Motivational Quotes

Adversity

To accuse others for one's own misfortunes is a sign of want of education. To accuse oneself shows that one's education has begun. To accuse neither oneself nor others shows that one's education is complete.

- Epictetus

Best Quotes about Adversity

One who gains strength by overcoming obstacles possesses the only strength which can overcome adversity.

Schweitzer, Albert

Many who seem to be struggling with adversity are happy; many, amid great affluence, are utterly miserable.

Tacitus, Publius Cornelius

A certain amount of opposition is a great help to a man. Kites rise against, not with, the wind.

Neal, John

Those who aim at great deeds must also suffer greatly.

Plutarch

Always continue the climb. It is possible for you to do whatever you choose, if you first get to know who you are and are willing to work with a power that is greater than ourselves to do it.

Winfrey, Oprah

If you're on thin ice, you might as well dance.

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.

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

People need hard times and oppression to develop psychic muscles.

Dune, Frank Herbert

10.

It takes a real storm in the average person's life to make him realize how much worrying he has done over the squalls.

Advisor, Heartland

11.

Men stumble over pebbles, never over mountains

Cady, Emilie

12.

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

13.

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

14.

Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.

Hill, Napoleon

15.

You never know what events are going to transpire to get you home.

Movie, Apollo 13

16.

If you aren't in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?

17.

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

Aesop

18.

Many miles away there's a shadow on the door of a cottage on the Shore of a dark Scottish lake.

Sting

19.

We deem those happy who from the experience of life have learnt to bear its ills without being overcome by them.

Jung, Carl

20.

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

Sheehan, George

21.

Things were bad but now they are OK.

Seymour, Harold J.

22.

Most of the shadows of this life are caused by standing in one's own sunshine

Emerson, Ralph Waldo

23.

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

24.

There could be no honor in a sure success, but much might be wrested from a sure defeat.

Lawrence, Thomas E.

25.

People are like stained -- glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within

Ross, Elizabeth Kubler

26.

Cushion the painful effects of hard blows by keeping the enthusiasm going strong, even if doing so requires struggle.

Peale, Norman Vincent

27.

The depth of darkness to which you can descend and still live is an exact measure of the height to which you can aspire to reach.

Post, Laurens Van du

28.

When I dig another out of trouble, the hole from which I lift him is the place where I bury my own.

29.

I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but they whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves their conduct, will pursue their principles unto death.

Paine, Thomas

30.

Every burden is a blessing.

Schuller, Robert H.

31.

A man is insensible to the relish of prosperity until he has tasted adversity.

Saadi

32.

Every silver lining has a cloud.

Avon

33.

We all know that sponges grow in the ocean but I wander how much deeper the ocean would be if that wasn't the case.

34.

The path of least resistance is the path of the loser.

Weltman, Phil

35.

Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.

Tagore, Rabindranath

36.

It is easy enough to be pleasant, When life flows by like a song. But the man worth while is the one who can smile, when everything goes dead wrong. For the test of the heart is troubled, And it always comes with the years. And the smiles that is worth the praises of earth is the smile that shines through tears.

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler

37.

Sometimes adversity is what you need to face in order to become successful.

Ziglar, Zig

38.

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

39.

Forget the times of your distress, but never forget what they taught you.

Gesser

40.

Dust is a protective coating for fine furniture.

Burata, Mario

41.

Adversity is the state in which man mostly easily becomes acquainted with himself, being especially free of admirers then.

Johnson, Samuel

42.

Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you.

Proverb, Maori

43.

Only entropy comes easy.

Mumford, Lewis

44.

Some people bear three kinds of trouble -- the ones they've had, the ones they have, and the ones they expect to have.

Hale, Edward Everett

45.

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

46.

As iron put into the fire loseth its rust and becometh clearly red-hot, so he that wholly turneth himself unto God puts off all slothfulness, and is transformed into a new man.

Kempis, Thomas

47.

We say, sorrow, disaster, calamity. God says,chastening and it sounds sweet to him though it is a discord to our ears. Don't faint when you are rebuked, and don't despise the chastening of the Lord. In your patience possess your souls.

Chambers, Oswald

48.

There is in every woman's heart a spark of heavenly fire which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity, but which kindles up and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity.

Irving, Washington

49.

In terms of the game theory, we might say the universe is so constituted as to maximize play. The best games are not those in which all goes smoothly and steadily toward a certain conclusion, but those in which the outcome is always in doubt. Similarly, the geometry of life is designed to keep us at the point of maximum tension between certainty and uncertainty, order and chaos. Every important call is a close one. We survive and evolve by the skin of our teeth. We really wouldn't want it any other way.

Leonard, George

50.

If the career you have chosen has some unexpected inconvenience, console yourself by reflecting that no career is without them.

Johnson