Motivational Quotes

Adversity

What doesn't kill us makes us stronger.

- Nietzsche, Friedrich

Best Quotes about Adversity

God left the world unfinished for man to work his skill upon. He left the electricity still in the cloud, the oil still in the earth. How often we look upon God as our last and feeblest resource! We go to Him because we have nowhere else to go. And then we learn that the storms of life have driven us, not upon the rocks, but into the desired haven.

Macdonald, George

Adversity draws men together and produces beauty and harmony in life's relationships, just as the cold of winter produces ice-flowers on the window-panes, which vanish with the warmth.

Kierkegaard, S°ren

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

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

Lawrence, Thomas E.

Do you not see how necessary a world of pains and troubles is to school an intelligence and make it a soul?

Keats, John

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.

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

Gesser

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

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

10.

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

Seneca

11.

People need hard times and oppression to develop psychic muscles.

Dune, Frank Herbert

12.

They sicken at the calm that know the storm.

Parker, Dorothy

13.

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

Weltman, Phil

14.

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

15.

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

Emerson, Ralph Waldo

16.

The reward of suffering is experience.

Aeschylus

17.

We see many who are struggling against adversity who are happy, and more although abounding in wealth, who are wretched.

Tacitus, Publius Cornelius

18.

We need tough days to drive us to our knees.

19.

If we study the lives of great men and women carefully and unemotionally we find that, invariably, greatness was developed, tested and revealed through the darker periods of their lives. One of the largest tributaries of the RIVER OF GREATNESS is always the STREAM OF ADVERSITY.

Robert, Cavett

20.

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

Augustine, St.

21.

Every man has a rainy corner of his life whence comes foul weather which follows him.

Richter, Jean Paul

22.

Failure is success if we learn from it.

Forbes, Malcolm S.

23.

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

24.

Prosperity tries the fortunate, adversity the great.

Pliny The Elder

25.

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

Maltz, Maxwell

26.

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

Chesterton, Gilbert K.

27.

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.

28.

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

29.

They that sow in tears shall reap joy. [Psalms 126:5]

Bible

30.

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

31.

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

32.

Those who aim at great deeds must also suffer greatly.

Plutarch

33.

In a dark time, the eye begins to see.

Roethke, Theodore

34.

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

35.

When it gets dark enough you can see the stars.

Salk, Lee

36.

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

37.

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

Neal, John

38.

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.

39.

Enter through the narrow gate. The gate that leads to damnation is wide, the road is clear, and many choose to travel it. But how narrow is the gate that leads to life, how rough the road, and how few there are who find it. [Mathew 7:13-14]

Bible

40.

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

41.

Stumbling is not falling.

Proverb, Portuguese

42.

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

43.

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

44.

Here is the rule to remember in the future, When anything tempts you to be bitter: not, This is a misfortune but To bear this worthily is good fortune.

Aurelius, Marcus

45.

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.

46.

Dust is a protective coating for fine furniture.

Burata, Mario

47.

In every adversity there lies the seed of an equivalent advantage. In every defeat is a lesson showing you how to win the victory next time.

Collier, Robert

48.

I would never have amounted to anything were it not for adversity. I was forced to come up the hard way.

Penney, J. C. (James Cash)

49.

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

50.

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

Gibran, Kahlil