100 Quotes That Will Help You Find Strength in Adversity

Life doesn’t always go as planned. There are moments when challenges, hardships, and obstacles test our resilience. But it’s in these moments of adversity that we find our greatest strength. Whether you’re facing personal struggles or professional setbacks, these quotes serve as reminders that growth often happens through difficulty, and strength is built through perseverance.

If you’re looking for a way to boost your motivation during tough times, you’ve come to the right place. Drawing from the wisdom of motivational speakers, philosophers, and leaders, the following quotes will empower you to keep moving forward, no matter the challenge. You can also check out our 125 motivational quotes to inspire hard work and determination for additional encouragement.

What Does It Mean to Find Strength in Adversity?

Finding strength in adversity isn’t about ignoring your struggles or pretending that everything is fine. It’s about recognizing that hard times are a part of life and using them as opportunities to grow stronger, wiser, and more resilient. As this article on motivational quotes for struggle explains, every obstacle you face is a stepping stone toward a better version of yourself.

Embracing adversity means learning how to respond with grace, patience, and persistence, even when things seem overwhelming. Let’s dive into the quotes that can inspire you to embrace this mindset.

The Power of Resilience

One of the most important skills you can develop in life is resilience. It’s the ability to bounce back from adversity, learn from your experiences, and emerge stronger on the other side. As you navigate through life’s ups and downs, remember that resilience can turn your hardest moments into your greatest triumphs.

If you’re searching for more daily motivation, explore these best inspiring motivational quotes for September to kickstart your journey to resilience.

Staying Positive in Difficult Times

Positivity is a powerful tool when faced with challenges. Maintaining a positive attitude, even when life feels overwhelming, can shift your mindset from feeling defeated to feeling empowered. To uplift your spirits, take a look at these positive inspirational good morning smile quotes that can brighten your day and remind you of the power of optimism.

1. Finding Strength in Hard Times

1. “Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths.” — Arnold Schwarzenegger
2. “Turn your wounds into wisdom.” — Oprah Winfrey
3. “The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places.” — Ernest Hemingway
4. “Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the body.” — Seneca
5. “Hard times may have held you down, but they will not last forever.” — Joel Osteen
6. “Out of difficulties grow miracles.” — Jean de La Bruyère
7. “Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.” — J.K. Rowling
8. “Tough times never last, but tough people do.” — Robert H. Schuller
9. “The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.” — Molière
10. “You were given this life because you are strong enough to live it.” — Robin Sharma

2. Resilience in the Face of Challenges

1. “Resilience is knowing that you are the only one that has the power and responsibility to pick yourself up.” — Mary Holloway
2. “What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
3. “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” — Confucius
4. “It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.” — Lou Holtz
5. “Persistence and resilience only come from having been given the chance to work through difficult problems.” — Gever Tulley
6. “Do not judge me by my success, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.” — Nelson Mandela
7. “I can be changed by what happens to me, but I refuse to be reduced by it.” — Maya Angelou
8. “The human capacity for burden is like bamboo—far more flexible than you’d ever believe at first glance.” — Jodi Picoult
9. “Resilience is the ability to attack while running away.” — Wes Fessler
10. “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

3. Embracing Adversity

1. “Adversity causes some men to break; others to break records.” — William Arthur Ward
2. “If it scares you, it might be a good thing to try.” — Seth Godin
3. “Adversity introduces a man to himself.” — Albert Einstein
4. “Challenges are what make life interesting, and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.” — Joshua J. Marine
5. “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” — Albert Einstein
6. “Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.” — Napoleon Hill
7. “Don’t be afraid of opposition. Remember, a kite rises against the wind, not with it.” — Hamilton Wright Mabie
8. “Embrace uncertainty. Some of the most beautiful chapters in our lives won’t have a title until much later.” — Bob Goff
9. “You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
10. “Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.” — C.S. Lewis

4. Overcoming Obstacles

1. “The only way to overcome challenges is to face them head-on.” — Les Brown
2. “The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.” — Molière
3. “Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off the goal.” — Henry Ford
4. “Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” — Theodore Roosevelt
5. “Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.” — Babe Ruth
6. “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.” — Winston Churchill
7. “You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
8. “Obstacles are opportunities in disguise.” — Tony Robbins
9. “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” — Thomas Edison
10. “The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out; they are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something.” — Randy Pausch

