Find comfort, encouragement, and inspiration in our selection of hardship quotes and learn how to face challenges with resilience and determination.
Everyone will experience some form of difficulty or adversity, whether it’s a personal challenge or a larger societal issue. However, how we choose to approach and overcome these hardships can make all the difference. This is where hardship quotes come in.
They offer a source of inspiration and motivation for those facing tough times. They provide insight and wisdom from those who have experienced their own struggles and offer perspective on how to navigate adversity with courage and perseverance.
From famous figures to leaders throughout history, these quotes remind us that resilience and a positive attitude can help us triumph over even the toughest of obstacles. Let’s browse some of the most powerful hardship quotes. See how they can inspire us to overcome adversity and find strength in difficult times.
Motivational hardship quotes
The very greatest things – great thoughts, discoveries, inventions – have usually been nurtured in hardship, often pondered over in sorrow, and at length established with difficulty.
Samuel Smiles
A happy life consists not in the absence, but in the mastery of hardships.
Helen Keller
My experience tells me the hard road is almost always the right road.
Shahid Khan
He who knows no hardships will know no hardihood. He who faces no calamity will need no courage. Mysterious though it is, the characteristics in human nature which we love best grow in a soil with a strong mixture of troubles.
Harry Emerson Fosdick
Hardships make or break people.
Margaret Mitchell
It is hardship that makes clear who the “fighters” are.
Marilynne Robinson
This is exactly the message that fairy tales get across to the child in manifold form: that a struggle against severe difficulties in life is unavoidable, is an intrinsic part of human existence – but that if one does not shy away, but steadfastly meets unexpected and often unjust hardships, one masters all obstacles and at the end emerges victorious.
Bruno Bettelheim
Above all, don’t fear difficult moments. The best comes from them.
Rita Levi–Montalcini
When it’s all said and done, you may go through the fire, through the flood, through the famine, but you’ll come out standing strong.
Joel Osteen
Even cowards can endure hardship; only the brave can endure suspense.
Mignon McLaughlin
Beauty in hardship quotes
Character develops in stream of struggle and adversity. Character is foundation of your inner beauty which reflects in your personality.
Anil Sinha
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
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
The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of those depths.
Elisabeth Kubler–Ross
If a man cannot understand the beauty of life, it is probably because life never understood the beauty in him.
Criss Jami
Extraordinary people survive under the most terrible circumstances and they become more extraordinary because of it.
Robertson Davies
But the healing place is within you. Healing is a gift you were granted at birth, just as you were granted others.
Charlene Costanzo
Use your gifts, child. Use the beauty, the courage, the hope and the love that is in you. Call upon your strength. Use compassion and faith.
Charlene Costanzo
Even during sad times joy is within you. Bring it forth. Wisdom is there to guide you. Use any one of your gifts and you will rouse the power of your healing place. Use all of them and you will sustain it.
Charlene Costanzo
The beauty of the soul shines out when a man bears with composure one heavy mischance after another, not because he does not feel them, but because he is a man of high and heroic temper.
Aristotle
Inspirational hardship quotes
Our examples of enduring hardship are often more powerful than our stories of success and triumph.
Mark Dever
The first quality of a soldier is constancy in enduring fatigue and hardship. Courage is only the second. Poverty privation and want are the school of the good soldier.
Napoleon Bonaparte
Only through hardship, sacrifice and militant action can freedom be won. The struggle is my life. I will continue fighting for freedom until the end of my days.
Nelson Mandela
Poverty leads to hardship and failure.
Irwin Redlener
I never feel more alive than when I’m in great pain, struggling against insurmountable odds and untold adversity. Hardship? Suffering? Bring it!
Dean Karnazes
It’s a fine world, though rich in hardships at times.
Larry McMurtry
A man can stand almost any hardship by day, and be none the worse for it, provided he gets a comfortable nights rest; but without sound sleep he will soon go to pieces, no matter how gritty he may be.
Horace Kephart
It is not the trials in your life that develop or destroy you, but rather your response to those hardships.
Charles Stanley
People who make that choice will know hardship and sacrifice. But if you give yourself totally to the non–violence struggle for peace and justice you also find that people give you their hearts and you will never go hungry and never be alone.
