50 Inspirational Quotes to Help You Through Hard Times

"Hard times don’t create heroes. It is during the hard times when the ‘hero’ within us is revealed."

- Bob Riley

"The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall."

- Oliver Goldsmith

"Never give in. Never, never, never."

- Winston Churchill

"You may not always have a comfortable life and you will not always be able to solve all of the world's problems at once but don't ever underestimate the importance you can have because history has shown us that courage can be contagious and hope can take on a life of its own."

- Michelle Obama

"Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all."

- Dale Carnegie

"Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved."

- Helen Keller

"Life is very interesting. In the end, some of your greatest pains become your greatest strengths."

- Drew Barrymore

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

- Charles R. Swindoll

"Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue consistently."

- Maya Angelou

"When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it."

- Henry Ford

"Going through challenging things can teach you a lot, and they also make you appreciate the times that aren't so challenging."

- Carrie Fisher

"When we learn how to become resilient, we learn how to embrace the beautifully broad spectrum of the human experience."

- Jaeda DeWalt

"We do not have to become heroes overnight. Just a step at a time, meeting each thing that comes up, seeing it is not as dreadful as it appeared, discovering we have the strength to stare it down."

- Eleanor Roosevelt

"I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong... I believe that tomorrow is another day and I believe in miracles."

- Audrey Hepburn

"Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength."

- Corrie ten Boom

"Every adversity, every failure, and every heartache, carries with it the seed of an equivalent or greater benefit."

- Napoleon Hill

"Confidence, courage and determined spirit are vital for surviving hard times."

- Lailah Gifty Akita

"Difficult times have helped me to understand better than before, how infinitely rich and beautiful life is in every way, and that so many things that one goes worrying about are of no importance whatsoever."

- Zahid Abas

"Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul - and sings the tunes without the words - and never stops at all."

- Emily Dickinson

"The difference between a strong man and a weak one is that the former does not give up after a defeat."

- Woodrow Wilson

"We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope."

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

"My scars remind me that I did indeed survive my deepest wounds. That in itself is an accomplishment. And they bring to mind something else, too. They remind me that the damage life has inflicted on me has, in many places, left me stronger and more resilient. What hurt me in the past has actually made me better equipped to face the present."

- Steve Goodier

"Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy."

- Leo Buscaglia

"Resilience is accepting your new reality, even if it's less good than the one you had before. You can fight it, you can do nothing but scream about what you've lost, or you can accept that and try to put together something that's good."

- Elizabeth Edwards

"Tough times never last, but tough people do"

- Robert Schuller

"You never know how strong you are until being strong is your only choice."

- Bob Marley

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

- Seneca

"We don’t develop courage by being happy every day. We develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity."

- Barbara de Angelis

"If you're going through hell, keep going."

- Winston Churchill

"There is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think."

- A.A. Milne

"We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope."

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

"I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it."

- Maya Angelou

"We may encounter many defeats, but we must not be defeated."

- Maya Angelou

"Fall seven times, stand up eight."

- Japanese Proverb

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

- Helen Keller

"Listen to the people who love you. Believe that they are worth living for even when you don’t believe it. Seek out the memories depression takes away and project them into the future. Be brave; be strong; take your pills. Exercise because it’s good for you even if every step weighs a thousand pounds. Eat when food itself disgusts you. Reason with yourself when you have lost your reason."

- Andrew Solomon

"Never say that you can't do something, or that something seems impossible, or that something can't be done, no matter how discouraging or harrowing it may be; human beings are limited only by what we allow ourselves to be limited by: our own minds. We are each the masters of our own reality; when we become self-aware to this: absolutely anything in the world is possible."

- Mike Norton

"You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated."

- Maya Angelou

"It’s your reaction to adversity, not adversity itself that determines how your life’s story will develop."

- Dieter F. Uchtdorf

"Rock bottom became the solid foundation in which I rebuilt my life."

- J.K. Rowling

"That which does not kill us makes us stronger."

- Friedrich Nietzsche

"Life doesn't get easier or more forgiving, we get stronger and more resilient."

- Steve Maraboli

"We all have battles to fight. And it's often in those battles that we are most alive: it's on the frontlines of our lives that we earn wisdom, create joy, forge friendships, discover happiness, find love, and do purposeful work."

- Eric Greitens

"On the other side of a storm is the strength that comes from having navigated through it. Raise your sail and begin."

- Gregory S. Williams

"Courage doesn't always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying 'I will try again tomorrow.'"

- Mary Anne Radmacher

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

- Marcus Aurelius

"Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough."

- Og Mandino

"Resilience is very different than being numb. Resilience means you experience, you feel, you fail, you hurt. You fall. But, you keep going."

- Yasmin Mogahed

"I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ’Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death."

- Thomas Paine

"Hard times don't create heroes. It is during the hard times when the 'hero' within us is revealed."

- Bob Riley

"The oak fought the wind and was broken, the willow bent when it must and survived."

