These “adversity quotes” will help bring out the best in you.

Everyone experiences adversity at some point in life. It comes upon you in an unfamiliar and unexpected manner.

But although it’s always stressful and chaotic at first, adversity is how we learn and grow. As the saying goes, what does not kill you makes you stronger.

After a difficult challenge or moment, we develop a resiliency that helps us deal with other challenges in life.  Hardships hurt but they can also bring out the best in us.

Although bad experiences make us suffer from mental, physical, and spiritual pain, that suffering helps us develop a greater understanding of hardship and makes us more prepared for when it comes again.

You cannot control the pain that comes with adversity but you can control your response and have more courage and strength in the face of it.

In honor of your ability to overcome hardship, below is our collection of inspirational, brave, and uplifting adversity quotes, adversity proverbs, and adversity sayings, collected from a variety of sources over the years.

Adversity quotes honoring your ability to overcome anything

1. “The journey is never ending. There’s always gonna be growth, improvement, adversity; you just gotta take it all in and do what’s right, continue to grow, continue to live in the moment.” – Antonio Brown

2. “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.” – Malcolm X

3. “Brave men rejoice in adversity, just as brave soldiers triumph in war.” – Lucius Annaeus Seneca

4. “You should never view your challenges as a disadvantage. Instead, it’s important for you to understand that your experience facing and overcoming adversity is actually one of your biggest advantages.” – Michelle Obama

5. “We don’t develop courage by being happy every day. We develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity.” –  Barbara De Angelis

6. “The friend in my adversity I shall always cherish most. I can better trust those who helped to relieve the gloom of my dark hours than those who are so ready to enjoy with me the sunshine of my prosperity.” – Ulysses S. Grant

7. “All the adversity I’ve had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me… You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.” – Walt Disney

8. “No difficulty can discourage, no obstacle dismay, no trouble dishearten the man who has acquired the art of being alive. Difficulties are but dares of fate, obstacles but hurdles to try his skill, troubles but bitter tonics to give him strength; and he rises higher and looms greater after each encounter with adversity.” –  Ella Wheeler Wilcox

9. “Adversity causes some men to break; others to break records.” – William Arthur Ward

10. “As with the butterfly, adversity is necessary to build character in people.” –  Joseph B. Wirthlin

Adversity quotes that will make you stronger and wiser

11. “The eagle has no fear of adversity. We need to be like the eagle and have a fearless spirit of a conqueror.” – Joyce Meyer

12. “Fire is the test of gold; adversity, of strong men.” – Martha Graham

13. “If you live long enough, you’ll make mistakes. But if you learn from them, you’ll be a better person. It’s how you handle adversity, not how it affects you. The main thing is never quit, never quit, never quit.” – William J. Clinton

14. “Sometimes adversity is what you need to face in order to become successful.” –  Zig Ziglar

15. “Always seek out the seed of triumph in every adversity.” – Og Mandino

16. “In times of great stress or adversity, it’s always best to keep busy, to plow your anger and your energy into something positive.” –  Lee Iacocca

17. “One thing about championship teams is that they’re resilient. No matter what is thrown at them, no matter how deep the hole, they find a way to bounce back and overcome adversity.” –  Nick Saban

18. “I’ve learned that everything happens for a reason,” the yogi Krishnan told him. “Every event has a why and all adversity teaches us a lesson… Never regret your past. Accept it as the teacher that it is.” – Robin Sharma

19. “Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.” – Napoleon Hill

20. “Show me someone who has done something worthwhile, and I’ll show you someone who has overcome adversity.” – Lou Holtz

Adversity quotes to help bring out the best in you

21. “In our personal and professional lives, we are constantly hit with one adversity after the other, most of which we have no control over. But the four things we have total control over is how we react, how we adapt, how we breathe, and how we take action.” –  Diamond Dallas Page

22. “Let me embrace thee, sour adversity, for wise men say it is the wisest course.” – William Shakespeare

23. “There is in every true woman’s heart, a spark of heavenly fire, which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity, but which kindles up and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity.” – Washington Irving

