Sometimes in life, we go through hard times and it is at such times that our inner strength and characters are tested. These tests can come in different forms such as financial problems, the death of a loved one, relationship breakup, etc. At these times one will need a certain amount of courage to overcome. A lot of people give up at this point while others reach for their inner strength. Here are some quotes about being strong and courageous especially in times of trouble.
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Quotes About Strength
1. “Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” – Dale Carnegie
2. “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
3. “The brave may not live forever, but the cautious don’t live at all.” – Ashley L
4. “Anyone can give up, it’s the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that’s true strength.” – Unknown
5. I think scars are like battle wounds – beautiful, in a way. They show what you’ve been through and how strong you are for coming out of it. – Demi Lovato
6. Women are like teabags. We don’t know our true strength until we are in hot water! – Eleanor Roosevelt
7. The resistance that you fight physically in the gym and the resistance that you fight in life can only build a strong character. – Arnold Schwarzenegger
8. Perhaps I am stronger than I think. – Thomas Merton
9. Some of us think holding on makes us strong, but sometimes it is letting go that does. – Hermann Hesse
10. I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but they whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves their conduct, will pursue their principles unto death. – Leonardo da Vinci
11. Continuous effort – not strength or intelligence – is the key to unlocking our potential. – Winston Churchill
12. Don’t wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great. Weak men wait for opportunities; strong men make them. – Orison Swett Marden
13. “Character, in the long run, is the decisive factor in the life of an individual and of nations alike.” – Theodore Roosevelt
14. “I have no regrets in my life. I think that everything happens to you for a reason. The hard times that you go through build character, making you a much stronger person.” – Rita Mero
15. “Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person’s character lies in their own hands.” – Anne Frank
16. Out of suffering has emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.
– Khalil Gibran
17. There are dark shadows on the earth, but its lights are stronger in the contrast. – Charles Dickens
18. Nobody can hurt me without my permission. – Mahatma Gandhi
19. Thousands have lived without love, not one without water. – W. H. Auden
20. Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will. – Mahatma Gandhi
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21. The strong man is the one who is able to intercept at will the communication between the senses and the mind. – Napoleon Bonaparte
22. Only one who devotes himself to a cause with his whole strength and soul can be a true master. For this reason, mastery demands all of a person. – Albert Einstein
23. Kites rise highest against the wind – not with it. – Winston Churchill
24. I think a hero is an ordinary individual who finds strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles. – Christopher Reeve
25. “Being strong doesn’t mean you’ll never get hurt. It means even when you get hurt, you’ll never let it defeat you.” ~ Unknown
26. 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
27. “Strength isn’t about how much you can handle before you break, it’s about how much you can handle after you break.” ~ Unknown
28. “My strength did not come from lifting weights. My strength came from lifting myself up when I was knocked down.” ~ Bob Moore
29. “Look at life through the windshield, not the rearview mirror.” ~ Byrd Baggett
30. “Courage conquers all things: it even gives strength to the body.” ~ Publius Ovidius Naso
31. “For the strength of the pack is the wolf, and the strength of the wolf is the pack.” ~ Rudyard Kipling
32. “I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead and some come from behind. But I’ve bought a big bat. I’m all ready you see. Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!” ~ Dr. Seuss
33. Courage isn’t having the strength to go on – it is going on when you don’t have the strength.” ~ Napoleon Bonaparte
34. “I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.” ~ Louisa May Alcott
35. “Where there is no struggle, there is no strength.” ~ Oprah Winfrey
36. “Through every dark night, there’s a bright day after that. So no matter how hard it gets, stick your chest out, keep your head up, and handle it.” ~ Tupac Shakur
37. “I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.” ~ Muhammad Ali
38. “When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.” ~ Henry Ford
39. “Never be ashamed of a scar. It simply means you were stronger than whatever tried to hurt you.” ~ Unknown
40. “A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.” ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt
41. “Strength isn’t about bearing a cross of grief or shame. Strength comes from choosing your own path, and living with the consequences.” ~ Jenny Trout
42. “Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” ~ Dale Carnegie.
