Facing Adversity? These 150 Tough Times Quotes Will Inspire You to Keep Going

This collection of tough times quotes will lift you up and motivate you to get back on your feet once more.

When you are down on your luck or feel as if you just can’t catch a break, sometimes it’s difficult to pick up the pieces and get things moving again. 

Tell us which of these uplifting quotes resonated with you the most in the comment section below.

During moments of sadness, it can feel like no one understands us or that no one has gone through what we are going through.

Uplifting Quotes for Difficult Times

1. “Tough times never last, but tough people do.” – Robert H. Schuller

2. “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” – Nelson Mandela

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

4. “It is only in our darkest hours that we may discover the true strength of the brilliant light within ourselves that can never, ever, be dimmed.” – Doe Zantamata

5. “Rock bottom became the solid foundation in which I rebuilt my life.” – J.K. Rowling

6. “You’re going to go through tough times – that’s life. But I say, ‘Nothing happens to you, it happens for you.’ See the positive in negative events.” – Joel Osteen

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

8. “Fall seven times, stand up eight.” – Japanese Proverb

9. “The pain you feel today will be the strength you feel tomorrow.” – Unknown

10. “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

11. “I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.” – Maya Angelou

12. “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow.'” – Mary Anne Radmacher

13. “Do not pray for an easy life; pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.” – Bruce Lee

14. “We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

15. “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning how to dance in the rain.” – Vivian Greene

16. “Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.” – Joshua J. Marine

17. “I’ve had to learn to fight all my life – got to learn to keep smiling. If you smile, things will work out.” – Serena Williams

18. “Problems are not stop signs; they are guidelines.” – Robert Schuller

19. “Faith is why I’m here today and faith is why I made it through.” – Jonathan Anthony Burkett

20. “Turn your wounds into wisdom.” – Oprah Winfrey

Inspiring Quotes to Help You Through Tough Times

21. “Tough times never last, but tough people do.” – Robert H. Schuller

22. “Never give up. There are always tough times, regardless of what you do in anything in life. Be able to push through those times and maintain your ultimate goal.” – Nathan Chen

23. “When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.” – Henry Ford

24. “Courage is looking fear right in the eye and saying, ‘Get the hell out of my way, I’ve got things to do.'” – Unknown

25. “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” – Winston Churchill

26. “Hard times don’t create heroes. It is during the hard times when the ‘hero’ within us is revealed.” – Bob Riley

27. “You must tell yourself, ‘No matter how hard it is, or how hard it gets, I’m going to make it.'” – Les Brown

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

29. “In the darkest of moments, the light within you shines brightest.” – Oprah Winfrey

30. “The true test of a champion is not whether he can triumph, but whether he can overcome obstacles.” – Garth Stein

31. “The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.” – Randy Pausch

32. “There is neither happiness nor misery in the world; there is only the comparison of one state with another, nothing more.” – Alexandre Dumas

33. “In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” – Abraham Lincoln

34. “Never give up on something that you can’t go a day without thinking about.” – Winston Churchill

35. “You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.” – Bob Marley

36. “He who believes is strong; he who doubts is weak. Strong convictions precede great actions.” – Louisa May Alcott

37. “The most beautiful people I’ve known are those who have known trials, have known struggles, have known loss, and have found their way out of the depths.” – Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

38. “Life is very interesting. In the end, some of your greatest pains become your greatest strengths.” – Drew Barrymore

39. “No matter how much falls on us, we keep plowing ahead. That’s the only way to keep the roads clear.” – Greg Kincaid

40. “Tough times build determination and inner strength. Through them we can also come to appreciate the uselessness of anger.” – Dalai Lama

Quotes About Overcoming Tough Times

41. “It doesn’t matter how slow you go, as long as you don’t stop.” – Confucius

42. “Sometimes you don’t realize your own strength until you come face to face with your greatest weakness.” – Susan Gale

43. “The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places.” – Ernest Hemingway

44. “The difference between stumbling blocks and stepping stones is how you use them.” – Unknown

45. “I am not what happened to me. I am what I choose to become.” – Carl Gustav Jung

46. “Hard times always lead to something great.” – Betsey Johnson

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

48. “Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” – A.A. Milne

49. “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

50. “Just because you fail once doesn’t mean you’re gonna fail at everything.” – Marilyn Monroe

51. “You’re going to go through tough times – that’s life. But I say, ‘Nothing happens to you, it happens for you.’ See the positive in negative events.” – Joel Osteen

