Motivational Quotes

Adversity

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

Best Quotes about Adversity

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

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.

A wounded deer leaps the highest.

Dickinson, Emily

If your cup seems too bitter, if your burden seems to heavy, be sure that it is the wounded hand that is holding the cup, and that it is me who carried the cross that is carrying the burden.

The worst thing that happens to you may be the best thing for you if you don't let it get the best of you.

Rogers, Will

The greatest difficulties lie where we are not looking for them.

Goethe, Johann Wolfgang Von

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

Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.

Casey, M Kathleen

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

James, William

10.

Failure is success if we learn from it.

Forbes, Malcolm S.

11.

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

Gesser

12.

To endure is the first thing that a child ought to learn, and that which he will have the most need to know.

Rousseau, Jean Jacques

13.

Prosperity is a great teacher; adversity is a greater. Possession pampers the mind; privation trains and strengthens it.

Hazlitt, William

14.

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

15.

They sicken at the calm that know the storm.

Parker, Dorothy

16.

The seaman tells stories of winds, the ploughman of bulls; the soldier details his wounds, the shepherd his sheep.

Propertius, Sextus

17.

Adversity causes some men to break, others to break records.

Ward, William A.

18.

As a rule, adversity reveals genius and prosperity hides it.

Horace

19.

Dust is a protective coating for fine furniture.

Burata, Mario

20.

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

21.

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

Beecher, Henry Ward

22.

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

Heraclitus

23.

Those who aim at great deeds must also suffer greatly.

Plutarch

24.

Suffering! We owe to it all that is good in us, all that gives value to life; we owe to it pity, we owe to it courage, we owe to it all the virtues.

France, Anatole

25.

The difference between stumbling blocks and stepping stones is how you use them

26.

You have endured worse things; God will grant an end even to these.

Virgil

27.

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

Seneca

28.

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

Rogers, James

29.

A heart well prepared for adversity in bad times hopes, and in good times fears for a change in fortune.

Horace

30.

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

Schweitzer, Albert

31.

Men stumble over pebbles, never over mountains

Cady, Emilie

32.

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

Sheehan, George

33.

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

Peale, Norman Vincent

34.

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

35.

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

Holtz, Lou

36.

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

Bible

37.

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

38.

I have often been downcast, but never in despair; I regard our hiding as a dangerous adventure, romantic and interesting at the same time. In my diary I treat all the privations as amusing. I have made up my mind now to lead a different life from other girls and, later on, different from ordinary housewives. My start has been so very full of interest, and that is the sole reason why I have to laugh at the humorous side of the most dangerous moments.

Frank, Anne

39.

You don't develop courage by being happy in your relationships everyday. You develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity.

Angelis, Barbara De

40.

Birds sing after a storm; why shouldn't people feel as free to delight in whatever remains to them?

Kennedy, Rose F.

41.

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

42.

Ransom, Ralph

43.

Trouble is the common denominator of living. It is the great equalizer.

Landers, Ann

44.

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

45.

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

46.

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

Tacitus, Publius Cornelius

47.

Tough times never last, but tough people do.

Schuller, Robert H.

48.

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

49.

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

50.

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

Lawrence, Thomas E.