Empowering Words: Inspirational Quotes for Women Battling Cancer

"Cancer is a marathon – you can’t look at the finish line. You take it moment by moment, sometimes breath by breath, other times step by step."

- Sarah Betz Bucciero

"I don’t know what tomorrow holds, but I know WHO holds tomorrow."

- Sigrid Devida

"Please remember to never give up HOPE!"

- Bobbie Harrington Henry

"When you read about the statistics/prognosis; remember that you are NOT a statistic, you are YOU and you are unique."

- Karen Kockelman Schultz

"People who said ‘I am here for you’ were some of the sweetest words I ever heard."

- Sylvia Ramsey Savage

"Plan for the worst, hope for the best and live for the moment!"

- Tiffany Smith

"Even with the best possible scans, my cancer is still considered incurable—although I live with tremendous hope that may change one day. The word 'incurable' initially petrified me because we are often led to believe cancer patients are either curable or terminal. But incurable disease can still be treatable, and there exists a third lane in between cured and terminal that is full of hope, meaning, and purpose. That’s the lane I’m in, one in which I’m thriving and living my best life—not only in spite of metastatic breast cancer, but also because of it."

- Sally Joy Wolf

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

- Aristotle

"We have two options, medically and emotionally: give in or fight like hell."

- Lance Armstrong

"Believe you can, and you’re halfway there."

- Theodore Roosevelt

"The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts today."

- Franklin Delano Roosevelt

"Cancer is only going to be a chapter in your life, not the whole story."

- Joe Wasser

"Once you choose hope, anything’s possible."

- Christopher Reeve

"Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass… It’s about learning to dance in the rain."

- Vivian Greene

"Each day is a gift. That is why they call it “present.”"

- Eleanor Roosevelt

"If children have the ability to ignore all odds and percentages, then maybe we can all learn from them. When you think about it, what other choice is there but to hope? We have two options, medically and emotionally: give up, or fight like hell."

- Lance Armstrong

"Cancer didn’t bring me to my knees; it brought me to my feet."

- Michael Douglas

"A positive attitude is at least as important as everything that’s thrown at you during treatment."

- Scott Ward

"You’re stronger than you ever realized, without a doubt."

- Theresa Gougeon

"There is no medicine like hope, no incentive so great, and no tonic so powerful as expectation of something tomorrow."

- Orison Swett Marden

"You must DO the things YOU THINK you cannot do."

- Eleanor Roosevelt

"I have cancer. Cancer doesn’t have me."

- Marco Calderon

"Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will."

- Mahatma Gandhi

"Hope is living with COURAGE and CONFIDENCE, not FEAR."

- Penny Boldrey

"Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear the hardship today."

- Thich Nhat Hanh

"If you don't like something, change it. If you can't change it, change your attitude."

- Maya Angelou

"Cancer is a word, not a sentence."

- John Diamond

"I am not this hair, I am not this skin, I am the soul that lives within."

- Rummi

"You beat cancer by how you live, why you live, and in the manner in which you live."

- Stuart Scott

"Nothing is impossible. The word itself says I’m possible!"

- Audrey Hepburn

"You can be a victim of cancer or a survivor of cancer. It’s a mindset."

- Dave Pelzer

"A positive attitude is a good medicine."

- Cancer survivor

"Success is not final; failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts."

- Winston Churchill

"No matter what the statistics say, there is always a way."

- Bernie Siegel

"Out of a mountain of despair, a stone of hope."

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

"When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure."

- Peter Marshall

"Keep your face always toward the sunshine, and shadows will fall behind you."

- Walt Whitman

"You define your own life. Don’t let other people or your circumstances write your script."

- Oprah Winfrey

"What lies behind you and what lies in front of you pales in comparison to what lies inside of you."

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

"I’m now 59 with stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. I still don’t have a partner, but I’ve fallen desperately in love with life. Exquisite beauty emerges everywhere: my cat on my lap, a cashier extending an unexpected smile, sunlight skipping across a lake. I use each day to soak up the world’s splendor. ‘Not yet,’ I whisper to the heavens. ‘I love it here.'"

- Clare Cory

"Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it."

- Charles R. Swindoll

"You can be sad. You can go there. But you can’t stay there. Try to set your intention to get through the day and be as present as you can be."

- Heather Jose

"If you can, find a purpose - something to do that occupies your time and your mind so you're not always concentrating on the cancer."

- Diane Detter

"Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."

- Steve Jobs

"It is difficult to say what is impossible, for the dream of yesterday is the hope of today and the reality of tomorrow."

