Adversity sayings | Adversity quotes | Adversity mottos
Adversity has the same effect on a man that severe training has on the pugilist -- it reduces him to his fighting weight. - Josh Billings
If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome. - Anne Bradstreet
Difficulty, my brethren, is the nurse of greatness --a harsh nurse, who roughly rocks her foster-children into strength and athletic proportion. - William C. Bryant
Trials, temptations, disappointments -- all these are helps instead of hindrances, if one uses them rightly. They not only test the fiber of character but strengthen it. Every conquering temptation represents a new fund of moral energy. Every trial endured and weathered in the right spirit makes a soul nobler and stronger than it was before. - James Buckham
Dust is a protective coating for fine furniture. - Mario Burata
Men stumble over pebbles, never over mountains - Emilie Cady
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
No pressure, no diamonds. - Mary Case
Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional. - M Kathleen Casey
Do not free the camel of the burden of his hump; you may be freeing him from being a camel. - Gilbert K. Chesterton
And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow. - Jerry Chin
What I am looking for is a blessing not in disguise. - Kitty O'neill Collins
I bring to my life a certain amount of mess. - Francis Ford Coppola
If you saw Atlas, the giant who holds the world on his shoulders, if you saw that he stood, blood running down his chest, his knees buckling, his arms trembling but still trying to hold the world aloft with the last of his strength, and the greater the effort the heavier the world bore down upon his shoulders -- what would you tell him to do? I don't know. What could he do? What would you tell him? To shrug. - Francisco D'Anconia
In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present. - Danny Devito
A wounded deer leaps the highest. - Emily Dickinson
People need hard times and oppression to develop psychic muscles. - Frank Herbert, Dune
Gray skies are just clouds passing over. - Duke Ellington
A man is a god in ruins. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
He that can heroically endure adversity will bear prosperity with equal greatest of the soul; for the mind that cannot be dejected by the former is not likely to be transported without the latter. - Henry Fielding
Every hardship; every joy; every temptation is a challenge of the spirit; that the human soul may prove itself. The great chain of necessity wherewith we are bound has divine significance; and nothing happens which has not some service in working out the sublime destiny of the human soul. - Elias A. Ford
What is to give light must endure the burning. - Viktor E. Frankl
Even if you fall on your face, you're still moving forward. - Robert C. Gallagher
Forget the times of your distress, but never forget what they taught you. - Gesser
One may not reach the dawn save by the path of the night. - Kahlil Gibran
Nothing splendid was ever created in cold blood. Heat is required to forge anything. Every great accomplishment is the story of a flaming heart. - Arnold H. Glasgow
We must free ourselves of the hope that the sea will ever rest. We must learn to sail in high winds. - Hanmer Parsons Grant
Some people bear three kinds of trouble -- the ones they've had, the ones they have, and the ones they expect to have. - Edward Everett Hale
Sometimes your medicine bottle has on it, "Shake well before using." That is what God has to do with some of His people. He has to shake them well before they are ever usable. - Vance Havner
It would not be better if things happened to men just as they wish. - Heraclitus
In my room as a kid... I'd play a fighter and get knocked to the floor and come back to win. - Dustin Hoffman
Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant. - Horace
The harder you fall, the higher you bounce. - Doug Horton
Abuse a man unjustly, and you will make friends for him. - Edgar Watson Howe
I used to hurt so badly that I'd ask God why, what have I done to deserve any of this? I feel now He was preparing me for this, for the future. That's the way I see it. - Janet Jackson
If the career you have chosen has some unexpected inconvenience, console yourself by reflecting that no career is without them. - Johnson
Adversity is the state in which man mostly easily becomes acquainted with himself, being especially free of admirers then. - Samuel Johnson
Things don't go wrong and break your heart so you can become bitter and give up. They happen to break you down and build you up so you can be all that you were intended to be. - Charles "Tremendous" Jones
He knows not his own strength that hath not met adversity - Ben Jonson
Had there been no difficulties and no thorns in the way, then man would have been in his primitive state and no progress made in civilization and mental culture. - Anandabai Joshee
Life is truly known only to those who suffer, lose, endure adversity and stumble from defeat to defeat. - Ryszard Kapuscinski
Birds sing after a storm; why shouldn't people feel as free to delight in whatever remains to them? - Rose F. Kennedy
If you can keep your head about you when all about you are losing theirs, its just possible you haven't grasped the situation. - Jean Kerr
Adversity draws men together and produces beauty and harmony in life's relationships, just as the cold of winter produces ice-flowers on the window-panes, which vanish with the warmth. - Soren Kierkegaard
Trouble is the common denominator of living. It is the great equalizer. - Ann Landers
There could be no honor in a sure success, but much might be wrested from a sure defeat. - Thomas E. Lawrence
Adversity is the diamond dust Heaven polishes its jewels with. - Robert Leighton
