feb. 2026.






