best quotations about
Adversity |
| 89 quotes | Visits: 6,326 |
Quotations
 | Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power. — Abraham Lincoln, 1809-1865, American President 17 likes |
 | Men do not stumble over mountains, but over molehills. — Confucius, 551-479 BC, Chinese teacher & philosopher 16 likes |
 | It's not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it. — Lou Holtz, 1937-, American football coach 14 likes |
 | In difficult times carry something beautiful in your heart. — Blaise Pascal, 1623-1662, French thinker 13 likes |
 | To have a right estimate of a man's character, we must see him in misfortune. — Napoleon, 1769-1821, French Emperor 12 likes |
 | Women are like tea bags. You never know how strong they are until you put them in hot water. — Eleanor Roosevelt, 1884-1962, Wife of the 32nd USA president 12 likes |
 | Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the body. — Seneca, 5 AD-65 AD, Roman philosopher 10 likes |
 | Adversity makes men, and prosperity makes monsters. — Victor Hugo, 1802-1885, French writer 8 likes |
 | Misfortune shows those who are not really friends. — Aristotle, 384-322 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher 8 likes |
 | I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat. — Winston Churchill, 1874-1965, British Prime Minister, Nobel 1953 7 likes |
 | Can anybody remember when the times were not hard and money not scarce? — Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1884, American philosopher 6 likes |
 | Many can bear Adversity, but few Contempt. — Dr. Thomas Fuller, 1654-1734, English physician and adage collector 6 likes |
| Fire tries gold, misfortune tries brave men. — Seneca, 5 AD-65 AD, Roman philosopher 6 likes |
 | The world breaks everyone, and afterward, many are strong at the broken places. — Ernest Hemingway, 1899-1961, American writer, Nobel 1954 6 likes |
 | One day, in retrospect, the years of struggle will strike you as the most beautiful. — Sigmund Freud, 1856-1939, Austrian psychologist, founder of psychoanalysis 6 likes |
 | When the going gets tough, the tough get going. — Joseph Kennedy, 1888-1969, American businessman 5 likes |
 | When things are at their worst I find something always happens. — Somerset Maugham, 1874-1965, British writer 5 likes |
 | There is no education like adversity. — Benjamin Disraeli, 1804-1881, British Prime Minister 5 likes |
| Neurosis is the incapacity to tolerate adversity. — Sigmund Freud, 1856-1939, Austrian psychologist, founder of psychoanalysis 5 likes |
 | I’m not afraid of storms, for I’m learning how to sail my ship. — Louisa May Alcott, 1923-1888, American writer 5 likes |
 | That something is difficult must be one more reason for us to undertake it. — Rainer Maria Rilke, 1875-1926, Czech-German poet 5 likes |
 | Life is a storm, my young friend. You will bask in the sunlight one moment, be shattered on the rocks the next. What makes you a man is what you do when that storm comes. — Alexandre Dumas, 1802-1870, French writer 5 likes |
| In war, one must lean on an obstacle in order to overcome it. — Napoleon, 1769-1821, French Emperor 4 likes |
 | Adversity attracts the man of character. He seeks out the bitter joy of responsibility. — Charles de Gaulle, 1890-1970, French President 4 likes |
 | I believe in getting into hot water; it keeps you clean. — G. K. Chesterton, 1874-1936, English writer & critic 4 likes |
 | Prosperity makes friends, adversity tries them. — Publilius Syrus, 1st cent. AD, Roman author of maxims 4 likes |
 | Life's a tough proposition, and the first hundred years are the hardest. — Wilson Mizner, 1876-1913, American playwright 4 likes |
 | That which hurts, also instructs. — Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790, American politician & writer 3 likes |
 | Adversity is the state in which man most easily becomes acquainted with himself, being especially free of admirers then. — Samuel Johnson, 1709-1784, English writer 3 likes |
 | The firmest friendships have been formed in mutual adversity, as iron is most strongly united by the fiercest flame. — Charles Caleb Colton, 1780-1832, English cleric & writer 3 likes |
 | In the adversity of our best friends we often find something that is not exactly displeasing. — La Rochefoucauld, 1613-1680, French writer 3 likes |
 | The difference between a good life and a bad life is how well you walk through the fire. — Karl Jung, 1875-1961, Swiss psychiatrist 3 likes |
 | When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. — Elbert Hubbard, 1856-1915, American writer 3 likes |
| Life is 10 percent what happens to you and ninety percent how you respond to it. — Lou Holtz, 1937-, American football coach 3 likes |
 | In the blackest of your moments, wait with no fear. — Rumi, 1207-1273, Persian mystic & poet 3 likes |
 | Prosperity is a great teacher; adversity is a greater. Possession pampers the mind; privation trains and strengthens it. — William Hazlitt , 1778-1830, English essayist & critic 3 likes |
| I've never known anybody to achieve anything without overcoming adversity. — Lou Holtz, 1937-, American football coach 3 likes |
 | A host is like a general: calamities often reveal his genius. 3 likes |
 | The worst is not, So long as we can say, “This is the worst.” — William Shakespeare, 1564-1616, English poet & playwright ‐ King Lear 3 likes |