24. “When adversity strikes, that’s when you have to be the most calm. Take a step back, stay strong, stay grounded and press on.” – LL Cool J

25. “What defines someone as a ‘man’ should not be the clothes they wear or how deep their voice is. It should be the content of his character, his strength in the face of overwhelming adversity, and his ability to still love and help others when the world has turned its back on him.” – Karamo Brown

26. “Sometimes good comes through adversity. I would not be who I am today had it not been for the internment, and I like who I am.” – Ruth Asawa

27. “Everyone is handed adversity in life. No one’s journey is easy. It’s how they handle it that makes people unique.” – Kevin Conroy

28. “There are uses to adversity, and they don’t reveal themselves until tested. Whether it’s serious illness, financial hardship, or the simple constraint of parents who speak limited English, difficulty can tap unexpected strengths.” – Sonia Sotomayor

29. “Just as we develop our physical muscles through overcoming opposition – such as lifting weights – we develop our character muscles by overcoming challenges and adversity.” – Stephen Covey

30. “You’ll never find a better sparring partner than adversity.” –  Golda Meir

Adversity quotes to help you learn and grow

31. “Good things are often birthed from adversity.” – Robert A. Schuller

32. “Adversity, and perseverance and all these things can shape you. They can give you a value and a self-esteem that is priceless.” – Scott Hamilton

33. “The bravest sight in the world is to see a great man struggling against adversity.” – Lucius Annaeus Seneca

34. “I learned to take those experiences that were difficult in my life and in the adversity that I had overcome to use it for a positive change.” – Dominique Moceanu

35. “Goals give you a mark to shoot for and keep you motivated when you face adversity.”  – Benjamin Watson

36. “Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.” – C.S. Lewis

37. “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

38. “And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.” – Haruki Murakami

39. “It is your reaction to adversity, not the adversity itself that determines how your life’s story will develop.” – Dieter F. Uchtdorf

40. “Any man can win when things go his way, it’s the man who overcomes adversity that is the true champion.” – Jock Ewing

Adversity quotes on overcoming hardship

41. “Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.” – Mahatma Gandhi

42. “Opportunities to find deeper powers within ourselves come when life seems most challenging.” – Joseph Campbell

43. “Adversity, similar to lava, appears to destroy everything in its way. But out of the ashes and smoke, new, better, and stronger things emerge that may have not been born in any other way.” – Zoe V

44. “Hang in there. Trust that those winds of adversity are blowing away what’s not needed while making you stronger.” – Anonymous

45. “Adversity introduces a man to himself.”  – Albert Einstein

46. “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 the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.” – Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

47. “You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.” – Maya Angelou

48. “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

49. “Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty… I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.” – Theodore Roosevelt

50. “Adversity is like a strong wind. I don’t mean just that it holds us back from places we might otherwise go. It also tears away from us all but the things that cannot be torn, so that afterward we see ourselves as we really are, and not merely as we might like to be.” – Arthur Golden

More adversity quotes and sayings

51. “Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.”—Truman Capote

52. “I can’t change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination.”—Jimmy Dean

53. “We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey.”—Kenji Miyazawa

54. “All the world is full of suffering. It is also full of overcoming.”—Helen Keller

55. “The turning point in the process of growing up is when you discover the core of strength within you that survives all hurt.”—Max Lerner

56. “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

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

58. “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.”– Winston Churchill

59. “Use what you’ve been through as fuel, believe in yourself and be unstoppable!”—Yvonne Pierre

60. “In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.” — Theodore Roosevelt

Which of these adversity quotes resonated with you best?

No matter what adverse events you experience, there is a purpose behind each one. Without adversity, change and growth would not occur.

Although it can become a big headache in your life, your adversity is a blessing in disguise. It will eventually make you stronger and wiser. Hopefully, the above quotes have made you realize how strong you can be in the face of adversity.

Did you enjoy these adversity quotes? Which of the quotes resonated best with you? Tell us in the comment section below. Also, don’t forget to share with your friends and followers.

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