- Robert H. Goddard

"Cancer changes your life, often for the better. You learn what's important, you learn to prioritize, and you learn not to waste your time. You tell people you love them."

- Joel Siegel

"The only way to make sense of change is to plunge into it flow with it . . . and join the dance."

- Alan Watts

"Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other one thing."

- Abraham Lincoln

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover."

- H. Jackson Brown Jr.

"Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don’t be afraid."

- Frederick Buechner

"Whether you think you can or you can't, you're probably right."

- Henry Ford

"Cancer is a journey, but you walk the road alone. There are many places to stop along the way and get nourishment - you just have to be willing to take it."

- Emily Hollenberg

"Cure sometimes, treat often, comfort always."

- Hippocrates

"For I will restore health unto you, and I will heal you of your wounds, says the Lord."

- Jeremiah 30:17a

"Be Strong – Stay Strong."

- Steve

"One day at a time, one step at a time. Do what you can; do your best. Let God handle the rest."

- Safe Haven Cancer Support Society

"No one can be strong 100% of the time; the key is bouncing back."

- Cancer patient

"Control what you can control, your mind and attitude."

- Cancer survivor

"I will say of the Lord; he is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust."

- Psalm 91:1,2

"Remove negative things and people from your life and seek out the positive."

- Cancer survivor

"Don’t play the “What If” game."

- Cancer survivor

"Fear not, for I am with you, be not dismayed, for I am your God: I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my victorious right hand."

- Isaiah 41:10

"Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start."

- Nibo Qubein

"Don’t count the days. Make the days count."

- Muhammad Ali

"Let your hopes, not your hurts, shape your future."

- Robert H. Schuller

"You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength."

- Marcus Aurelius

"Mom, you’re a fighter! Let’s do this!"

- Mary Bollinger Appelhanz

"Tough times don’t last. Tough people do."

- Robert H. Schuller

"Cancer survivors are blessed with two lives. There is your life before cancer, and your life after. I am here to tell you your second life is going to be so much better than the first."

- Hoda Kotb

"Every day is a chance to create a memory and to love a little more."

- Robin Roberts

"Don’t give up. Every day is worth it."

- Hashmat Effendi

"Difficult roads can lead to beautiful destinations."

- Kia Wynn

"There's always hope beyond what you see."

- Cora Connor

"It’s possible not just to survive, but to thrive and to live a healthy, wonderful life again."

- Kris Carr

"Cancer is like a teeter-totter. Sometimes you gotta go down to go back up."

- John Kennedy

"Cancer doesn’t have to define you."

- Nelda Blair

"Cancer gave me a reason to be the best version of myself, and that’s what I’ve done. You realize that fear can either cripple you or it can motivate you, and it had been crippling me. And I decided to change it, and let that fear be motivating."

- Amy Robach

"My cancer diagnosis was the permission slip I never needed to start being more intentional with my life and time. I have softened into my hard edges. I spent so many years shaming and picking apart my body, trying to improve and perfect it. Now I stand in awe of what my body is capable of—its resilience, and everything else I had taken for granted."

- Danielle Doby

"Surviving breast cancer redefined who and how I am, although I’m not sure I’d recommend it. Until then, I’d spent a lifetime being a caretaker for everyone around me. From then, I started to put myself first. I had voices at the back of my head telling me whatever I did wasn’t good enough. Now, finally, I’ve silenced them."

- Sheryl Crow

"I couldn’t change my metastatic breast cancer diagnosis, but I could control my mindset. There might not be a cure (yet!), but there is always hope. Today, tomorrow, and every day after. I trust in research and new treatments, and I trust in the timing of my life."

- Paige Stables

"Keep breathing. Being mindful. Being grateful. Believing that the universe has a plan for me that is better than the one I could ever imagine."

- Sheetal Dewan

"My husband would always tell his mom, 'Just keep punching,' and 'Whenever the opponent hits you, get up and hit back harder.' It gave her such a focus, and every time cancer knocked her down, she'd do her best to bounce back up and punch back. She repeated it so often that it was her mantra."

- Rachel's husband

"She believed she could, so she did."

- R. S. Grey

"Run when you can. Walk if you have to. Crawl if you must. But never give up."

- Dean Karnazes

"Always remember you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, smarter than you think and loved more than you know."

- Christopher Robin

"Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I'll try again tomorrow."

- Mary Anne Radmacher

"The goal is to live a full, productive life even with all that ambiguity. No matter what happens, whether the cancer never flares up again or whether you die, the important thing is that the days that you have had you will have lived."

- Gilda Radner

"Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence."

- Helen Keller

"Breast cancer changes you, and the change can be beautiful."