 | When everything seem to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it. — Henry Ford, 1863-1947, American industrialist, founder of FORD 2 likes |
| Difficulties mastered are opportunities won. — Winston Churchill, 1874-1965, British Prime Minister, Nobel 1953 2 likes |
| To strive with difficulties, and to conquer them, is the highest human felicity. — Samuel Johnson, 1709-1784, English writer 2 likes |
 | Prosperity doth best discover vice, but adversity doth best discover virtue. — Francis Bacon, 1561-1626, English philosopher 2 likes |
| Prosperity is not without many fears and distastes; adversity not without many comforts and hopes. — Francis Bacon, 1561-1626, English philosopher 2 likes |
| Character is the virtue of hard times. — Charles de Gaulle, 1890-1970, French President 2 likes |
| Man needs difficulties; they are necessary for health. — Karl Jung, 1875-1961, Swiss psychiatrist 2 likes |
 | That's one of the remarkable things about life. It's never so bad that it can't get worse. — Bill Watterson, 1958-, American cartoonist 2 likes |
 | Laistrygonians and Cyclops, wild Poseidon—you won’t encounter them unless you bring them along inside your soul, unless your soul sets them up in front of you. — Constantine Kavafy, 1868-1933, Greek poet ‐ Ithaka 2 likes |
 | People need hard times and oppression to develop psychic muscles. — Emily Dickinson, 1830-1886, American poet 1 likes |
 | A happy life consists not in the absence, but in the mastery of hardships. |
 | No pressure, no diamonds. |
 | The true way is along a rope that is not spanned high in the air, but only just above the ground. It seems intended more to cause stumbling than to be walked upon. |
 | The right way is uphill. |
 | An abnormal reaction to an abnormal situation is normal behavior. |
 | The human race tends to remember the abuses to which it has been subjected rather than the endearments. What's left of kisses? Wounds, however, leave scars. |
 | Out of difficulties, grow miracles. |
 | Everything I did in my life that was worthwhile, I caught hell for. |
 | Test a servant while in the discharge of his duty, a relative in difficulty, a friend in adversity, and a wife in misfortune. |
 | All the gods, all the heavens, all the hells, are within you. |
 | But difficulties were made to be overcome and if the Supreme Will is there, they will be overcome. — Sri Aurobindo, 1872-1950, Indian nationalist, yogi & philosopher |
 | It is one of man's curious idiosyncrasies to create difficulties for the pleasure of resolving them. — Joseph De Maistre, 1753-1821, Savoyard diplomat & philosopher |
 | The measure of a man is the way he bears up under misfortune. |
 | My living in Yorkshire was so far out of the way, that it was actually twelve miles from a lemon. |
 | How easy life is when it’s easy, and how hard when it’s hard. |
 | Even when the winds of misfortune blow, amazing things can still happen. |
 | If you have a strong belief in yourself, in what you are doing and what you want to do, no adversity is too difficult to overcome. |
 | Only the person who has experienced light and darkness, war and peace, rise and fall, only that person has truly experienced life. |
 | The more a person limits himself, the more resourceful he becomes. |
 | When winter comes, wrap yourself in a blanket of love. — Marty Rubin, 1930-1994, Canadian gay activist, author & journalist |
 | To a crazy ship, all winds are contrary. |
| Storms make oaks take deeper root. |
 | There is nothing more stimulating than a case where everything goes against you. |
 | Almost all our misfortunes in life come from the wrong notions we have about the things that happen to us. |
 | You have to die a few times before you can really live. |
Latin Quotes
 | Yield not to misfortunes. Ne cede malis. — Virgil, 70-19 BC, Roman poet 69 likes |
Quotes in Verse
| We could never learn to be brave and patient if there were only joy in the world. |
| I have been bent and broken, but –I hope– into a better shape. |
Funny Quotes
 | I won't say ours was a tough school, but we had our own coroner. We used to write essays like “What I'm Going to be If I Grow Up”. — Lenny Bruce, 1925-1966, American comedian 5 likes |
Ancient Greek
 | Courage makes misfortunes seem small. Ανδρείη τας άτας μικράς έρδει. — Democritus, 470-370 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher 5 likes |
 | There is not a man alive who has wholly escaped misfortune. Ουδείς δε θνητών ταις τύχαις ακήρατος. — Euripides, 480-406 BC, Ancient Greek tragedian ‐ Heracles 5 likes |
 | It is misfortune not to be able to bear misfortune. Ατυχή είναι τον ατυχίαν μη φέροντα. — Bias of Priene, 625-540 BC, one of the 7 sages of Ancient Greece 4 likes |
| Efforts performed willingly give patience to endure what happens unwillingly. Οι εκούσιοι πόνοι την των ακουσίων υπομονήν ελαφροτέραν παρασκευάζουσι. — Democritus, 470-370 BC, Ancient Greek philosopher 4 likes |
| Your country becomes great when in trouble. Ση πατρίς εν γαρ τοις πόνοισιν αύξεται. — Euripides, 480-406 BC, Ancient Greek tragedian ‐ The Suppliants 3 likes |
 | Be moderate in prosperity, prudent in adversity. Ευτυχών μεν μέτριος ίσθι, ατυχών δε φρόνιμος. — Periander of Corinth, 668-584 BC, tyrant of Corinth 3 likes |
| With such adversity the glory of men grows. Συν τοίσι δεινοίς αύξεται κλέος βροτοίς. |
Proverbs
 | Things may get worse before they get better. 4 likes |
 | The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials. 2 likes |