In terms of the game theory, we might say the universe is so constituted as to maximize play. The best games are not those in which all goes smoothly and steadily toward a certain conclusion, but those in which the outcome is always in doubt. Similarly, the geometry of life is designed to keep us at the point of maximum tension between certainty and uncertainty, order and chaos. Every important call is a close one. We survive and evolve by the skin of our teeth. We really wouldn't want it any other way. - George Leonard
Mishaps are like knives, that either serve us or cut us, as we grasp them by the blade or by the handle. - James Russell Lowell
Usually when people are sad, they don't do anything. They just cry over their condition. But when they get angry, they bring about a change. - Malcolm X
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. - Og Mandino
You never know what events are going to transpire to get you home. - Apollo 13 Movie
Only entropy comes easy. - Lewis Mumford
A certain amount of opposition is a great help to a man. Kites rise against, not with, the wind. - John Neal
The finest steel has to go through the hottest fire. - Richard M. Nixon
Never let your head hang down. Never give up and sit down and grieve. Find another way. And don't pray when it rains if you don't pray when the sun shines. - Leroy "Satchel" Paige
I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but they whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves their conduct, will pursue their principles unto death. - Thomas Paine
I would never have amounted to anything were it not for adversity. I was forced to come up the hard way. - J. C. (James Cash) Penney
The racism, the sexism, I never let it be my problem, it's their problem. If I see a door comin' my way, I'm knockin' it down. And if I can't knock down the door, I'm sliding through the window. I'll never let it stop me from what I wanna do. - Rosie Perez
Prosperity tries the fortunate, adversity the great. - Pliny The Elder
I got in trouble with the police, and that was a rude awakening. That was it. I'd seen the bottom of the pit, and it was time to scrape myself out of it. - Bryan Adams
It takes a real storm in the average person's life to make him realize how much worrying he has done over the squalls. - Heartland Advisor
The reward of suffering is experience. - Aeschylus
I'm not afraid of storms, for I'm learning to sail my ship. - Louisa May Alcott
Painful as it may be, a significant emotional event can be the catalyst for choosing a direction that serves us--and those around us -- more effectively. Look for the learning. - Eric Allenbaugh
You don't develop courage by being happy in your relationships everyday. You develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity. - Barbara De Angelis
When you come to a roadblock, take a detour. - Mary Kay Ash
Every silver lining has a cloud. - Avon
When walking through the "valley of shadows," remember, a shadow is cast by a Light. - H.K. Barclay
Affliction comes to us, not to make us sad but sober; not to make us sorry but wise. - Henry Ward Beecher
It's easier to go down a hill than up it but the view is much better at the top. - Arnold Bennet
It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light. - Taylor Benson
They that sow in tears shall reap joy. [Psalms 126:5] - Bible
The depth of darkness to which you can descend and still live is an exact measure of the height to which you can aspire to reach. - Laurens Van du Post
The seaman tells stories of winds, the ploughman of bulls; the soldier details his wounds, the shepherd his sheep. - Sextus Propertius
A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials. - Chinese Proverb
Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you. - Maori Proverb
Stumbling is not falling. - Portuguese Proverb
Any port in a storm. - Scottish Proverb
Do you think that you shall enter the Garden of Bliss without such trials as came to those who passed before you? - Qur'an
All life demands struggle. Those who have everything given to them become lazy, selfish, and insensitive to the real values of life. The very striving and hard work that we so constantly try to avoid is the major building block in the person we are today. - Ralph Ransom
I have become my own version of an optimist. If I can't make it through one door, I'll go through another door -- or I'll make a door. Something terrific will come no matter how dark the present. - Joan Rivers
If we study the lives of great men and women carefully and unemotionally we find that, invariably, greatness was developed, tested and revealed through the darker periods of their lives. One of the largest tributaries of the RIVER OF GREATNESS is always the STREAM OF ADVERSITY. - Cavett Robert
In a dark time, the eye begins to see. - Theodore Roethke
Over every mountain there is a path, although it may not be seen from the valley. - James Rogers
People are like stained -- glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within - Elizabeth Kubler Ross
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. - Jean Jacques Rousseau
When something an affliction happens to you, you either let it defeat you, or you defeat it. - Rosalind Russell
A man is insensible to the relish of prosperity until he has tasted adversity. - Saadi
When it gets dark enough you can see the stars. - Lee Salk
Trouble shared is trouble halved. - Dorothy L. Sayers
It is not good for all our wishes to be filled; through sickness we recognize the value of health; through evil, the value of good; through hunger, the value of food; through exertion, the value of rest. - Greek Saying
You'll never find a better sparring partner than adversity. - Walt Schmidt
Every burden is a blessing. - Robert H. Schuller
The hardest struggle of all is to be something different from what the average man is. - Charles M. Schwab