- Robert Jordan

"You must bear losses like a soldier, the voice told me, bravely and without complaint, and just when the day seems lost, grab your shield for another stand, another thrust forward. That is the juncture that separates heroes from the merely strong."

- Margaret George

"Happiness isn’t something that depends on our surroundings…it’s something we make inside ourselves."

- Corrie ten Boom

"Nothing is more beautiful than the smile that has struggled through the tears."

- Demi Lovato

"Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars."

- Kahlil Gibran

"Hard times may have held you down, but they will not last forever. When all is said and done, you will be increased."

- Joel Osteen

"The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places."

- Ernest Hemingway

"It is really wonderful how much resilience there is in human nature. Let any obstructing cause, no matter what, be removed in any way, even by death, and we fly back to first principles of hope and enjoyment."

- Bram Stoker

"Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it."

- Helen Keller

"Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict."

- William Ellery Channing

"I have no regrets in my life. I think that everything happens to you for a reason. The hard times that you go through build character, making you a much stronger person."

- Rita Mero

"The human capacity for burden is like bamboo - far more flexible than you'd ever believe at first glance."

- Jodi Picoult

"Do not judge me by my success, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again."

- Nelson Mandela

"There is a saying in Tibetan, ‘Tragedy should be utilized as a source of strength.' No matter what sort of difficulties, how painful experience is, if we lose our hope, that’s our real disaster."

- 14th Dalai Lama

"Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength."

- Arnold Schwarzenegger

"No matter how bleak or menacing a situation may appear, it does not entirely own us. It can't take away our freedom to respond, our power to take action."

- Ryder Carroll

"You never know how strong you are, until being strong is your only choice."

- Bob Marley

"Anyone can give up; it is the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone would expect you to fall apart, now that is true strength."

- Chris Bradford

"Like tiny seeds with potent power to push through tough ground and become mighty trees, we hold innate reserves of unimaginable strength. We are resilient."

- Catherine DeVrye

"Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time."

- Thomas A. Edison

"And one has to understand that braveness is not the absence of fear but rather the strength to keep on going forward despite the fear."

- Paulo Coelho

"She stood in the storm and when the wind did not blow her way, she adjusted her sails."

- Elizabeth Edwards

"In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity."

- Albert Einstein

"All the adversity I’ve had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me…. You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you."

- Walt Disney

"Turn your wounds into wisdom."

- Oprah Winfrey

"Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall."

- Confucius

"Hard times build determination and inner strength. Through them we can also come to appreciate the uselessness of anger."

- Dalai Lama

"No one escapes pain, fear, and suffering. Yet from pain can come wisdom, from fear can come courage, from suffering can come strength - if we have the virtue of resilience."

- Eric Greitens

"Only those who dare to fail greatly, can ever achieve greatly."

- Robert F. Kennedy

"Make up your mind that no matter what comes your way, no matter how difficult, no matter how unfair, you will do more than simply survive. You will thrive in spite of it."

- Joel Osteen

"A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles."

- Christopher Reeve

"Grief and resilience live together."

- Michelle Obama

"We are not a product of what has happened to us in our past. We have the power of choice."

- Stephen Covey

"One word of encouragement can be enough to spark someone’s motivation to continue with a difficult challenge."

- Roy T. Bennett

"With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts."

- Eleanor Roosevelt

"Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it."

- Michael Jordan

"Never give up. There are always tough times, regardless of what you do in anything in life. Be able to push through those times and maintain your ultimate goal."

- Nathan Chen

"Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny."

- C.S. Lewis

"Every champion was once a contender that refused to give up."

- Rocky Balboa

"You’re going to go through tough times – that’s life. But I say, ‘Nothing happens to you, it happens for you.’ See the positive in negative events."

- Joel Osteen

"Hard times may have put you down sometimes but they will not last forever. When all is said and done, you will be wise and strong."

- Anurag Prakash Ray

"It is by going down into the abyss that we recover the treasures of life. Where you stumble, there lies your treasure."

- Joseph Campbell

"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 a hardship today."

- Thich Nhat Hanh

"In the middle of a difficulty lies opportunity."

- Albert Einstein

"Hard times are sometimes blessings in disguise. We do have to suffer but in the end it makes us strong, better and wise."

- Anurag Prakash Ray

"She stood in the storm, & and when the wind did not blow her away, she adjusted her sails."

- Elizabeth Edwards

"A good half of the art of living is resilience."

- Alain de Botton

"No matter how much falls on us, we keep plowing ahead. That's the only way to keep the roads clear."

- Greg Kincaid

"Strong people alone know how to organize their suffering so as to bear only the most necessary pain."

- Emil Dorian

"It may sound strange, but many champions are made champions by setbacks."

- Bob Richards

"Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody else expects of you. Never excuse yourself. Never pity yourself. Be a hard master to yourself-and be lenient to everybody else."

- Henry Ward Beecher

"I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance, Never settle for the path of least resistance."