52. “Strength is not born from strength. Strength can be born only from weakness. So be glad of your weaknesses now, they are the beginnings of your strength.” – Claire Weekes

53. “Tough times are the training ground for a stronger version of yourself.” – Robin Sharma

54. “You’re going to go through tough times – that’s life. But I say, ‘Nothing happens to you, it happens for you.’ See the positive in negative events.” – Joel Osteen

55. “We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated.” – Maya Angelou

56. “I’ve learned that everything happens for a reason. 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

57. “When the going gets tough, the tough get going. When the going gets rough, the tough get rough.” – Zig Ziglar

58. “We can’t be afraid of change. You may feel very secure in the pond that you are in, but if you never venture out of it, you will never know that there is such a thing as an ocean, a sea. Holding onto something that is good for you now, may be the very reason why you don’t have something better.” – C. JoyBell C.

59. “The most difficult battles are the ones we fight within ourselves.” – Unknown

60. “Every champion was once a contender that refused to give up.” – Rocky Balboa

Encouraging Quotes for Difficult Situations

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

62. “You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I have lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.’ You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

63. “Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.” – Kahlil Gibran

64. “You see, you can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.” – Steve Jobs

65. “I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.” – Louisa May Alcott

66. “In times of pain, when the future is too terrifying to contemplate and the past too painful to remember, I have learned to pay attention to right now. The precise moment I was in was always the only safe place for me.” – Julia Cameron

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

68. “In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.” – Albert Camus

69. “If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

70. “Consider the postage stamp; its usefulness consists in the ability to stick to one thing till it gets there.” – Josh Billings

71. “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

72. “When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt

73. “An arrow can only be shot by pulling it backward. When life is dragging you back with difficulties, it means it’s going to launch you into something great. So just focus, and keep aiming.” – Paulo Coelho

74. “Tough times don’t last. Tough people do. I preach that, and I guess you have to live to it.” – Julian Edelman

75. “You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.” – Margaret Thatcher

76. “Somewhere inside of all of us is the power to change the world.” – Roald Dahl

77. “Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict.” – William Ellery Channing

78. “Hard times are sometimes blessings in disguise. We do have to suffer but in the end it makes us strong, better and wise.” – Anurag Prakash Ray

79. “Life has many ways of testing a person’s will, either by having nothing happen at all or by having everything happen all at once.” – Paulo Coelho

80. “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Short Quotes About Hard Times

81. “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” – Thomas A. Edison

82. “Strength is found in the soul.” – Lailah Gifty Akita

83. “The stronger the wind, the stronger the trees.” – J. Willard Marriott

84. “Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

85. “A problem is a chance for you to do your best.” – Duke Ellington

86. “Accept responsibility for your life. Know that it is you who will get you where you want to go, no one else.” – Les Brown

87. “It is only in the darkness that you can see the stars.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

88. “There is hope, even when your brain tells you there isn’t.” – John Green

89. “Life changes very quickly, in a very positive way, if you let it.” – Lindsey Vonn

90. “Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.” – Haruki Murakami

91. “The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.” – Molière

92. “If you have made mistakes, there is always another chance for you. You may have a fresh start any moment you choose.” – Mary Pickford

93. “Every adversity, every failure, and every heartache carries with it the seed of an equivalent or a greater benefit.” – Napoleon Hill

94. “Believe that life is worth living and your belief will help create the fact.” – William James

95. “Your hardest times often lead to the greatest moments of your life.” – Roy T. Bennett

96. “There’s nothing that cleanses your soul like getting the hell kicked out of you.” – Woody Hayes

97. “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill

98. “Resilience is accepting your new reality, even if it’s less good than the one you had before.” – Elizabeth Edwards

99. “The only time you fail is when you fall down and stay down.” – Stephen Richards

100. “Forget past mistakes. Forget failures. Forget everything except what you’re going to do now and do it.” – William Durant

Encouraging Quotes for Tough Times in Life

101. “A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.” – Christopher Reeve

102. “Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall.” – Confucius

103. “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says ‘I’ll try again tomorrow.'” – Mary Anne Radmacher

104. “You have to be at your strongest when you’re feeling at your weakest.” – Unknown

105. “Do not fear the winds of adversity. Remember: A kite rises against the wind rather than with it.” – Unknown

106. “It doesn’t matter how slow you go as long as you don’t stop.” – Confucius

107. “Remember that just because you hit bottom doesn’t mean you have to stay there.” – Robert Downey Jr.

