7 Lessons Adversity Can Teach Us
28 inspirational quotes on handling adversity
“Pressure on the outside should make us bigger on the inside.” – Warren Wiersbe
Adversity is inevitable, but problems or failures don’t have to become a permanent state nor should they keep you from achieving your goals or robbing you of happiness. How you overcome adversity strengthens not only your resolve, but your confidence, and prepares you to confront future obstacles.
As Walt Disney once said “You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.” It’s not uncommon for success to make us comfortable. While that typically is a good thing, there may be something better on the horizon as Billy Graham wisely pointed out: “Comfort and prosperity have never enriched the world as much as adversity has.”
Helen Keller knew adversity more than most and she believed happiness was a choice: “Your success and happiness lie in you. Resolve to keep happy, and your joy and you shall form an invisible host against difficulties.”
So, the next time you find yourself facing the seemingly impossible –whether it involves your career or your personal life– refer to these wise words below to give you the inspiration and perspective to overcome.
It’s All About Perspective
“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” Winston Churchill
“If I had a formula for bypassing trouble, I would not pass it round. Trouble creates a capacity to handle it. I don’t embrace trouble; that’s as bad as treating it as an enemy. But I do say meet it as a friend, for you’ll see a lot of it and had better be on speaking terms with it.” Oliver Wendell Holmes
“When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Obstacles cannot crush me. Every obstacle yields to stern resolve. He who is fixed to a star does not change his mind.” Leonardo Da Vinci
“A problem is a chance for you to do your best.” Duke Ellington
“There is no education like adversity.” Benjamin Disraeli
“Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.” Napoleon Hill
“Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.” Truman Capote
Leverage Adversity to Make You a Better Person
“The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.” Dutch Proverb
“Tough times never last, but strong people do.” Robert H. Schuller
“A man of character finds a special attractiveness in difficulty, since it is only by coming to grips with difficulty that he can realize his potentialities.” Charles de Gaulle
“To have become a deeper man is the privilege of those who have suffered.” Oscar Wilde
“I ask not for a lighter burden, but for broader shoulders.” Jewish Proverb
“We acquire the strength we have overcome.” Ralph Waldo Emerson
“One who gains strength by overcoming obstacles possesses the only strength which can overcome adversity.” Albert Schweitzer
Perseverance Is Key
“Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.” Michael Jordan
“Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” -Francis of Assisi
“Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.” Harriet Beecher Stowe
“The only thing that overcomes hard luck is hard work.” -Harry Golden
“Always bear in mind that your own resolution to success is more important than any other one thing.” -Abraham Lincoln
You Never Know When Opportunity Will Present Itself
“Opportunities do not come with their values stamped upon them.” -Maltbie Babcock
“Jumping at several small opportunities may get us there more quickly than waiting for one big one to come along.” -Hugh Allen
“Your big opportunity may be right where you are now.” -Napoleon Hill
“Seize every opportunity along the way, for how sad it would be if the road you chose became the road not taken.” -Robert Brault
Don’t Dwell on the Past
“Life is thickly sown with thorns, and I know no other remedy than to pass quickly through them. The longer we dwell on our misfortunes, the greater is their power to harm us.” Voltaire
No Problems? Be Proactive
“Everybody ought to do at least two things each day that he hates to do, just for practice.” William James
Don’t Be Fooled Into Thinking Adversity Will Never Impact You
“The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem.” Theodore Rubin
“Adversity is always unexpected and unwelcomed. It is an intruder and a thief, and yet in the hands of God, adversity becomes the means through which His supernatural power is demonstrated.” – Charles Stanley
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