5. Finding Courage in Difficult Moments

1. “Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear, not absence of fear.” — Mark Twain
2. “Courage is grace under pressure.” — Ernest Hemingway
3. “It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” — E.E. Cummings
4. “You can’t be brave if you’ve only had wonderful things happen to you.” — Mary Tyler Moore
5. “Courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway.” — John Wayne
6. “You will never do anything in this world without courage.” — Aristotle
7. “It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up.” — Vince Lombardi
8. “He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.” — Muhammad Ali
9. “Scared is what you’re feeling. Brave is what you’re doing.” — Emma Donoghue
10. “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” — Anais Nin

6. Finding Hope in Despair

1. “Once you choose hope, anything’s possible.” — Christopher Reeve
2. “In the dark times, if you have something to hold on to, it’s hope.” — Oprah Winfrey
3. “Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.” — Desmond Tutu
4. “Hope is a waking dream.” — Aristotle
5. “When the world says, ‘Give up,’ hope whispers, ‘Try one more time.’” — Unknown
6. “Hope is the companion of power, and mother of success.” — Samuel Smiles
7. “Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.” — Helen Keller
8. “Keep your face always toward the sunshine, and shadows will fall behind you.” — Walt Whitman
9. “Where there is no hope, it is incumbent on us to invent it.” — Albert Camus
10. “Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey toward it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us.” — Samuel Smiles

7. Finding Inner Peace Amid Chaos

1. “Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.” — Buddha
2. “You will find peace not by trying to escape your problems, but by confronting them courageously.” — J. Donald Walters
3. “Chaos is inherent in all compounded things. Strive on with diligence.” — Buddha
4. “Never be in a hurry; do everything quietly and in a calm spirit.” — Saint Francis de Sales
5. “Do not let the behavior of others destroy your inner peace.” — Dalai Lama
6. “You’ll never find peace of mind until you listen to your heart.” — George Michael
7. “Sometimes you can find peace of mind by transferring yourself to different situations.” — Yoko Ono
8. “It’s not the absence of conflict, but the ability to handle it, that brings peace.” — Unknown
9. “You cannot always control what goes on outside. But you can always control what goes on inside.” — Wayne Dyer
10. “The life of inner peace, being harmonious and without stress, is the easiest type of existence.” — Norman Vincent Peale

8. Learning from Adversity

1. “In every adversity, there is the seed of an equivalent or greater benefit.” — Napoleon Hill
2. “Adversity reveals genius, prosperity conceals it.” — Horace
3. “Sometimes the worst place you can be is in your own head.” — Unknown
4. “Adversity is the diamond dust heaven polishes its jewels with.” — Thomas Carlyle
5. “Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it.” — Charles R. Swindoll
6. “Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.” — Henry Ford
7. “Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” — Winston Churchill
8. “I’ve learned that strong people always rise above adversity.” — Nelson Mandela
9. “Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles he has overcome.” — **Booker T.
10. “When adversity strikes, that’s when you have to be the most calm. Take a step back, stay strong, stay grounded, and press on.” — LL Cool J

9. Strength through Perseverance

1. “Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another.” — Walter Elliot
2. “Through perseverance many people win success out of what seemed destined to be certain failure.” — Benjamin Disraeli
3. “Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th.” — Julie Andrews
4. “Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” — Robert Collier
5. “Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance.” — Samuel Johnson
6. “Perseverance, secret of all triumphs.” — Victor Hugo
7. “The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, but rather a lack of will.” — Vince Lombardi
8. “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” — Albert Einstein
9. “Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.” — Sam Levenson
10. “Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.” — Newt Gingrich

10. Strength in Personal Growth

1. “Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle.” — Napoleon Hill
2. “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” — Albert Einstein
3. “Growth is painful. Change is painful. But nothing is as painful as staying stuck somewhere you don’t belong.” — Mandy Hale
4. “You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge yourself one.” — James A. Froude
5. “Be not afraid of growing slowly, be afraid only of standing still.” — Chinese Proverb
6. “Life is growth. If we stop growing, technically and spiritually, we are as good as dead.” — Morihei Ueshiba
7. “What we fear doing most is usually what we most need to do.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
8. “The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.” — Alan Watts
9. “The biggest room in the world is the room for improvement.” — Helmut Schmidt
10. “You will either step forward into growth or you will step back into safety.” — Abraham Maslow