Are you looking for encouraging phrases to overcome difficult times?
All of us will face great challenges and setbacks in our lives. If someone lives such a lovely life that he never has to face adversity then he must consider himself a very lucky person.
During times of grief or sadness we may feel that no one understands us or that no one has been through what we have been through. It is during these times that reading great words of encouragement or words of wisdom from others who have walked in our shoes can give us some clarity to fully understand that sooner or later we will get through these difficult times.
Tomorrow will be another day. Sometimes even the simplest word of encouragement can be what we need to turn things around. Perhaps these encouraging phrases will give us encouragement and hope for when difficult times arrive.
Table of Contents
85 encouraging quotes
Here are the best quotes to overcome the challenges of life:
1. “It is not in the calm of life or in repose in a peaceful season that the best character is formed. The habits of a vigorous mind are formed by facing difficulties.”
abigail adams
2. “Your circumstances may not be to your liking but they should not remain the same if you conceive an ideal and strive to achieve it.”
James Allen
3. “Bad times have scientific value. These are occasions that a good student would not miss.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
4. “The key to life is accepting challenges. Once someone stops doing this, he’s dead.”
bette davis
5. “The trickling of the water pierces the rock not by force, but by persistence.”
Ovid
6. “My feet are my only vehicle, I have to keep going forward but as I leave, I want to tell you: Everything is going to be fine.”
Bob Marley
7. “Only those who dare to fail greatly can achieve much.”
Robert F Kennedy
8. “Brick walls are there for a reason and not to keep us out. Brick walls are there to give us the opportunity to show how much we love things. Because the brick walls are there to stop people who don’t want it bad enough. They are there to stop other people.”
Randy Pausch
9. “Success is not the end, failure is not ruin, the courage to continue is what counts.”
Winston Churchill
10. “I don’t run from a challenge because I’m afraid. On the contrary, I run towards the challenge because the only way to escape fear is to run over it with your feet.”
nadia comaneci
11. “Opposition is a natural part of life. Just as we build our muscles by lifting weights, we build our character by overcoming challenges and adversity.”
Stephen Covey
12. “The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor can man be perfected without testing.”
Chinese proverb
13. “Difficulties often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.”
CS Lewis
14. “When we least expect it, life places before us a challenge that tests our courage and our will to change; At that time, it is no use pretending that nothing is happening, or apologizing that we are not ready yet.”
Paulo Coelho
15. “Whoever has not faced adversity does not know his own strength.”
Benjamin Johnson
16. “We must embrace pain as the fuel for our journey.”
Kenji Miyazawa
17. “Our very survival depends on our ability to stay awake, to adapt to new ideas, to remain vigilant and meet the challenge of change.”
Martin Luther King
18. “Sometimes our light goes out but lights up again in an instant flame by the encounter with another human being.”
Albert Schweitzer
19. “I learned that success comes in a very thorny package. Whether you decide to accept it or not is up to you. It’s what you choose to do with it, it’s the people you choose to surround yourself with. Always choose people who are better than you. Always choose people who challenge you and who are smarter than you. Always be the student. Once you see yourself as the teacher, you have lost it.”
Sandra Bullock
20. “In times of great stress or adversity, it is always better to stay busy, to direct your anger and energy towards something positive.”
Lee Iacocca
21. “Women like men should try to do the impossible. And when they fail, their failure must be a challenge to others.”
Amelia Earhart
22. “When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the plane takes off against the wind, not with it.”
Henry Ford
23. “It’s not that I’m very smart, it’s just that I spend more time solving problems.”
Albert Einstein
24. “Only the man who is swimming against the current knows its strength.”
woodrow wilson
25. “I like the challenge of trying different things and wondering if it will work or if I am going to fall flat on my face.”
Johnny Depp
26. “We can throw stones, complain about them, step on them or build with them.”
William Arthur Ward
27. “We chose to go to the moon in this decade and do the rest, not because they are easy goals, but because they are difficult.”
John F. Kennedy
28. “Hard times never last but people do.”
Robert H. Schuller
29. “Being tested is good. A challenged life can be the best therapist.”
Gail Sheehy
30. “Remaining indifferent to the challenges we face is indefensible. Whether the goal is noble, whether or not it is realized within our lifetime is largely irrelevant. What we must do, therefore, is to strive and persevere and never give up.”
Dalai Lama
31. “Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you hit a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Find a way to climb it, pass it, or avoid it.”
Michael Jordan
32. “If you’re faced with a new challenge or asked to do something you’ve never done before, don’t be afraid to do it. You have more ability than you think you have, but you will never see it unless you ask for more of yourself.”
Joyce Mayer
33. “If you compare your problems or challenges with those of others, you will surely find that there are people whose problems make yours seem minor inconveniences.”
Catherine Pulsifer
34. “Prosperity is a great teacher; adversity is greater. Possession pampers the mind; deprivation trains and strengthens it.”
William Hazlitt
35. “Understand that it is okay to be afraid or uncertain, however, beyond those barriers ultimately lie your dreams.”
Josh Hinds
36. “By cultivating gratitude you eventually expand your inner sense of what is possible, regardless of the apparent obstacles and challenges you go through.”
Veronica Smith
37. “The greatest glory of life lies not in never failing, but in getting up every time we fall.”
Nelson Mandela
38. “A life full of vicissitudes, uncertainty and hard lessons is what gives us the skills to better address the new challenges that arise.”
