80 Quotes on Courage and Strength for Difficult Times

Life often tests our courage and strength, especially during difficult times. Whether it’s dealing with personal struggles, challenges in our careers, or the unpredictable curveballs life throws our way, these moments call for resilience. Finding inner strength and courage can feel overwhelming, but words have the power to inspire, lift us up, and help us persevere when things seem impossible. That’s why we’ve curated this list of 80 quotes to help you navigate life’s most challenging moments.

From well-known figures like Nelson Mandela and Maya Angelou to anonymous words of wisdom passed down through time, these quotes will help you find strength, face fear, and push forward no matter how hard the journey gets.

Finding Your Inner Strength

When times are tough, it’s easy to feel like you’re at your breaking point. But often, the strength we need is already within us, waiting to be tapped into. These quotes will remind you of the resilience you possess and the power of keeping faith in yourself.

Looking for more inspiration to fuel your inner strength? Check out these Motivational Quotes to Inspire Hard Work and Determination.

Courage in the Face of Fear

We all face fear at some point, whether it’s fear of failure, fear of the unknown, or fear of change. But courage isn’t about not being afraid — it’s about facing that fear head-on and moving forward anyway. The following quotes will inspire you to summon the bravery needed to confront fear and emerge stronger on the other side.

Need more courage to tackle new challenges? Visit our collection of Inspiring Quotes to Boost Your Motivation Instantly.

Perseverance Through Life’s Challenges

Life’s hardest challenges often turn out to be our greatest teachers. Perseverance is key when things seem too difficult, and sometimes all we need is a reminder that pushing through will eventually lead to growth and transformation. Let these quotes keep you focused on what lies beyond the obstacles in your path.

If you’re going through a rough time, these Feeling Drained Quotes for When You’re Exhausted might help lift your spirits.

Rising Above Adversity

Adversity doesn’t just shape us — it reveals who we truly are. When faced with hardship, we have a choice: to let it break us or to use it as an opportunity for growth. These quotes will help you rise above adversity with grace and determination.

For more words of wisdom on overcoming difficulties, see our Quotes That Will Help You Find Strength in Adversity.

Let these words be your guide when times are tough. Whether you’re searching for motivation, courage, or a reminder that you’re not alone, this collection of quotes will inspire you to keep moving forward, no matter what challenges come your way.

1. Finding Strength Within

1. “Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths.” — Arnold Schwarzenegger
2. “You never know how strong you are until being strong is your only choice.” — Bob Marley
3. “It is not the strength of the body that counts, but the strength of the spirit.” — J.R.R. Tolkien
4. “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
5. “Strength comes from the courage to keep going even when you feel like giving up.” — Les Brown
6. “Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict.” — William Ellery Channing
7. “The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places.” — Ernest Hemingway
8. “Be strong enough to stand alone, smart enough to know when you need help, and brave enough to ask for it.” — Ziad K. Abdelnour
9. “True strength is keeping everything together when everyone expects you to fall apart.” — Unknown
10. “The strength of your life is measured by the strength of your heart.” — Mandy Hale

2. Courage to Overcome Fear

1. “Courage is not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it.” — Nelson Mandela
2. “Do the thing you fear most and the death of fear is certain.” — Mark Twain
3. “Fear is a reaction. Courage is a decision.” — Winston Churchill
4. “You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
5. “The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” — Nelson Mandela
6. “Courage is being scared to death but saddling up anyway.” — John Wayne
7. “Fear doesn’t shut you down; it wakes you up.” — Veronica Roth
8. “Courage is the power to let go of the familiar.” — Raymond Lindquist
9. “To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong.” — Joseph Chilton Pearce
10. “Fear has two meanings: ‘Forget Everything And Run’ or ‘Face Everything And Rise.’ The choice is yours.” — Zig Ziglar

