Motivational Quotes

Adversity

Mishaps are like knives, that either serve us or cut us, as we grasp them by the blade or by the handle.

- Lowell, James Russell

Best Quotes about Adversity

Things were bad but now they are OK.

Seymour, Harold J.

He that can heroically endure adversity will bear prosperity with equal greatest of the soul; for the mind that cannot be dejected by the former is not likely to be transported without the latter.

Fielding, Henry

When things are bad, we take comfort in the thought that they could always get worse. And when they are, we find hope in the thought that things are so bad they have to get better.

Forbes, Malcolm S.

He who knows the darkness shall learn to live in the light.

There is no better than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time.

Mandino, Og

The finest steel has to go through the hottest fire.

Nixon, Richard M.

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

Stumbling is not falling.

Proverb, Portuguese

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

10.

Never let your head hang down. Never give up and sit down and grieve. Find another way. And don't pray when it rains if you don't pray when the sun shines.

Paige, Leroy ''Satchel''

11.

When a man gets to despair he knows that all his thinking will never get him out. He will only get out by the sheer creative effort of God. Consequently he is in the right attitude to receive from God that which he cannot gain for himself.

Chambers, Oswald

12.

Tribulation will not hurt you, unless as it too often does; it hardens you and makes you sour, narrow and skeptical.

Chapin, Edwin Hubbel

13.

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

Sting

14.

People need hard times and oppression to develop psychic muscles.

Dune, Frank Herbert

15.

A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials.

Proverb, Chinese

16.

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

Tacitus, Publius Cornelius

17.

Brave men rejoice in adversity, just as brave soldiers triumph in war.

Seneca

18.

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

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.

Even if you fall on your face, you're still moving forward.

Gallagher, Robert C.

21.

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

Lawrence, Thomas E.

22.

I have become my own version of an optimist. If I can't make it through one door, I'll go through another door -- or I'll make a door. Something terrific will come no matter how dark the present.

Tagore, Rabindranath

23.

Everything I did in my life that was worthwhile I caught hell for it.

Warren, Earl

24.

Painful as it may be, a significant emotional event can be the catalyst for choosing a direction that serves us--and those around us -- more effectively. Look for the learning.

Allenbaugh, Eric

25.

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

Proverb, Maori

26.

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

27.

Do not free the camel of the burden of his hump; you may be freeing him from being a camel.

Chesterton, Gilbert K.

28.

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

29.

Breakdowns can create breakthroughs. Things fall apart so things can fall together.

30.

It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.

Benson, Taylor

31.

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

32.

Am I willing to give up what I have in order to be what I am not yet? Am I able to follow the spirit of love into the desert? It is a frightening and sacred moment. There is no return. One's life is charged forever. It is the fire that gives us our shape.

Richards, Mary Caroline

33.

Adversity is a great teacher, but this teacher makes us pay dearly for its instruction; and often the profit we derive, is not worth the price we paid.

Rousseau, Jean Jacques

34.

One may not reach the dawn save by the path of the night.

Gibran, Kahlil

35.

Over every mountain there is a path, although it may not be seen from the valley.

Rogers, James

36.

Trials, temptations, disappointments -- all these are helps instead of hindrances, if one uses them rightly. They not only test the fiber of character but strengthen it. Every conquering temptation represents a new fund of moral energy. Every trial endured and weathered in the right spirit makes a soul nobler and stronger than it was before.

Buckham, James

37.

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

38.

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.

39.

No untroubled day has ever dawned for me.

Seneca

40.

Every blade of grass has its angel that bends over it and whispers, grow, grow.

Talmud, The

41.

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

42.

Sometimes your medicine bottle has on it, Shake well before using. That is what God has to do with some of His people. He has to shake them well before they are ever usable.

Havner, Vance

43.

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

44.

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.

45.

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

46.

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

Neal, John

47.

Men stumble over pebbles, never over mountains

Cady, Emilie

48.

It would not be better if things happened to men just as they wish.

Heraclitus