History Main / SurvivalMantra

** ''They {{never found the body}}.'' [[spoiler: Murphy in ''Aftermath'' and ''Literature/GhostStory''. It really seems to be the only thing keeping her going sometimes]].

** In ''Literature/TurnCoat'', when Harry saw the [[spoiler: Skinwalker/Nagloshii/Shagnasty]] with his Third Eye, the sight was so terrible that the only way he could keep driving was to start calculating prime numbers in order.

** That and...[[spoiler: it doesn't quite work...]]
*** It does. They make it through the crossfire and crash land safely enough... [[spoiler: Getting picked off by the Reavers was just unfortunate.]]
*** Too many invocations is TemptingFate.

See also MadnessMantra. Might be used in a MeditationPowerup. Often an illustration of ThePowerOfLanguage.

-->'''Oz:''' [[InvoluntaryTransformation You're not gonna change, you're not gonna change, you're not gonna change...]]

** In "Flashback", as Tuvok's mental control is slipping he begins reciting "Structure. Logic. Function. Control. A structure cannot stand without a foundation. Logic is the foundation of function. Function is the essence of control. I am in control. I am in control." Inevitably [[[[https://youtu.be/rZLYYXfboJs someone]] created a StupidStatementDanceMix.

** In "Flashback", as Tuvok's mental control is slipping he begins reciting "Structure. Logic. Function. Control. A structure cannot stand without a foundation. Logic is the foundation of function. Function is the essence of control. I am in control. I am in control."

* In ''[[https://archiveofourown.org/works/10358532/chapters/23013618#workskin The Devil is in the Detail]]'', [[Series/Lucifer2016 Dan Espinoza]] has the phrase, "The pudding isn't worth killing over," which allows him to break free of Loki's mind control, much to Nick Fury and Black Widow's bafflement. In context, it's because that same phrase let him break out of mind control in his series; [[spoiler:when Dan is under the influence of an evil weapon that inflicts murderous rage, he's pointed at Lucifer. Since the only thing Lucifer directly did to Dan was steal his pudding, Dan backed down after realizing that lost pudding wasn't worth murder]].

* In ''Fanfic/FrozenHearts'', [[{{WesternAnimation/Frozen|2013}} Prince Hans]] has the final part of a BadassCreed about what a prince is.

* An X-rated ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' 2002 FanFic, "[[http://www.trektales.com/terosroadnot.html The Road Not Taken]]" by Cheree Cargill, has Spock using this as he tries to recover from a quieter but still insanely rageful state after the "Amok Time" ritual fight. Repenting of his execrable actions towards both T'Pring and Christine, he meditates using the Tenets of Surak: "The words came easily. He had repeated them countless times since childhood. They were the mantra by which he meditated, the lullaby that sent him to sleep at night, the chant that awoke him in the morning. At the Academy, he had trotted miles in full gear to the rhythm of their cadence while around him other cadets were fainting from fatigue and the grueling physical training."

* An issue of ''ComicBook/{{Hellblazer}}'' had alternate reality John Constantine walking through a dark void, only to come face to face with the main version of himself:

* "I Whistle A Happy Tune" from ''Theatre/TheKingAndI''.
* On a similar note, "I Have Confidence" and "My Favorite Things" from ''Theatre/TheSoundOfMusic'' are both supposed to be this.

* PlayedForLaughs in ''Theatre/{{Ruddigore}}'', where saying the word "Basingstoke" always succeeds at bringing Mad Margaret to her senses.
* In ''Theatre/SweeneyTodd'', Johanna repeats lines from her earlier song with Anthony, in order to stay sane while locked within Fogg's Asylum.

* ''VideoGame/CallOfDutyBlackOps:'' "Dragovich...Kravchenko...Steiner... ''[[KillEmAll All must die.]]"''

** The 91st Psalm

* One for a program on an attempt to run back to back marathons in Death valley. The support team noticed the runner had created his own mantra.

* ''"Serenity Now"'' from that ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' episode was intended to be one of these, but it actually leads to insanity. ''"Serenity now, insanity later".''

* ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory of Terror'' has "Combat Carl never gives up, Combat Carl finds a way". Jesse replaces the name with hers.

* From the ''[[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 MST3K]]''-featured film ''Film/PumaMan'': ''"Each man is a god; each man is free." ''

** Spoofed with B'Elanna Torres who is RaisedCatholic.

* ''Fanfic/RocketshipVoyager''

* In ''Literature/TheWitchlands'', Iseult's "Stasis in your fingertips and your toes."

** [[LittleMissBadass Arya Stark]] has "Fear cuts deeper than swords" and her "prayer" of repeating the names of everyone she's going to kill once she gets out of her hellish situation. (Did we mention she's ten years old?)

* ''Film/TheAccountant'' recites the Solomon Grundy nursury rhyme in high-stress situations. It provides an early clue to his identity to [[InspectorJavert Medina]], who has a recording of his voice analyzed and is told the [[DissonentSerenity lack of inflection]] implies the use of this trope by someone who suffered a trauma or mental disability from a young age.