My Favorite 25 Quotes About Adversity

Ever had one of those days? Of course you have… we all have.  What’s more, we’ll continue to have “those days.”  Heck, sometimes we overachieve and have “those weeks.”

Been there. Done that.

Below are my CURRENT favorite 25 quotes about adversity.  The ones in bold?  They’re my absolute favoritest of all.

When life kicks you, don’t let it kick you over. – Kay Yow

If you break your neck, if you have nothing to eat, if your house is on fire, then you got a problem. Everything else is inconvenience. – Robert Fulghum

Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional. – M. Kathleen Casey

I have learned there is a gift wrapped inside of every adversity and, if you have faith and hope, you can lose everything and still survive. – Sandi Bachom

When life kicks you, make it kick you forward. – Unknown

I had a lover’s quarrel with the world. – Robert Frost Quote, “The Lesson for Today”

Count the garden by the flowers, never by the leaves that fall. Count your life with smiles and not the tears that roll. – Author Unknown

Life is thickly sown with thorns, and I know of no other remedy than to pass quickly through them. The longer we dwell on our misfortunes, the greater their power to harm us. – Voltaire

The darkest hour has only sixty minutes. – Morris Mandel

Have the courage to face a difficulty lest it kick you harder than you bargained for. – Stanislaus I, Maxims

Adversity has the same effect on a man that severe training has on the pugilist: it reduces him to his fighting weight. – Josh Billings

Rock bottom is good solid ground, and a dead end street is just a place to turn around. – Buddy Buie and J.R. Cobb, from the song, “Rock Bottom”

Despair is anger with no place to go. – Mignon McLaughlin,”The Neurotic’s Notebook”

To have become a deeper man is the privilege of those who have suffered. – Oscar Wilde

Problems are messages. – Shakti Gawain

Problems are the price you pay for progress. – Branch Rickey

Mishaps are like knives, that either serve us or cut us, as we grasp them by the blade or the handle. – James Russell Lowell, “Cambridge Thirty Years Ago”

There are times in everyone’s life when something constructive is born out of adversity… when things seem so bad that you’ve got to grab your fate by the shoulders and shake it. – Author Unknown

You have to accept whatever comes and the only important thing is that you meet it with courage and with the best you have to give. – Eleanor Roosevelt

Talking about your grievances merely adds to those grievances. Give recognition only to what you desire. – Thomas Dreier

Good timber does not grow with ease; the stronger the wind, the stronger the trees. – J. Willard Marriott

Problems are only opportunities with thorns on them. – Hugh Miller, “Snow on the Wind”

I don’t like people who have never fallen or stumbled. Their virtue is lifeless and it isn’t of much value. Life hasn’t revealed its beauty to them. – Boris Pasternak

We have no right to ask when a sorrow comes, “Why did this happen to me?” Unless we ask the same question for every joy that comes our way. – Philip E. Bernstein

Have courage for the great sorrows of life and patience for the small ones. And when you have finished your daily task, go to sleep in peace. God is awake. – Victor Hugo

BONUS: My oldest daughter, Emily, was about 8 when she said something about problems that I will always remember:

What doesn’t kill you will one day make for a great story. – Emily Sigers

More quotes about adversity!