43. “The bamboo that bends is stronger than the oak that resists.” ~ Japanese Proverb
44. “Strength is the capacity to break a Hershey bar into four pieces with your bare hands – and then eat just one of the pieces.” ~ Judith Viorst
45. “Make up your mind that no matter what comes your way, no matter how difficult, no matter how unfair, you will do more than simply survive. You will thrive in spite of it.” ~ Joel Osteen
46. “Everything is okay in the end, if it’s not ok, then it’s not the end.” ~ Anonymous
47. “Be strong. You never know who you are inspiring.” ~ Unknown
48. “Anyone can give up; it’s the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone would expect you to fall apart, that’s true strength.” ~ Chris Bradford
49. “You were given this life because you are strong enough to live it.” ~ Robin Sharma
50. “Throw me to the wolves and I will return leading the pack.” ~ Unknown
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51. “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
52. “When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.” ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt
53. “Don’t wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great. Weak men wait for opportunities; strong men make them.” ~ Orison Swett Marden
54. “You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.” ~ Cayla Mills
55. “Never say never, because limits, like fears, are often just an illusion.” – Michael Jordan
56. “Dream as if you’ll live forever, live as if you’ll die today.” – James Dean
57. “True strength is keeping everything together when everyone expects you to fall apart.” – Unknown
58. “Fall seven times, stand up eight.” – Chinese Proverb
59. “You were given this life, because you are strong enough to live it.” – Robin Sharma
60. “A truly strong person does not need the approval of others any more than a lion needs the approval of a sheep.” ~ Vernon Howard
61. “The difference between stumbling blocks and stepping-stones is how you use them.” ~ Unknown
62. “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” ~ Frederick Douglass
63. “The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.” ~ Moliere
64. “The struggle you’re in today is developing the strength you need for tomorrow. Don’t give up.” ~ Robert Tew
65. “Hardship prepares ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.” ~ C.S. Lewis
66. “If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.” ~ Frank A. Clark
67. “Fall seven times, stand up eight.” ~ Japanese Proverb
68. “Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” ~ Dale Carnegie
69. “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
70. “In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.” – Albert Camus
71. “Anyone can hide. Fessing up to things, working through them, that’s what makes you strong.” – Sarah Dessen
72. “Courage is looking fear right in the eye and saying, “Get the hell out of my way, I’ve got things to do.” – Unknown
73. “Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can’t ride you unless your back is bent.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
74. When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure. – Peter Marshall
75. Where there is no struggle, there is no strength. – Oprah Winfrey
76. One who gains strength by overcoming obstacles possesses the only strength which can overcome adversity. ~ Unknown
77. Stand up to your obstacles and do something about them. You will find that they haven’t half the strength you think they have. ~ Norman Vincent Peale
78. Endurance is not just the ability to bear a hard thing, but to turn it into glory. ~ William Barclay
79. “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.
80. “The task ahead of you is never greater than the strength within you.” ~ Unknown
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Inspirational Quotes About Inner Strength
81. “Most great people have attained their greatest success one step beyond their greatest failure.” ~ Napoleon Hill
82. “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its troubles; it empties today of its strength.” ~ Corrie ten Boom
83. “Hard times don’t create heroes. It is during the hard times when the ‘hero’ within us is revealed.” ~ Bob Riley
84. “You never know how strong you are… until being strong is the only choice you have.” ― Cayla Mills
85. “Fall down seven times, get up eight.” – Japanese Proverb
86. “Nothing is impossible, the word itself says ‘I’m possible’!” – Audrey Hepburn
87. “Dream as if you’ll live forever, live as if you’ll die today.” – James Dean
88. “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” ~ Nelson Mandela
89. “The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places.” ~ Ernest Hemingway
90. “The will of the strong will never be shaken by doubts of the weak.” ~ Unknown
91. “Sometimes you don’t realize your own strength until you come face to face with your greatest weakness.” ~ Susan Gale
92. “You are never given anything in this world that you can’t handle. Be strong and just keep moving forward.”
~ Unknown
93. “For a tree to become tall it must grow tough roots among the rocks.”
