Adversity Quotes

When everyone is against you, it means that you are absolutely wrong--or absolutely right.

~ Albert Guinon

You are a strong woman now, not the insecure, introverted, spoiled brat I married. You know adversity and know how to fight for success. You will do great in this world as you carry on. Be careful. Remember: they all want to fuck you. Few will love you. I do and did.

~ Tit Elingtin

We Americans have many grave problems to solve, many threatening evils to fight, and many deeds to do, if, as we hope and believe, we have the wisdom, the strength, and the courage and the virtue to do them. But we must face facts as they are. We must neither surrender ourselves to a foolish optimism, nor succumb to a timid and ignoble pessimism.

~ Theodore Roosevelt

Adversity removes the friends prosperity has harvested.

~ C.j. Langenhoven

Adversity is sometimes hard upon a man, but for one man who can stand prosperity, there are a hundred that will stand adversity.

~ Thomas Carlyle

We cannot infer from prosperity that God is pleased with us, nor can we infer from adversity that he is displeased with us.

~ Wilson Benton

Sweet are the uses of adversity,Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,Wears yet a precious jewel in his head;And this our life, exempt from public haunt,Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,Sermons in stones, and good in every thing.

~ William Shakespeare

The most extraordinary thing about the oyster is this. Irritation gets into his shell. He does not like them. But when he cannot get rid of them he uses the irritation to do the lovelist thing an oyster ever has the chance to do. If there are irritations in our lives today, there is only one prescription: make a pearl. It may have to be a pearl of patience, but…make a pearl.-In the Treasure Chest, ed. Charles L. Wallis

~ Harry Emerson Fosdick

And, in the end, I knew there was nothing better in life than keeping the head and the heart up—and when you cannot see the shoreline, always putting one hand, one word, in front of the other.

~ Gerald Hausman

I have wondered why it is that our greatest triumphs spring from our greatest extremity and adversity. Perhaps it is because we are so resistant to change, we only move when our seat becomes too hot to occupy.

~ Richard Paul Evans

So, with my knees pierced by needles and my shoulder sewn together by the slender thread of endorphins, I keep to my genuflection and end my story the only way that really fits. As a prayer that seals surrender. World without end. Amen.

~ Sabrina Vourvoulias

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

~ Martin Luther King

Sometimes, situation may be uncomfortable but must endure.

~ Lailah Gifty Akita

For some reason, I had a responsibility to my family and the people who lived around me. I felt that I had to convey their dignity - the way they dealt with adversity and poverty - and their good humor.

~ Frank Mccourt

Brave men rejoice in adversity, just as brave soldiers triumph in war.

~ Lucius Annaeus Seneca

The story of FDR as U.S. Commander in Chief is a heroic war story of a president who had already overcome great adversity in facing polio but who went on to take the reins of our armed forces in the greatest conflagration in human history - on our behalf.

~ Nigel Hamilton

Prosperity tries the fortunate, adversity the great.

~ Rose Kennedy

I'm not a quitter. All my career, I went through a lot of physical adversity, injuries. It's in my nature to be a battler.

~ Harmon Killebrew

Adversity is a great teacher, but this teacher makes us pay dearly for its instruction; and often the profit we derive, is not worth the price we paid.

~ Elizabeth Hardwick

No difficulty can discourage, no obstacle dismay, no trouble dishearten the man who has acquired the art of being alive. Difficulties are but dares of fate, obstacles but hurdles to try his skill, troubles but bitter tonics to give him strength; and he rises higher and looms greater after each encounter with adversity.

~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox

One who gains strength by overcoming obstacles possesses the only strength which can overcome adversity.

~ Albert Schweitzer

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

Life is truly known only to those who suffer, lose, endure adversity and stumble from defeat to defeat.

~ Anaïs Nin

He knows not his own strength that has not met adversity.

~ Ben Jonson

Something called 'the Oklahoma Standard' became known throughout the world. It means resilience in the face of adversity. It means a strength and compassion that will not be defeated.

~ Brad Henry

He knows not his own strength who hath not met adversity.

~ William Samuel Johnson

For a lot of people, Superman is and has always been America's hero. He stands for what we believe is the best within us: limitless strength tempered by compassion, that can bear adversity and emerge stronger on the other side. He stands for what we all feel we would like to be able to stand for, when standing is hardest.

~ J. Michael Straczynski

I really believe in the old expression that what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. It's through adversity that you find the strength you never knew you had.

~ Christie Brinkley

In spite of discouragement and adversity, those who are happiest seem to have a way of learning from difficult times, becoming stronger, wiser and happier as a result.

~ Joseph B. Wirthlin

A lot of people think I had such a rosy career, but I wanted to identify that one of the things that helps you have a long career is learning how to deal with adversity, how to get past it. Once I learned how to get through that, others things didn't seem so hard.

~ Cal Ripken

There is no better than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time.

~ Malcolm X

In times of great stress or adversity, it's always best to keep busy, to plow your anger and your energy into something positive.

~ Lee Iacocca

Someone said adversity builds character, but someone else said adversity reveals character. I'm pleasantly surprised with my resilience. I persevere, and not just blindly. I take the best, get rid of the rest, and move on, realizing that you can make a choice to take the good.

~ Brooke Shields

A heart well prepared for adversity in bad times hopes, and in good times fears for a change in fortune.

~ Horace

A rebirth out of spiritual adversity causes us to become new creatures.

~ James E. Faust

You should never view your challenges as a disadvantage. Instead, it's important for you to understand that your experience facing and overcoming adversity is actually one of your biggest advantages.

~ Michelle Obama

The human race has had long experience and a fine tradition in surviving adversity. But we now face a task for which we have little experience, the task of surviving prosperity.

~ Alan Gregg

The experience of democracy is like the experience of life itself-always changing, infinite in its variety, sometimes turbulent and all the more valuable for having been tested by adversity.

~ Jimmy Carter

By adversity are wrought the greatest works of admiration, and all the fair examples of renown, out of distress and misery are grown.

~ Samuel Daniel

When the world is in the midst of change, when adversity and opportunity are almost indistinguishable, this is the time for visionary leadership and when leaders need to look beyond the survival needs of those they're serving.

~ Chip Conley