Motivational Quotes

Adversity

The actual tragedies of life bear no relation to one's preconceived ideas. In the event, one is always bewildered by their simplicity, their grandeur of design, and by that element of the bizarre which seems inherent in them.

- Cocteau, Jean

Best Quotes about Adversity

Every hardship; every joy; every temptation is a challenge of the spirit; that the human soul may prove itself. The great chain of necessity wherewith we are bound has divine significance; and nothing happens which has not some service in working out the sublime destiny of the human soul.

Ford, Elias A.

The hardest struggle of all is to be something different from what the average man is.

Schwab, Charles M.

Show me someone who has done something worthwhile, and I'll show you someone who has overcome adversity.

Holtz, Lou

I used to hurt so badly that I'd ask God why, what have I done to deserve any of this? I feel now He was preparing me for this, for the future. That's the way I see it.

Jackson, Janet

Difficulty, my brethren, is the nurse of greatness --a harsh nurse, who roughly rocks her foster-children into strength and athletic proportion.

Bryant, William C.

In a dark time, the eye begins to see.

Roethke, Theodore

Life is a series of experiences, each one of which makes us bigger, even though sometimes it is hard to realize this. For the world was built to develop character, and we must learn that the setbacks and grieves which we endure help us in our marching onward.

Ford, Henry

The world breaks everyone and afterward many are stronger at the broken places.

Hemingway, Ernest

Every burden is a blessing.

Schuller, Robert H.

10.

If the going is real easy, beware, you may be headed down hill and don't know it.

11.

Duct tape is like the force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the universe together.

Zwanzig, Carl

12.

It's easier to go down a hill than up it but the view is much better at the top.

Bennet, Arnold

13.

In times of storm, the shallowness of the root structure is revealed.

14.

No one would ever have crossed the ocean if he could have gotten off the ship in a storm.

15.

Adversity is the first path to truth.

Byron, Lord

16.

I'm not afraid of storms, for I'm learning to sail my ship.

Alcott, Louisa May

17.

That which causes us trials shall yield us triumph: and that which make our hearts ache shall fill us with gladness. The only true happiness is to learn, to advance, and to improve: which could not happen unless we had commence with error, ignorance, and imperfection. We must pass through the darkness, to reach the light.

Pike, Albert

18.

Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Let the day's own trouble be sufficient for the day.

Bible

19.

The proof of gold is fire...

Franklin, Benjamin

20.

All life demands struggle. Those who have everything given to them become lazy, selfish, and insensitive to the real values of life. The very striving and hard work that we so constantly try to avoid is the major building block in the person we are today.

Ransom, Ralph

21.

The willow which bends to the tempest, often escapes better than the oak which resists it; and so in great calamities, it sometimes happens that light and frivolous spirits recover their elasticity and presence of mind sooner than those of a loftier character.

Scott, Sir Walter

22.

The good things of prosperity are to be wished; but the good things that belong to adversity are to be admired.

Seneca

23.

God had one son on earth without sin, but never one without suffering.

Augustine, St.

24.

There are times in everyone's life when something constructive is born out of adversity... when things seem so bad that you've got to grab your fate by the shoulders and shake it.

25.

Adversity has the same effect on a man that severe training has on the pugilist -- it reduces him to his fighting weight.

Billings, Josh

26.

There will be no crown bearers in heaven who are not cross bearers on earth.

27.

You'll never find a better sparring partner than adversity.

Schmidt, Walt

28.

Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction. [Isaiah 48:10]

Bible

29.

The stars are constantly shining, but often we do not see them until the dark hours.

30.

Things don't go wrong and break your heart so you can become bitter and give up. They happen to break you down and build you up so you can be all that you were intended to be.

Jones, Charles ''Tremendous''

31.

People need hard times and oppression to develop psychic muscles.

Dune, Frank Herbert

32.

Acceptance of what has happened is the first step to overcoming the consequences of any misfortune.

James, William

33.

Had there been no difficulties and no thorns in the way, then man would have been in his primitive state and no progress made in civilization and mental culture.

Joshee, Anandabai

34.

Men often bear little grievances with less courage than they do large misfortunes.

Aesop

35.

Trouble shared is trouble halved.

Sayers, Dorothy L.

36.

Life has meaning only in the struggle. Triumph or defeat is in the hands of the Gods. So let us celebrate the struggle!

Swahili Warrior Song

37.

He who knows no hardships will know no hardihood. He who faces no calamity will need no courage. Mysterious though it is, the characteristics in human nature which we love best grow in a soil with a strong mixture of troubles.

Fosdick, Harry Emerson

38.

Frogs have it easy, they can eat what bugs them

39.

Humanity either makes, or breeds, or tolerates all its afflictions.

Wells, H.G.

40.

March on. Do not tarry. To go forward is to move toward perfection. March on, and fear not the thorns, or the sharp stones on life's path.

Gibran, Kahlil

41.

The battle of life is, in most cases, fought uphill; and to win it without a struggle were perhaps to win it without honor. If there were no difficulties there would be no success; if there were nothing to struggle for, there would be nothing to be achieved.

Smiles, Samuel

42.

We are always on the anvil; by trials God is shaping us for higher things.

Beecher, Henry Ward

43.

The sooner I fall behind, the more time I have to catch up.

44.

If you want to win anything -- a race, your self, your life -- you have to go a little berserk.

Sheehan, George

45.

The bravest sight in the world is to see a great man struggling against adversity.

Seneca

46.

It's a matter of ABC: When we encounter ADVERSITY, we react by thinking about it. Our thoughts rapidly congeal into BELIEFS. These beliefs may become so habitual we don't even realize we have them unless we stop to focus on them. And they don't just sit there idly; they have CONSEQUENCES. The beliefs are the direct cause of what we feel and what we do next. They can spell the difference between dejection and giving up, on the one hand, and well-being and constructive action on the other. The first step is to see the connection between adversity, belief, and consequence. The second step is to see how the ABCs operate every day in your own life.

Seligman, Martin E. P.

47.

Do you think that you shall enter the Garden of Bliss without such trials as came to those who passed before you?

Qur'an

48.

Two frogs fell into a bowl of cream. One didn't panic, he relaxed and drowned. The other kicked and struggled so much that the cream turned to butter and he walked out.

49.

I bring to my life a certain amount of mess.

Coppola, Francis Ford

50.

Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.

Casey, M Kathleen