108. “When written in Chinese the word ‘crisis’ is composed of two characters – one represents danger and the other represents opportunity.” – John F. Kennedy

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

110. “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

111. “In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity.” – Albert Einstein

112. “No matter how bleak or menacing a situation may appear, it does not entirely own us. It can’t take away our freedom to respond, our power to take action.” – Ryder Carroll

113. “The most important thing is to never give up, never give in to circumstances, believe yourself, and to soldier on, no matter what’s in your way.” – Leah LaBelle

114. “When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.” – Henry Ford

115. “Never let your head hang down. Never give up and sit down and grieve. Find another way. And don’t pray when it rains if you don’t pray when the sun shines.” – Leroy Satchel Paige

116. “Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved.” – Helen Keller

117. “Don’t let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use.” – Earl Nightingale

118. “I’ve never met a strong person with an easy past.” – Atticus

119. “The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.” – Chinese Proverb

120. “Life doesn’t get easier or more forgiving, we get stronger and more resilient.” – Steve Maraboli

Uplifting Quotes for Tough Times

121. “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” – Joseph Kennedy

122. “Prosperity is a great teacher; adversity is a greater.” – William Hazlitt

123. “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances.” – Viktor Frankl

124. “You must do the things you think you cannot do.” – Eleanor Roosevelt

125. “Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never – in nothing, great or small, large or petty – never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense.” – Winston Churchill

126. “In times of pain, when the future is too terrifying to contemplate and the past too painful to remember, I have learned to pay attention to right now. The precise moment I was in was always the only safe place for me.” – Julia Cameron

127. “The human capacity for burden is like bamboo – far more flexible than you’d ever believe at first glance.” – Jodi Picoult

128. “I believe in being strong when everything seems to be going wrong. I believe that happy girls are the prettiest girls. I believe that tomorrow is another day, and I believe in miracles.” – Audrey Hepburn

129. “Adversity is like a strong wind. It tears away from us all but the things that cannot be torn, so that we see ourselves as we really are.” – Arthur Golden

130. “I ask not for a lighter burden, but for broader shoulders.” – Jewish Proverb

131. “Everybody goes through difficult times, but it is those who push through those difficult times who will eventually become successful in life. Don’t give up, because this too shall pass.” – Jeanette Coron

132. “Invent your world. Surround yourself with people, color, sounds, and work that nourish you.” – Susan Ariel Rainbow Kennedy

133. “Most great people have attained their greatest success just one step beyond their greatest failure.” – Napoleon Hill

134. “Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” – St. Francis Of Assisi

135. “A bend in the road is not the end of the road…Unless you fail to make the turn.” – Helen Keller

136. “When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt

137. “When things are bad, we take comfort in the thought that they could always get worse. And when they are, we find hope in the thought that things are so bad they have to get better.” – Malcolm S. Forbes

138. “Defeat may serve as well as victory to shake the soul and let the glory out.” – Edwin Markham

139. “Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise again.” – Victor Hugo

140. “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

Quotes About Tough Times That Make You Stronger

141. “You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.” – James Allen

142. “We develop our character muscles by overcoming challenges and obstacles.” – Stephen Covey

143. “Next to trying and winning, the best thing is trying and failing.” – Lucy Maud Montgomery

144. “When you face difficult times, know that challenges are not sent to destroy you. They’re sent to promote, increase, and strengthen you.” – Joel Osteen

145. “I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become.” – Carl Jung

146. “The greater the difficulty, the more glory in surmounting it.” – Epicurus

147. “Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms – to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.” – Viktor E. Frankl

148. “Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” – Thomas Edison

149. “The greatest mistake you can make in life is to be continually fearing you will make one.” – Elbert Hubbard

150. “If you are going through hell, keep going.” – Winston Churchill

Final Thoughts on Dealing with Tough Times

Sometimes, even just the simplest encouraging word can be what we need to turn things around.

Perhaps these quotes about hope for the future will encourage when tough times hit.

If you enjoy this article, check out our most popular quote article, a list of short inspirational quotes for daily motivation. 

Are you experiencing some tough times?

Don’t worry: light’s always at the end of every tunnel.

Difficult times don’t last.

You may experience pain, sadness, or loss, but remember they’re only there for a season.

Often, no matter how hard life gets, we must pick up the pieces and continue.

If you found these uplifting quotes about tough times helpful, please share them with your friends on social media.