- Jane Cook

"You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face."

- Eleanor Roosevelt

"When life kicks you, let it kick you forward."

- Kay Yow

"Having had cancer, one important thing to know is you’re still the same person at the end. You’re stripped down to near zero. But most people come out the other end feeling more like themselves than ever before."

- Kylie Minogue

"Surround yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher."

- Oprah

"I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead and some come from behind. But I've bought a big bat. I'm all ready you see. Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!"

- Dr. Seuss

"Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference."

- Winston Churchill

"When written in Chinese, the word 'crisis' is composed of two characters - one represents danger, the other represents opportunity."

- John F. Kennedy

"Believe you can, and you're halfway there."

- Theodore Roosevelt

"Yesterday I dared to struggle. Today I dare to win."

- Bernadette Devlin

"Don't look for miracles, you yourself are a miracle"

- Henry Miller

"When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this: You haven't."

- Thomas Edison

"Keep the faith— faith in God, faith in your doctors, faith in yourself. One day at a time."

- Albert

"Enjoy every day without worrying about the next."

- Diego Zamora

"To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering."

- Friedrich Nietzsche

"When I first was diagnosed, my gut reaction was, ‘This is a terrible thing.’ But as my journey has progressed, I feel so blessed because I’ve experienced the most incredible outpouring of love you can imagine."

- Victoria Lavine

"Many, many years ago, I was on a boat with my husband. I was swimming in the water. He came to the bow of the boat and he said, ‘Jules, I don’t want you to panic, but there’s a shark in the water, so you need to come back.’ And I was far away from the boat. And so, I just saw the ladder and I started swimming toward it, and I made the decision not to look around me at all. I was just going to stay looking at the ladder. And that very much applied to how I got through my cancer adventure—was sort of looking at the ladder. Just let’s get this done, let’s get there."

- Julia Louis-Dreyfus

"Being positive is the best medicine you can take."

- Maggie Howard

"I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night."

- Galileo

"Don’t pass up the cherry pie."

- Eddie Yarmer

"Don't lose hope. When the sun goes down, the stars come out."

- Unknown

"You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, smarter than you think, and twice as beautiful as you'd ever imagined."

"I had cancer, cancer never had me."

"Remember: you're not dying from cancer . . . You're LIVING with it."

"Cancer is so limited...It cannot cripple love. It cannot shatter hope. It cannot corrode faith. It cannot eat away peace. It cannot destroy confidence. It cannot kill friendship. It cannot shut out memories. It cannot silence courage. It cannot reduce eternal life. It cannot quench the Spirit."

"You don’t know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have."

- Unknown

"Never give up. Never give in."

"It is often in the darkest skies that we see the brightest stars."

"Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations."

"You are loved. You are wonderfully made. You are beautiful. You are a masterpiece. God has a great plan for you."

"Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass It's about learning how to DANCE IN THE RAIN"

"Faith is daring to go beyond what the eyes can see."

"Hope sees the invisible, feels the intangible and achieves the impossible."

"Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over it became a butterfly."

"Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord."

"Remember you are the one fighting the battle – and it is up to you how you fight. Never give up on yourself no matter what others say!"

"I HAVE CANCER….BUT CANCER DOESN’T HAVE ME."

"Life is like the ocean. It can be calm or still, and rough or rigid, but in the end, it is always beautiful."

"You can't smooth out the surf, but you can learn to ride the waves."

"Broken crayons still color."

"Be at peace with the cancer; don't be angry at it and don't say ‘why me’."

"Give me the strength and clarity of mind to find my purpose and walk the path you’ve laid out for me."

"We may have cancer, but cancer doesn't have us."

"The darkest hour is always the one before the dawn."

"When I was diagnosed with Prostate cancer the SECOND time, I was defeated. But overnight God whispered that He did not create me to be a defeated person, but a winner. So, I put on the armor of God and went to battle. Created a battle plan between my oncologist, people that would uphold me and of course the Lord. “This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army, (cancer) for the battle does not belong to you, but to God.” 2 Chronicles 20:15. There is my hope!"

"When I was diagnosed with breast cancer same breast 2nd time I said “I am not going down without a fight”"

"You’re a victor over all circumstances with your faith and we stand with you!"

"One day at a time! I can only do this by getting through each day the best I can, then through the night, and when tomorrow comes, I start over!"

"Never be ashamed of a scar. It simply means you were stronger than whatever tried to hurt you."

"We can't always choose the music life plays for us, but we can choose how we dance to it."

"You have cancer….but it doesn’t have YOU."

"You are NOT a statistic."

"You are not your Cancer"