Motivational Quotes

Adversity

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

Best Quotes about Adversity

Adversity is, to me at least, a tonic and a bracer.

Scott, Sir Walter

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

Ziglar, Zig

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

It is odd but agitation or contest of any kind gives a rebound to my spirits and sets me up for a time.

Byron, Lord

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

Billings, Josh

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

Aesop

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

Bible

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

It is in the gift for employing all the vicissitudes of life to one's own advantage and to that of one's craft that a large part of genius consists.

Lichtenberg, Georg C.

10.

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

11.

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.

12.

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

Lawrence, Thomas E.

13.

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

14.

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

Tagore, Rabindranath

15.

When walking through the valley of shadows, remember, a shadow is cast by a Light.

Barclay, H.K.

16.

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

17.

I didn't know I'd have to be torn down before I could be built up.

18.

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

Schmidt, Walt

19.

Your dips an falls do not confound me, half as much as your heights astound me.

20.

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

Schweitzer, Albert

21.

Life is truly known only to those who suffer, lose, endure adversity and stumble from defeat to defeat.

Kapuscinski, Ryszard

22.

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

Alcott, Louisa May

23.

Part of the happiness of life consists not in fighting battles, but in avoiding them. A masterly retreat is in itself a victory.

Peale, Norman Vincent

24.

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

25.

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

Beecher, Henry Ward

26.

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

27.

The proof of gold is fire...

Franklin, Benjamin

28.

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

Propertius, Sextus

29.

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

30.

Nothing bad ever happens without equal or growth

31.

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

32.

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

33.

Out of love and hatred, out of earnings and borrowings and leadings and losses; out of sickness and pain; out of wooing and worshipping; out of traveling and voting and watching and caring; out of disgrace and contempt, comes our tuition in the serene and beautiful laws.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo

34.

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

35.

When something an affliction happens to you, you either let it defeat you, or you defeat it.

Russell, Rosalind

36.

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

Horace

37.

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

Schwab, Charles M.

38.

Things were bad but now they are OK.

Seymour, Harold J.

39.

You may live in an imperfect world but the frontiers are not closed and the doors are not all shut.

Maltz, Maxwell

40.

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

41.

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

Hemingway, Ernest

42.

What I am looking for is a blessing not in disguise.

Collins, Kitty O'neill

43.

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

Holtz, Lou

44.

The one who prosperity takes too much delight in will be the most shocked by reverses.

Horace

45.

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

46.

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

47.

Misfortunes leave wounds which bleed drop by drop even in sleep; thus little by little they train man by force and dispose him to wisdom in spite of himself. Man must learn to think of himself as a limited and dependent being; and only suffering teaches

Weil, Simone

48.

Anytime you suffer a setback or disappointment, put your head down and plow ahead.

Brown, Les

49.

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

Horace

50.

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

James, William