Cesar Chavez
Human behavior in the midst of hardship caught my attention very early on, and my first stories were all pictures, no words.
Wally Lamb
Life hardship quotes
Embrace the challenges of life and find the inner strength to overcome them with the help of hardship quotes.
Get used to a rough life, for luxury does not last forever.
Umar
It is your reaction to adversity, not the adversity itself that determines how your life’s story will develop.
Dieter F. Uchtdorf
Your hardest times often lead to the greatest moments of your life. Keep going. Tough situations build strong people in the end.
Roy T. Bennett
Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome.
Booker T. Washington
When life hands you dirt plant seeds.
Matshona Dhliwayo
No one’s life is a smooth sail; we all come into stormy weather. But it’s this adversity – and more specifically our resilience – that makes us strong and successful.
Tony Robbins
Adversity is life’s change agent trying to help us improve and make wiser decisions in this life.
Asa Don Brown
We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.
Winston Churchill
Nobody is exempt from the trials of life, but everyone can always find something positive in everything even in the worst of times.
Roy T. Bennett
It takes no more time to see the good side of life than to see the bad.
Jimmy Buffett
Overcoming hardship quotes
Overcome life’s challenges with the power of hardship quotes. Find inspiration and motivation to face adversity head-on.
I have learned there is no joy without hardship. There is no pleasure without pain. Would we know the comfort of peace without the distress of war?
Elisabeth Kubler–Ross
You have to temper the iron. Every hardship is an opportunity that you are given, an opportunity to grow. To grow is the sole purpose of existence on this planet Earth.
Elisabeth Kubler–Ross
So we need people who will remain steadfast in any hardship and who have a high degree of resistance.
Moshe Sharett
You will not grow if you sit in a beautiful flower garden, but you will grow if you are sick, if you are in pain, if you experience losses, and if you do not put your head in the sand, but take the pain as a gift to you with a very, very specific purpose.
Elisabeth Kubler–Ross
Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.
C.S. Lewis
Sorrow happens, hardship happens, the hell with it, who never knew the price of happiness, will not be happy.
Yevgeny Yevtushenko
No power in society, no hardship in your condition can depress you, keep you down, in knowledge, power, virtue, influence, but by your own consent.
William Ellery Channing
Hard times don’t create heroes. It is during the hard times when the “hero” within us is revealed.
Bob Riley
Rock bottom became the solid foundation in which I built my life.
J.K. Rowling
It’s impossible to feel sad or have any negative feeling when you’re grateful. If you’re in the midst of a difficult situation, look for something to be grateful for.
Rhonda Byrne
Hardship quotes short
Discover the power of hardship quotes to shift your perspective and find meaning in difficult situations.
Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm.
Abraham Lincoln
Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle.
Napoleon Hill
Use what you’ve been through as fuel, believe in yourself and be unstoppable!
Yvonne Pierre
As with the butterfly, adversity is necessary to build character in people.
Joseph B. Wirthlin
I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.
Jimmy Dean
Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.
Helen Keller
Life doesn’t get easier or more forgiving, we get stronger and more resilient.
Steve Maraboli
A setback is a setup for a comeback.
T.D. Jakes
The pine stays green in winter… wisdom in hardship.
Norman Douglas
Today’s tears water tomorrow’s gardens.
Matshona Dhliwayo
Relationship hardship quotes
Test a servant while in the discharge of his duty, a relative in difficulty, a friend in adversity, and a wife in misfortune.
Chanakya
In a relationship, it is demeaning to constantly seek your partner’s approval. In such relationships, real caring, depth or even love is missing.
Daisaku Ikeda
If your love for another person doesn’t include loving yourself then your love is incomplete.
Shannon L. Alder
What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.
Kelly Clarkson
Hold no grudges and practice forgiveness. This is the key to having peace in all your relationships.
Wayne Dyer
Relationships are hard work, but when the work is put in, the love is unstoppable.
Dyllan Murray
Men grow tired of sleep, love, singing and dancing sooner than of war.
Homer
All relationships are tough. Just like with music, sometimes you have harmony and other times you have cacophony.
Gayle Forman
A kind gesture can reach a wound that only compassion can heal.