~ Friedrich Nietzsche
94. “Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength lies solely in my tenacity.” ~ Louis Pasteur
95. “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” ~ Winston Churchill
96. “We acquire the strength we have overcome.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
97. “It’s hard to beat a person who never gives up.” ~ Babe Ruth
98. “The first step is you have to say that you can.” ~ Will Smith
99. “He knows not his own strength who hath not met adversity.” ~ William Samuel Johnson
100. “All endings are also beginnings. We just don’t know it at the time.” ~ Mitch Albom
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101. Silence is a source of great strength. ~ Lao Tzu
102. The soul that is within me no man can degrade. – Frederick Douglass
103. Only the gentle are ever really strong. ~ James Dean
104. Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength. ~ Charles Spurgeon
105. Don’t be afraid to give your best to what seemingly are small jobs. Every time you conquer one it makes you that much stronger. If you do the little jobs well, the big ones will tend to take care of themselves. ~ Dale Carnegie
106. “Be strong. Live honorably and with dignity. When you don’t think you can, hold on.” ~ James Frey
107. “Become a possibilitarian. No matter how dark things seem to be or actually are, raise your sights and see the possibilities… always see them… for they’re always there.” ~ Norman Vincent Peale
108. “The strongest people are not those who show strength in front of us, but those who win battles we know nothing about.” ~ Unknown
109. “Remember that guy that gave up? Neither does anyone else.” ~ Unknown
110. “Anyone can hide. Fessing up to things, working through them, that’s what makes you strong.”
~ Sarah Dessen
111. “A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.” ~ Christopher Reeve
112. “Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.” ~ Carl Bard
113. “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
114. “Never say never, because limits, like fears, are often just an illusion.” ~ Michael Jordan
115. “Sometimes you don’t realize your own strength until you come face to face with your greatest weakness.” ~ Susan Gale
116. Nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing so gentle as real strength. ~ Saint Francis de Sales
117. The men who learn endurance, are they who call the whole world, brother. ~ Charles Dickens
118. “Sometimes you don’t realize your own strength until you come face to face with your greatest weakness.” – Susan Gale
119. “Beliefs have the power to create and the power to destroy. Human beings have the awesome ability to take any experience of their lives and create a meaning that disempowers them or one that can literally save their lives.” – Tony Robbins
120. “Man can live about forty days without food, about three days without water, about eight minutes without air, but only for one second without hope” – Hal Lindsey
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121. “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
122. “People grow through experience if they meet life honestly and courageously. This is how character is built.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
123. “You cannot dream yourself into a character; you must hammer and forge yourself one.” – James A. Froude
124. “Sow a thought, and you reap an act; Sow an act, and you reap a habit; Sow a habit, and you reap a character; Sow a character, and you reap a destiny.” – Charles Reade
125. “The depth and strength of a human character are defined by its moral reserves. People reveal themselves completely only when they are thrown out of the customary conditions of their life, for only then do they have to fall back on their reserves.” – Leonardo da Vinci
126. “Anyone can hide. Fessing up to things, working through them, that’s what makes you strong.” – Sarah Dessen
127. “Courage is looking fear right in the eye and saying, ‘Get the hell out of my way, I’ve got things to do.’” – Unknown– Louise Erdrich
128. “The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places.” – Ernest Hemingway
129. “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” – Mahatma Gandhi
130. “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.” ~ Nelson Mandela
131. “Out of your vulnerabilities will come your strength.” ~ Sigmund Freud
132. “Good actions give strength to ourselves and inspire good actions in others.” ~ Plato
133. “Do not pray for easy lives. Pray to be stronger men.” ~ Reverend Phillips Brooks
134. “In the middle of a difficulty lies opportunity.” ~ Albert Einstein
135. “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.