3. Persevering Through Challenges

1. “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.” — Winston Churchill
2. “The only way to overcome is to hang in.” — Dan O’Brien
3. “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” — Confucius
4. “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” — Albert Einstein
5. “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” — Nelson Mandela
6. “Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other.” — Walter Elliot
7. “Fall seven times, stand up eight.” — Japanese Proverb
8. “Hard times may have held you down, but they will not last forever.” — Joel Osteen
9. “Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat.” — F. Scott Fitzgerald
10. “Persistence and resilience only come from having been given the chance to work through difficult problems.” — Gever Tulley

4. Courage to Keep Going

1. “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
2. “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” — Nelson Mandela
3. “Keep going, because you did not come this far just to come this far.” — Unknown
4. “Courage is one step ahead of fear.” — Coleman Young
5. “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” — Joseph Kennedy
6. “Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage with others.” — Robert Louis Stevenson
7. “Courage is grace under pressure.” — Ernest Hemingway
8. “The only limit to our realization of tomorrow is our doubts of today.” — Franklin D. Roosevelt
9. “It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up.” — Vince Lombardi
10. “Start where you are. Use what you have. Do what you can.” — Arthur Ashe

5. Rising Above Adversity

1. “The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.” — Molière
2. “Adversity causes some men to break; others to break records.” — William Arthur Ward
3. “Turn your wounds into wisdom.” — Oprah Winfrey
4. “Difficulties in life are intended to make us better, not bitter.” — Dan Reeves
5. “Out of difficulties grow miracles.” — Jean de La Bruyère
6. “No pressure, no diamonds.” — Thomas Carlyle
7. “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” — Winston Churchill
8. “You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated.” — Maya Angelou
9. “Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle.” — Napoleon Hill
10. “Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.” — J.K. Rowling

6. Finding Courage in the Face of Uncertainty

1. “We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.” — Martin Luther King Jr.
2. “The cave you fear to enter holds the treasure you seek.” — Joseph Campbell
3. “To dare is to lose one’s footing momentarily. To not dare is to lose oneself.” — Søren Kierkegaard
4. “He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.” — Muhammad Ali
5. “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
6. “Courage is the price that life exacts for granting peace.” — Amelia Earhart
7. “In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.” — Sun Tzu
8. “You have to accept whatever comes, and the only important thing is that you meet it with courage.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
9. “It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” — E.E. Cummings
10. “Without courage, wisdom bears no fruit.” — Baltasar Gracián

7. Strength in Resilience

1. “Resilience is knowing that you are the only one that has the power and the responsibility to pick yourself up.” — Mary Holloway
2. “Life doesn’t get easier or more forgiving; we get stronger and more resilient.” — Steve Maraboli
3. “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” — Confucius
4. “Tough times never last, but tough people do.” — Robert H. Schuller
5. “Resilience is accepting your new reality, even if it’s less good than the one you had before.” — Elizabeth Edwards
6. “You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.” — Margaret Thatcher
7. “The human capacity for burden is like bamboo—far more flexible than you’d ever believe at first glance.” — Jodi Picoult
8. “The oak fought the wind and was broken, the willow bent when it must and survived.” — Robert Jordan
9. “When something bad happens you have three choices. You can let it define you, destroy you, or strengthen you.” — Unknown
10. “I can be changed by what happens to me, but I refuse to be reduced by it.” — Maya Angelou

8. Courage to Embrace Change

1. “Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.” — Anaïs Nin
2. “Change is never easy, but always possible.” — Barack Obama
3. “The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” — Socrates
4. “Every great dream begins with a dreamer.” — Harriet Tubman
5. “The greatest discovery of any generation is that a human can alter his life by altering his attitude.” — William James
6. “It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure.” — Alan Cohen
7. “It is never too late to be what you might have been.” — George Eliot
8. “Courage is the commitment to begin without any guarantee of success.” — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
9. “To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.” — Winston Churchill
10. “Do not be afraid of change, for it is leading you to a new beginning.” — Joyce Meyer