One who gains strength by overcoming obstacles possesses the only strength which can overcome adversity. - Albert Schweitzer
The willow which bends to the tempest, often escapes better than the oak which resists it; and so in great calamities, it sometimes happens that light and frivolous spirits recover their elasticity and presence of mind sooner than those of a loftier character. - Sir Walter Scott
It's a matter of ABC: When we encounter ADVERSITY, we react by thinking about it. Our thoughts rapidly congeal into BELIEFS. These beliefs may become so habitual we don't even realize we have them unless we stop to focus on them. And they don't just sit there idly; they have CONSEQUENCES. The beliefs are the direct cause of what we feel and what we do next. They can spell the difference between dejection and giving up, on the one hand, and well-being and constructive action on the other. The first step is to see the connection between adversity, belief, and consequence. The second step is to see how the ABCs operate every day in your own life. - Martin E. P. Seligman
Fire is the test of gold; adversity, of strong men. - Seneca
The bravest sight in the world is to see a great man struggling against adversity. - Seneca
Humanity either makes, or breeds, or tolerates all its afflictions. - H.G. Wells
The path of least resistance is the path of the loser. - Phil Weltman
A reasonable amount o fleas is good for a dog -- keeps him from brooding over being a dog, maybe. - Edward Noyes Westcott
If I traveled to the end of the rainbow as Dame Fortune did intend, Murphy would be there to tell me the pot's at the other end. - Bert Whitney
It is easy enough to be pleasant, When life flows by like a song. But the man worth while is the one who can smile, when everything goes dead wrong. For the test of the heart is troubled, And it always comes with the years. And the smiles that is worth the praises of earth is the smile that shines through tears. - Ella Wheeler Wilcox
Always continue the climb. It is possible for you to do whatever you choose, if you first get to know who you are and are willing to work with a power that is greater than ourselves to do it. - Oprah Winfrey
Duct tape is like the force. It has a light side, a dark side, and it holds the universe together. - Carl Zwanzig
Things were bad but now they are OK. - Harold J. Seymour
One often learns more from ten days of agony than from ten years of contentment. - Merle Shain
Through tattered clothes, small vices do appear. Robes and furred gowns hide all. - William Shakespeare
If you want to win anything -- a race, your self, your life -- you have to go a little berserk. - George Sheehan
For gold is tried in the fire and acceptable men in the furnace of adversity. - Sirach
Many miles away there's a shadow on the door of a cottage on the Shore of a dark Scottish lake. - Sting
Life has meaning only in the struggle. Triumph or defeat is in the hands of the Gods. So let us celebrate the struggle! - Swahili Warrior Song
Every blade of grass has its angel that bends over it and whispers, grow, grow. - The Talmud
If you aren't in over your head, how do you know how tall you are? - Source Unknown
If your knees are knocking, kneel on them. - Source Unknown
The difference between stumbling blocks and stepping stones is how you use them - Source Unknown
The stars are constantly shining, but often we do not see them until the dark hours. - Source Unknown
Two frogs fell into a bowl of cream. One didn't panic, he relaxed and drowned. The other kicked and struggled so much that the cream turned to butter and he walked out. - Source Unknown
We need tough days to drive us to our knees. - Source Unknown
I had to pick myself up and get on with it, do it all over again, only even better this time. - Sam Walton
Adversity causes some men to break, others to break records. - William A. Ward
Recommended Quotes & Sayings :
Timidity mottos Timidity quotes sayings : Timidity is a fault for which it is dangerous to reprove persons whom we wish to correct of it. - Francois De La Rochefoucauld...
Irony mottos Irony quotes sayings : Irony is jesting behind hidden gravity. - John Weiss Irony is an insult conveyed in the form of a compliment. - Edwin P. Whipple Jesus wept; Voltaire smiled...
Service mottos Service quotes sayings : The foundation stone of the whole scheme is service. Service to the people, a service that will lighten, brighten, and make more profitable the lives of the maj...
Vocabulary mottos Vocabulary quotes sayings : The limits of my language are the limits of my mind. All I know is what I have words for. - Ludwig Wittgenstein Yes and No are very short words to say, but we...
Money mottos Money quotes sayings : Bankruptcy is a legal proceeding in which you put your money in your pants pocket and give your coat to your creditors. ~ Joey Adams ~ Money is better than po...
Attachment mottos Attachment quotes sayings : Attachment to spiritual things is.. just as much an attachment as inordinate love of anything else. - By Thomas Merton The tighter you squeeze, the less you h...
Boldness mottos Boldness quotes sayings : Boldness is a mask for fear, however great. - F. L. Lucan When you cannot make up your mind which of two evenly balanced courses of action you should take -- ...
Prejudice mottos Prejudice quotes sayings : The mind of a bigot is like the pupil of the eye; the more light you pour on it, the more it will contract. - Oliver Wendell Holmes Reasoning against prejudic...
Innocence mottos Innocence quotes sayings : Innocence is like polished armor; it adorns and defends. - Bishop Robert South I know we're not saints or virgins or lunatics; we know all the lust and lavato...
birthday mottos birthday quotes sayings : And in the end, it's not the years in your life that count. It's the life in your years. Born on Monday, Fair in face; Born on Tuesday, Full of God's gra...
