Whenever we look at the most successful people in the world, we look at their wealth, their homes, and their relationships and we think, “Man, if only my life could be like that.” But there is so much more in the picture than a mansion in the Pacific Palisades, coming home to Cardi B, or an 8 figure check. Adversity is that thing. Everyone in this world faces adversity. Everyone.
When I’m going through hardships and rough times, I am often looking for quotes to help me re-center my thinking. I enjoy reading short quotes by famous people because I say to myself, “If they made it, then so can I.”
Here’s my list of 21 Motivational Quotes About Facing Adversity, I hope it gives you the lift that you need.
- Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which, in prosperous circumstances, would have lain dormant.” – Horace
- “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” – Nelson Mandela
- “Adversity introduces a man to himself.” – Albert Einstein
- “The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.” – Moliere
- “The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.” – Confucius
- “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” – Thomas Edison
- “The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle. As with all matters of the heart, you’ll know when you find it.” – Steve Jobs
- “You are not defined by your past. You are prepared by it. You are stronger, more experienced, and you have greater confidence.” – Joel Osteen
- “It is not in the still calm of life that great characters are formed. The habits of a vigorous mind are formed in contending with difficulties.” – Abigail Adams
- “We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey.” – Kenji Miyazawa
“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” – Nelson Mandela
11. “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill
12. “The only thing that overcomes hard luck is hard work.” – Harry Golden
13. “We don’t develop courage by being happy every day. We develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity.” – Barbara De Angelis
14. “The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty.” – Winston Churchill
15. “I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.” – Jimmy Dean
16. “The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
17. “Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the body.” – Seneca
18. “When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.” – Henry Ford
19. “It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves.” – Sir Edmund Hillary
20. “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
21. “The best way to predict your future is to create it.” – Abraham Lincoln
Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the body. – Seneca
The last quote on this list has become a motto for how I’ve lived my life. When I graduated from college, I knew that I wanted a career as a writer and to work in the entertainment business. I was a sociology major so how was I gonna do that? I came across that Abraham Lincoln quote about creating my own future. I wanted to write for an entertainment magazine, so I created one. I wanted to become an author, so I self-published my first book, then signed with Simon & Schuster. I wanted to write for television, so I shot some independent films and kept writing scripts until I got staffed on a show. Of course, there are many steps in all of these processes, but the point is, I created the future that I wanted to have.
If you are facing adversity today, I’m sending you these quotes of encouragement. I hope something resonates with you. I hope you overcome your battle.
If you have had a breakthrough and want to share it with the Yasmaniac tribe, please let me know. We are more similar than we are different.