Vivian Eiseneche
39. “Don’t be discouraged if your plans don’t succeed on the first try. Nobody learns to walk in the first step.”
Catherine Pulsifer
40. “Focused will is incredible. If you have a dream and don’t give up no matter what obstacles arise, then life’s problems will vanish and you will get what you want. Happens. It works.”
Yanni
41. “In three words I can summarize everything I have learned about life: everything goes on.”
Robert Frost
42. “Part of the challenge in striving for success is how the entire journey comes with its own share of failures and disappointments.”
Rupert Johnson
43. “Even if happiness forgets you a little, never completely forget about it.”
Jacques Prevert
44. “Expect obstacles and meet them head-on. They will appear but the way you handle them is what will make the difference.”
lance dale
45. “Prosperity does not exist without many fears and disasters; and adversity does not exist without comfort and hope.”
Francis Bacon
46. “Challenges are an opportunity to test yourself and get to the next level.”
Angelica Montrose
47. “Today you are where your thoughts have brought you; tomorrow you will be where your thoughts take you.”
James Allen
48. “The comfort zone is the most dangerous area anyone can stay in. It is a place without growth and without challenges.”
brian cagney
49. “If you don’t like something, change it; if you can’t change it, change the way you think about it.”
Mary Engelbreit
50. “Smiling is a wonderful way to get a happiness boost. The next time life presents you with a challenging situation, take a deep breath and smile.
Morris Pratt
51. “The bravest sight in the world is to see a man who fights against adversity.”
Seneca
52. “You must have self-esteem to be able to adequately face the challenges that life throws at you.”
Minka Ferguson
53. “The cave you are afraid to enter has the treasure you seek.”
Joseph Campbell
54. “The greater the obstacle, the more glory there is in overcoming it.”
Moliere
55. “Each defeat, each loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson to improve performance the next time.”
Og Mandino
56. “The opportunity to build resilience comes through difficult circumstances that highlight and challenge existing mindsets.”
Devra Davis
57. “If there is no fight, there is no progress.”
Frederick Douglass
58. “What we choose to do on a daily basis prepares us for the greater things that God has in store; those faith challenges are what will take us to our promised land.”
Lisa Cook
59. “Every person must decide once in his life if he launches to succeed, risking everything, or if he sits down to watch the winners pass by.”
Thomas AlvaEdison
60. “But that is the challenge: changing the system more than it changes you.”
Michael Pollan
61.
“If you’re not up to your head, how will you know your height?”
T. S. Eliot
62. “Adversity has the gift of awakening talents that would have remained dormant in prosperity.”
Horace
63. “Life is either a daring adventure or it is nothing at all.”
Helen Keller
64. “Life’s challenges aren’t supposed to paralyze you, they’re supposed to help you discover who you are.”
Bernice JohnsonReagon
65. “Challenging your thought patterns when you feel anxious can help you avoid those overwhelming feelings of panic.”
Jeff Gunn
66. “If you don’t climb the mountain you will never be able to enjoy the landscape.”
Pablo Neruda
67. “A challenge only becomes an obstacle when you bow down to it.”
Ray Davis
68. “All we have to decide is what to do with the time we have been given.”
J. R. R. Tolkien
69. “There are times when problems come into our lives and we can’t do anything to avoid them. But they are there for a reason. Only when we have overcome them will we understand why they were there.”
Paulo Coelho
70. “No matter how bad your life is, face it and live it. Don’t ignore her and say it’s hard.”
Henry David Thoreau
71. “We cannot be afraid of change. You can feel very safe in the pond you are in, but if you never venture out of it, you will never know that the ocean or the sea exists. Holding on to something that is now good for you may be the reason you don’t have something better.”
C. JoyBell C.
72. “Our main desire is someone who inspires us to be what we know we could be.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
73. “Hard things get softer over time.”
Nick Hornby
74. “You cannot expect victory and plan defeat.”
Joel Osteen
75. “Fortunately, persistence is a great substitute for talent.”
Steve Martin
76. “I think that little by little I will be able to solve my problems and survive.”
Frida Kahlo
77. “Cheer up, believe in yourself and love yourself. Never doubt who you are.”
stephanie lahart
78. “If you always attribute positive emotions to things you want, and never anesthetize negative emotions to things you don’t do, then what you want most will invariably come your way.”
Matt D Miller
79. “It’s funny how when things get darker, moments of beauty show up in the most unexpected places.”
Karen Marie Moning
80. “A word of encouragement can be enough to spark someone’s motivation to continue with a difficult situation.”
Roy T. Bennett
81. “The greatest joys are found not only in what we do and feel, but also in what we hope for.”
Bryant McGill
82. “Who do you spend time with? With people who criticize or encourage you? Surround yourself with those who believe in you. Your life is too important for anything less.”
Steve Goodier
83. “Breath is like water for the soul, it makes everything grow.”
Chris Burkman
84. “I have discovered that if you want to reach your true potential, it is much more effective to ignite a new passion for life than to dwell on the problems of the past.”
Neil A. Fiore
85. “Every goal first started as something in our mind. You have it all within you!”
Deborah Day
Are you going through difficult times?
Don’t worry, there is always light at the end of every tunnel. Hard times don’t last forever. You may experience pain, sadness or loss but remember that they are only there for a period of time. Often no matter how difficult life gets, it’s up to us to pick up the pieces and move on.
On the other hand, people who have achieved success have faced great challenges but have persevered. They have learned from their failures. They know not to fear a challenge, but to embrace it as an opportunity to continually grow and improve.