136. “Do not pray for an easy life; pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.” ~ Bruce Lee
137. “When something bad happens, you have three choices: You can either let it define you, let it destroy you or let it strengthen you.” ~ Unknown
138. “If you are going through hell, keep going.” ~ Winston Churchill
139. “Strength doesn’t come from what you can do. Strength comes from overcoming the things you thought you couldn’t.” ~ Unknown
140. “Never, ever ever ever ever give up.” ~ Winston Churchill
141. Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved. ~ Helen Keller
142. The world breaks everyone, and afterwards, some are strong at the broken places. – Ernest Hemingway
143. 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
144. You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength. – Marcus Aurelius
145. We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face… we must do that which we think we cannot. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
146. “A river cuts through a rock not because of its power, but its persistence.” ~ Unknown
147. “It’s not the strength of the body that counts, but the strength of the spirit.” ~ J.R.R Tolkien
148. “Tough times never last, but tough people do.” ~ Robert H. Schuller
149. “Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway.” ~ John Wayne
150. “If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.” – Bruce Lee
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Quotes About Strength In Hard Times
151. “Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can’t ride you unless your back is bent.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
152. “Nobody can hurt me without my permission.” – Mahatma Gandhi
153. “A heart is a muscle..and what do muscles do when they are torn? They grow back STRONGER!” – Unknown
154. “Strength does not come from physical capacity, it comes from indomitable will.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi
155. “No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path.” ~ Buddha
156. “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” ~ Friedrich Nietzsche
157. “Strength is the product of struggle, you must do what others don’t to achieve what others won’t.” ~ Henry Rollins
158. “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
159. “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill
160. “True strength is keeping everything together when everyone expects you to fall apart.” – Unknown
161. “Anyone can give up, it’s the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that’s true strength.” – Unknown
162. “When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this: you haven’t.” ~ Thomas Edison
163. “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” ~ Confucius
164. “In three words I can sum up everything I have learned about life: It goes on.” ~
Robert Frost
165. A mind at peace, a mind centered and not focused on harming others, is stronger than any physical force in the universe. ~ Wayne Dyer
166. 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
167. The world is the great gymnasium where we come to make ourselves strong. ~ Swami Vivekananda
168. Permanence, perseverance and persistence in spite of all obstacles, discouragements, and impossibilities: It is this, that in all things distinguishes the strong soul from the weak. ~ Thomas Carlyle
169. “This too shall pass away.” ~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox
170. “You never cross the ocean unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.” ~ Unknown
171. “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” ~ Thomas A. Edison
172. “It is not the strongest of the species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” ~ Charles Darwin
173. A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles. ~ Christopher Reeve
174. 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
175. Unity is strength… when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved. ~ Mattie Stepanek
176. “Nobody can hurt me without my permission.” – Mahatma Gandhi
177. “If you always put limit on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.” – Bruce Lee
178. “In the end, some of your greatest pains become your greatest strengths.” ― Drew Barrymore
179. “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill
180. “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
181. “Talents are best nurtured in solitude, but character is best formed in the stormy billows of the world.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
182. “Character isn’t something you were born with and can’t change, like your fingerprints. It’s something you weren’t born with and must take responsibility for forming.” – Jim Rohn
183. “The measure of a man’s real character is what he would do if he knew he would never be found out.” – Thomas Babington Macaulay
184. “The resistance that you fight physically in the gym and the resistance that you fight in life can only build a strong character.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger
185. “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
186. “Strength doesn’t come from what you can do. It comes from overcoming the things you once thought you couldn’t.” ~ Rikki Rogers
187. “You’re off to Great Places! Today is your day! Your mountain is waiting, So… get on your way!” ~ Dr. Seuss
188. “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” ~ Joseph Kennedy
189. “When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hang on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.” ~ Harriet Beecher Stowe
190. “I ask not for a lighter burden, but for broader shoulders.” ~ Jewish Proverb
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191. “You have power over your mind, not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” ~ Marcus Aurelius
192. A strong man doesn’t have to be dominant toward a woman. He doesn’t match his strength against a woman weak with love for him. He matches it against the world. ~ Marilyn Monroe
193. The God we serve does not seek out the perfect, but instead uses our imperfections and our shortcomings for his greater good. I am humbled by my own limitations. But where I am weak, He is strong.
~ Rick Perry
194. Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle. – Napoleon Hill
195. Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm. – Abraham Lincoln
196. A truly strong person does not need the approval of others any more than a lion needs the approval of a sheep.
– Vernon Howard
197. Climbing to the top demands strength, whether it is to the top of Mount Everest or to the top of your career. – A. P. J. Abdul Kalam
198. 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
199. It doesn’t take a lot of strength to hang on. It takes a lot of strength to let go. – J. C. Watts
200. Even cowards can endure hardship; only the brave can endure suspense. – Mignon McLaughlin