- Lee Ann Womack

"Enthusiasm is common. Endurance is rare."

- Angela Duckworth

"We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations."

- Chuck Swindoll

"You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it."

- Dieter F. Uchtdorf

"One’s dignity may be assaulted, vandalized and cruelly mocked, but it can never be taken away unless it is surrendered."

- Michael J. Fox

"The harder you fall, the heavier your heart; the heavier your heart, the stronger you climb; the stronger you climb, the higher your pedestal."

- Criss Jami

"Successful people demonstrate their resilience through their dedication to making progress every day, even if that progress is marginal."

- Jonathan Mills

"Resilience isn't a single skill. It's a variety of skills and coping mechanisms. To bounce back from bumps in the road as well as failures, you should focus on emphasizing the positive."

- Jean Chatzky

"What helps you persevere is your resilience and commitment."

- Roy T. Bennett

"It's a funny thing about life, once you begin to take note of the things you are grateful for, you begin to lose sight of the things that you lack."

- Germany Kent

"Persistence and resilience only come from having been given the chance to work through difficult problems."

- Gever Tulley

"There is meaning in every journey that is unknown to the traveler."

- Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided."

- J.K. Rowling

"He who believes is strong; he who doubts is weak. Strong convictions precede great actions."

- Louisa May Alcott

"Be patient and tough; someday this pain will be useful to you."

- Ovid

"Resilience is based on compassion for ourselves as well as compassion for others."

- Sharon Salzberg

"When things are bad, we take comfort in the thought that they could always get worse. And when they are, we find hope in the thought that things are so bad they have to get better."

- Malcolm S. Forbes

"The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials."

- Chinese Proverb

"And hard times are good in their own way, too. Because the only way you can achieve true happiness is if you experience true sadness as well. It's all about light and shade. Balance."

- Gabrielle Williams

"Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor."

- Truman Capote

"The greater the difficulty, the more glory in surmounting it. Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests."

- Epictetus

"Difficult roads always lead to beautiful destinations."

- Zig Ziglar

"be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it."

- Henry Ford

"It always seems impossible until it’s done."

- Nelson Mandela

"Every problem is a gift. Without problems we would not grow."

- Tony Robbins

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

- Theodore Roosevelt

"Never let your head hang down. Never give up and sit down and grieve. Find another way. And don’t pray when it rains if you don’t pray when the sun shines."

- Leroy Satchel Paige

"Problems are not stop signs, they are guidelines."

- Robert Schuller

"Use what you’ve been through as fuel, believe in yourself and be unstoppable!"

- Yvonne Pierre

"In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life. It goes on."

- Robert Frost

"There are moments when troubles enter our lives and we can do nothing to avoid them. But they are there for a reason. Only when we have overcome them will we understand why they were there."

- Paulo Coelho

"Inside of a ring or out, ain’t nothing wrong with going down. It’s staying down that’s wrong."

- Muhammad Ali

"Energy and persistence conquers all things."

- Benjamin Franklin

"We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey."

- Kenji Miyazawa

"You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you."

- James Allen

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."

- Mahatma Gandhi

"All of life is a test and we all have our challenges to meet."

- Marjory Sheba

"Everything is either an opportunity to grow or an obstacle to keep you from growing. You get to choose."

- Wayne Dyer

"Going through challenging things can teach you a lot, and they also make you appreciate the times that aren’t so challenging."

- Carrie Fisher

"It is only in our darkest hours that we may discover the true strength of the brilliant light within ourselves that can never, ever, be dimmed."

- Doe Zantamata

"If your heart is broken, make art with the pieces."

- Shane Koyczan

"Every generation has their challenge. And things change rapidly, and life gets better in an instant."

- Jon Stewart

"When you go through something, like, you learn to appreciate little things - the birds, trees, flowers."

- Grizz Chapman

"Some knowledge is too heavy...you cannot bear it...your Father will carry it until you are able."

- Corrie ten Boom

"When you know what you want, and want it bad enough, you’ll find a way to get it."

- Jim Rohn

"Sometimes our light goes out, but is blown again into instant flame by an encounter with another human being."

- Albert Schweitzer

"My barn having burned down, I can now see the moon."

- Mizuta Masahide

"Hard times arouse an instinctive desire for authenticity."

- Coco Chanel

"You start with a darkness to move through, but sometimes the darkness moves through you."

- Dean Young

"Resilience is the ability to attack while running away."

- Wes Fessler

"It’s not exactly like you thought it would be, you think it’s a failure. What about the spectrum of colors in between."

- Sara Evans

"We either make ourselves miserable or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same."

"The only way to grow is to face challenges that seem beyond your strength."

"Whenever you find yourself doubting how far you can go, just remember how far you have come. Remember everything you have faced, all the battles you have won, and all the fears you have overcome."

"When you face difficult times, know that challenges are not sent to destroy you. They're sent to promote, increase, and strengthen you."