"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a battle you know nothing about." This popular quote has been widely shared with slightly different variations (some attributed to Robin Williams, Plato, Ian Maclaren, etc.), but they all contain the same blaring truth—there are countless challenges surrounding ourselves and our communities. Even in the midst of a global pandemic, each individual and each family has their own set of personal struggles and concerns (related to the virus, or not). But there is courage and hope to be found in every obstacle that we face, and these 100 quotes for tough times will help us get through our collective and personal hard times.
Whether you are pressing on with focused determination, feeling overwhelmed with so much of the unknown, resting firmly in your faith, struggling with anxiety, or all of the above—going through difficult circumstances can bring forth new, burdensome challenges to navigate. When the afflictions you're dealing with seem too severe and unmanageable, remember that you are not alone, you are stronger than you realize, and it is more than okay to ask for help.
We all need to take time to breathe deep, shut out the voices of panic and worry inside our heads, and be reminded that we can and will get through these hardships. So, get yourself a glass of water, sit back, and let these 100 inspirational quotes for tough times refresh your fighting spirit and faith!
100 Tough Times Quotes
1. “The human capacity for burden is like bamboo - far more flexible than you'd ever believe at first glance.” — Jodi Picoult
2. “I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.” — Maya Angelou
3. “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
4. "Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it." — Helen Keller
5. “Turn your wounds into wisdom.” — Oprah Winfrey
6. “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
7. "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
8. “A good half of the art of living is resilience.” — Alain de Botton
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9. “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
10. “It’s your reaction to adversity, not adversity itself that determines how your life’s story will develop.” — Dieter F. Uchtdorf
11. "Life doesn't get easier or more forgiving, we get stronger and more resilient." — Steve Maraboli
12. “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
13. “No matter how much falls on us, we keep plowing ahead. That's the only way to keep the roads clear.” — Greg Kincaid
14. “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
15. "The oak fought the wind and was broken, the willow bent when it must and survived." — Robert Jordan
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16. “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
17. “Strong people alone know how to organize their suffering so as to bear only the most necessary pain.” — Emil Dorian
18. “Some knowledge is too heavy...you cannot bear it...your Father will carry it until you are able.” — Corrie ten Boom
19. “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
20. “It may sound strange, but many champions are made champions by setbacks.” — Bob Richards
21. “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
22. “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
23. “The difference between a strong man and a weak one is that the former does not give up after a defeat.” — Woodrow Wilson
24. "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
25. “I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance,
Never settle for the path of least resistance.” — Lee Ann Womack
26. “Life is very interesting. In the end, some of your greatest pains become your greatest strengths.” — Drew Barrymore
27. "My barn having burned down, I can now see the moon." — Mizuta Masahide
28. “If you're going through hell, keep going.” — Winston Churchill
29. "Enthusiasm is common. Endurance is rare." — Angela Duckworth
30. “Fall seven times, stand up eight.” — Japanese Proverb
31. “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
32. “We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations.” — Chuck Swindoll
33. “Resilience is the ability to attack while running away.” — Wes Fessler
34. "You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.” — Margaret Thatcher
35. “Rock bottom became the solid foundation in which I rebuilt my life.” — J.K. Rowling
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36. "That which does not kill us makes us stronger." — Friedrich Nietzsche
37. “One’s dignity may be assaulted, vandalized and cruelly mocked, but it can never be taken away unless it is surrendered.” — Michael J. Fox
38. “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
39. “Successful people demonstrate their resilience through their dedication to making progress every day, even if that progress is marginal." — Jonathan Mills
40. “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
41. “You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” — Marcus Aurelius
42. “Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.” — Og Mandino
43. "With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts." — Eleanor Roosevelt
44. "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
45. “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
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46. "Hard times don't create heroes. It is during the hard times when the 'hero' within us is revealed." — Bob Riley
47. “What helps you persevere is your resilience and commitment.” — Roy T. Bennett
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48. “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
49. "If your heart is broken, make art with the pieces." — Shane Koyczan
50. “Happiness isn’t something that depends on our surroundings…it’s something we make inside ourselves.” — Corrie ten Boom
51. “Nothing is more beautiful than the smile that has struggled through the tears.” — Demi Lovato
52. “Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.” — Khalil Gibran
53. "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
54. “The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places.” — Ernest Hemingway
55. “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
56. "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
57. “Persistence and resilience only come from having been given the chance to work through difficult problems.” — Gever Tulley
58. “Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict.” — William Ellery Channing
59. "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
60. “There is meaning in every journey that is unknown to the traveler.” — Dietrich Bonhoeffer
61. “Do not judge me by my success, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.” — Nelson Mandela
62. "Hard times arouse an instinctive desire for authenticity." — Coco Chanel
63. “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
64. “We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided.” — J.K. Rowling
65. “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
66. "You never know how strong you are, until being strong is your only choice." — Bob Marley
67. “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
68. “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
69. “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” — Thomas Edison
70. “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
71. “She stood in the storm and when the wind did not blow her way, she adjusted her sails.” — Elizabeth Edwards
72. “Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue consistently.” — Maya Angelou
73. “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
74. “He who believes is strong; he who doubts is weak. Strong convictions precede great actions.” — Louisa May Alcott
75. “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” — Confucius
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76. "Hard times build determination and inner strength. Through them we can also come to appreciate the uselessness of anger." — Dalai Lama
77. "Be patient and tough; someday this pain will be useful to you." — Ovid
78. “Only those who dare to fail greatly, can ever achieve greatly.” — Robert F. Kennedy
79. “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
80. “A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.” — Christopher Reeve
81. "Grief and resilience live together." — Michelle Obama
82. “We are not a product of what has happened to us in our past. We have the power of choice.” — Stephen Covey
83. “When we learn how to become resilient, we learn how to embrace the beautifully broad spectrum of the human experience.” — Jaeda Dewalt
84. "When you go through something, like, you learn to appreciate little things - the birds, trees, flowers." — Grizz Chapman
85. "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
86. “Resilience is based on compassion for ourselves as well as compassion for others.” — Sharon Salzberg
87. “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength.” — Corrie ten Boom
88. "Every adversity, every failure, and every heartache, carries with it the seed of an equivalent or greater benefit." — Napoleon Hill
89. "Confidence, courage and determined spirit are vital for surviving hard times." — Lailah Gifty Akita
90. "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
91. "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
92. "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
93. "We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope." — Martin Luther King, Jr.
94. "The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials." — Chinese Proverb
95. "Worry never robs tomorrow of its sorrow, it only saps today of its joy." — Leo Buscaglia
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96. "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
97. "In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity." — Albert Einstein
98. "When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it." — Henry Ford
99. "Going through challenging things can teach you a lot, and they also make you appreciate the times that aren't so challenging." — Carrie Fisher
100. "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
And since scrolling on our phones seems to be one coping mechanism for a welcome distraction, here are 25 inspiring Instagram accounts to add positivity to your feed!