Adversity Quotes

"We never got the 40 acres. We went all the way to Herbert Hoover, and we never got the 40 acres. We didn’t get the mule. So we decided we’d ride this donkey as far as it would take us."

- Rev. Al Sharpton

"Slavery is no scholar, no improver; it does not love the whistle of the railroad; it does not love the newspaper, the mail-bag, a college, a book or a preacher who has the absurd whim of saying what he thinks; it does not increase the white population; it does not improve the soil; everything goes to decay."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Slavery is theft—theft of a life, theft of work, theft of any property or produce, theft even of the children a slave might have borne."

- Kevin Bales

"So what is it in a human life that creates bravery, kindness, wisdom, and resilience? What if it’s pain? What if it’s the struggle?"

- Glennon Doyle Melton

"It is extremely rough to follow through with my goals, but I felt a responsibility to show the world what the African Americans are facing through this rough patch."

- Ida B. Wells

"The truth is, parenting as well as we can is always hard – really, truly, the hardest thing any of us has ever done."

- Laura Markham

"The thing about parenting rules is there aren’t any. That’s what makes it so difficult."

- Ewan McGregor

"Raising a kid is part joy and part guerilla warfare."

- Ed Asner

"Happiness was useless to me. It was heartache that filled my purse. What happy man has need of Shakespeare?"

- Jennifer Donnelly

"He knows not his own strength that has not met adversity."

- Ben Jonson

"Nobody knows what you want except you. And nobody will be as sorry as you if you don’t get it. Wanting some other way to live is proof enough of deserving it. Having it is hard work, but not having it is sheer hell."

- Lillian Hellman

"Theatre is a series of insurmountable obstacles on the road to imminent disaster."

- Tom Stoppard

"I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain."

- James Baldwin

"There are few things more dreadful than dealing with a man who knows he is going under, in his own eyes, and in the eyes of others. Nothing can help that man. What is left of that man flees from what is left of human attention."

- James Baldwin

"Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor."

- James Baldwin

"Do not surrender your grief so quickly. Let it cut more deeply. Let it ferment and season you."

"A brother’s memory is both balm and ache, soothing loneliness while reminding us of what we deeply lost."

"Losing my little brother feels like losing a piece of innocence, a joy too pure to be gone so soon."

"I grieve not just your loss but the future you deserved, forever held in the cradle of my heart."

"Losing my twin brother feels like losing half my soul, yet his love still echoes within every breath I take."

"You were my reflection, my other half, and now I walk with a shadow where your presence once stood."

"Missing you comes in waves, and tonight I’m drowning."

"The hardest part isn’t losing you, it’s learning to live without you. I miss you, brother."

"Life goes on without you, but it’s not the same. I miss you, brother."

"It’s hard to forget someone who gave you so much to remember. I miss you, brother."

"No one knows the pain of losing a brother until they’ve lost one. I miss you every day."

"I miss you more than words can express, brother. My heart aches without you."

"Your absence has left a void that no one can fill. I miss you, brother."

"Not a day goes by that I don’t think of you, brother. I miss you so much."

"You may be gone, but you’ll never be forgotten. I miss you, brother."