Steve Maraboli
Letting go doesn’t mean that you don’t care about someone anymore. It’s just realizing that the only person you really have control over is yourself.
Deborah Reber
Quotes about hardship
Sometimes things have to go wrong in order to go right.
Sherrilyn Kenyon
Even in its darkest passages, the heart is unconquerable. It is important that the body survives, but it is more meaningful that the human spirit prevails.
Dave Pelzer
We are like the herb which flourisheth most when trampled upon.
Walter Scott
You did anything to bury me, but you forgot that I was a seed.
Dinos Christianopoulos
Times of great calamity and confusion have been productive for the greatest minds. The purest ore is produced from the hottest furnace. The brightest thunder–bolt is elicited from the darkest storm.
Charles Caleb Colton
No matter how bad things are, you can always make things worse.
Randy Pausch
Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the body.
Lucius Annaeus Seneca
When emerging from humble beginnings, those around you tend to underestimate your authenticity because they knew you before you were ‘somebody’.
Criss Jami
Finding the lesson behind every adversity will be the one important thing that helps get you through it.
Roy T. Bennett
I love those who can smile in trouble.
Leonardo da Vinci
Spiritual hardship quotes
You may go through difficulty, hardship, or trial–but as long as you are anchored to Him, you will have hope.
Charles Stanley
From the perfection of Allah’s ihsan is that He allows His slave to taste the bitterness of the break before the sweetness of the mend. So He does not break his believing slave, except to mend him. And He does not withhold from him, except to give him. And He does not test him (with hardship), except to cure him.
Ibn Qayyim Al–Jawziyya
The soul would have no rainbow had the eyes no tears.
John Vance Cheney
These are the times that try men’s souls.
Thomas Paine
Hope is not defined by the absence of hardship. Rather, hope is found in God’s grace in the midst of hardship. Hope is found in his promise to give us a future.
Stuart Scott
Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.
Khalil Gibran
We continually encounter hardships. People disappoint us. We disappoint ourselves. But God is constant and compassionate. We are not alone. He cares. Against all reason, the transcendent God loves us so much that He has committed Himself to us.
Charles R. Swindoll
Hope is holding on to the promises of God.
Lailah Gifty Akita
No matter what you’re going through there’s no pit so deep that God can’t reach in and get you out.
Joyce Meyer
Let your cares drive you to God. I shall not mind if you have many of them if each one leads you to prayer. If every fret makes you lean more on the Beloved, it will be a benefit.
Charles Spurgeon
Getting through hardship quotes
The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.
Chinese Proverb
Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.
Robert F. Kennedy
Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to fail.
Oprah Winfrey
You can’t calm the storm, so stop trying. What you can do is calm yourself. The storm will pass.
Timber Hawkeye
One thing about championship teams is they’re resilient. No matter what is thrown at them, no matter how deep the hole, find a way to bounce back and overcome adversity.
Nick Saban
The most successful people see adversity not as a stumbling block, but as a stepping–stone to greatness.
Shawn Anchor
Prosperity is not without many fears and distates; adversity not without many comforts and hopes.
Francis Bacon
Acceptance of what has happened is the first step to overcoming the consequences of any misfortune.
William James
Opportunities to find deeper powers within ourselves come when life seems most challenging.
Joseph Campbell
Challenges are gifts that force us to search for a new center of gravity. Don’t fight them. Just find a new way to stand.
Oprah Winfrey
Final thoughts
Hardship quotes offer a powerful reminder of the resilience and strength of the human spirit in the face of adversity. They can inspire us to push through hard times, to persevere in the face of challenges, and to find hope and courage when things seem bleak.
By reminding us that hardship is a part of life, these quotes can help us reframe our struggles and approach them with a sense of determination and grit. Whether we are facing personal difficulties or societal injustices, the wisdom contained in hardship quotes can guide us towards a path of growth and resilience.
Hope you have enjoyed reading these hardship quotes and that they have resonated with you on some level. If you have found value in these quotes, share them with others who may also benefit from their wisdom.
Remember, no matter what hardships we may encounter, let us approach them with courage and hope. Let us embrace the challenge as an opportunity to grow and become better versions of ourselves. And let us remember that, no matter how tough the road may seem, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.