Adversity Quotes
I can’t believe that I have never thought to do a page on adversity before.
It’s such a pertinent subject. You will find that as you read these, they are just as insightful and inspiring as if you had just read quotations on success.
There are 50 adversity quotes here, so grab a drink and get ready.
1. A wounded deer leaps the highest. -Emily Dickinson
2. A smooth sea never made a skillful mariner. -English Proverb
3. A man is insensible to the relish of prosperity until he has tasted adversity. -Saadi
4. A certain amount of opposition is a great help to a man. Kites rise against, not with, the wind. -John Neal
5. Adversity is a fact of life. It can’t be controlled. What we can control is how we react to it. -Anonymous
6. Dust is protective coating for fine furniture. -Mario Burata
7. By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity. -Mark Twain
8. Birds sing after a storm; why shouldn’t people feel as free to delight in whatever remains to them? -Rose F. Kennedy
9. Brave men rejoice in adversity, just as brave soldiers triumph in war. -Seneca
10. Adversity is the first path to truth. -Lord Byron
11. Adversity is, to me at least, a tonic and a bracer. -Sir Walter Scott
12. Adversity reveals genius, prosperity hides it. -Horace
13. Anytime you suffer a setback or disappointment, put your head down and plow ahead. -Les Brown
14. Always seek out the seed of triumph in every adversity. -Og Mandino
15. Affliction comes to us, not to make us sad but sober; not to make us sorry but wise. -Henry Ward Beecher
16. You’ll never find a better sparring partner than adversity. -Walt Schmidt
17. You have endured worse things; God will grant an end to these. -Virgil
18. When you come to a roadblock, take a detour. -Mary Kay Ash
19. When walking through the ‘valley of shadows’, remember, a shadow is cast by a light. -H.K Barclay
20. You may live in an imperfect world but the frontiers are not closed and the doors are not all shut. -Maxwell Maltz
21. What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. -Friedrich Nietzsche
22. What is to give light must endure the burning. -Viktor Frankl
23. When it gets dark enough, you can see the stars. -Lee Salk
24. When something like an affliction happens to you, you either let it defeat you, or you defeat it. -Rosalind Russell
25. We need tough days to drive us to our knees. -Anonymous
26. We are always on the anvil; by trials God is shaping us for higher things. -Henry Ward Beecher
27. We must free ourselves from the hope that the sea will ever rest. We must learn to sail in high winds. -Hanmer Parsons Grant
28. Tough times never last, but tough people do. -Robert Schuller
29. Those who aim at great deeds must also suffer greatly. -Plutarch
30. Things were bad but now they are OK. -Harold Seymour
31. Trouble is the common denominator of living. It is the great equalizer. -Soren Kierkegaard
32. Trouble shared is troubled halved. -Dorothy Sayers
33. There will be no crown bearers in heaven who are not crown bearers on earth. -Anonymous
34. 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. -Og Mandino
35. The finest steel has to go through the hottest fire. -Richard Nixon
36. The bravest sight in the world is to see a great man struggling against adversity. -Seneca
37. Stumbling is not falling. -Portuguese Proverb
38. Sometimes adversity is what you need to face in order to become successful. -Zig Ziglar
39. Show me someone who has done something worthwhile, and I’ll show you someone who has overcome adversity. -Lou Holtz
40. The greatest difficulties lie where we are not looking for them. -Goethe
41. The difference between the stumbling blocks and stepping stones is how you use them. -Anonymous
42. The hardest struggle of all is to be something different from what the average man is. -Charles Schwab
43. The proof of gold is fire. -Benjamin Franklin
44. The sooner I fall behind, the more time I have to catch up. -Anonymous
45. The worst thing that happens to you may be the best thing for you if you don’t let it get the best of you. -Will Rogers
46. The reward of suffering is experience. -Aeschylus
47. Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant. -Horace
48. Breakdowns can create breakthroughs. Things fall apart so things can fall together. -Anonymous
49. Prosperity tries the fortunate, adversity the great. -Pliny The Elder
50. One sees great things from the valley; only small things from the peak. -Gilbert Chesterton
What do you think of these? Which ones are your favorites? Please leave a comment in the section below.
Popularity: 19% [?]

I love all of these! But #18 is one of my favorites!
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As usual, it’s impossible to pick just one – at least for me!
39, 41, 45 and 48 – all made me think of how fortunate I was to be laid off from my “just a job.” I decided to start my own business which is the best thing that’s happened to me; it has redirected my life and goals in a direction that is positive and has given me the opportunity to love what I do! That being said, I guess I must include #47 also: Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, which is prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant. -Horace
(Except there’s a typo in that one – I believe it should read, “…which IN prosperous circumstances….” – what can I say? I’m a proofreader!!
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I LOVE quotes. I found you for the first time yesterday and am now following you on Twitter. Already I’ve been blessed by your input. I’m planning to add a quote page to my website in the future. Your’s is very encouraging. Thanks.
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YOUR SELECTION CAN ONLY BE ON TARGET.
THANKS
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I hope you’ll get a little “tweet this” button soon. I’d love to retweet really easily. It’s all about me, doncha know.
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These Quotes are awsome!! Keep them coming.
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Crystal,
You lost your job?? So this gives you the time to get your proofreading business ramped up! How’s that going anyway?
BTW, I actually wrote about you last night. I created a new page here on the blog to showcase/write about the sites of my friends and subscribers to the thought of the day.
Go to the top of this page or any page, look to the right under “Pages”, you will see a link that says “Subscriber Sites”.
Thanks for the typo help.
Shawn
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Valerie,
Thanks for your comments. I will look for a “Tweet This” plugin sometime soon. Thanks for the idea.
Shawn
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going thru some trying times…loved number 23…is so very true…but sometimes we fail to look up
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I am currently finishing my last semester at LSU and applying to medical school. I found this site about a week ago, right when reports, exams, and application deadlines were being piled on by the ton. I just want to thank the creator. Some of these quotes have been just the fuel I was looking for to get me through the hours and hours of work. My favorite of this particular section is “The hardest struggle of all is to be something different from what the average man is.” – Charles Schwab. Thanks again to the creator.
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#31 is actually a Soren Kierkegaard quote.
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Thanks Joseph. I looked it up and you’re right. Thanks for letting me know.
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Thank You. I failed in my Final Year MBBS exam. All my friends have become doctors, and i m here contemplating about life, and i am sure it counts.
Manjit Tendolkar´s last blog ..The Big Deal of Failing In Final Year MBBS
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#32 Trouble shared is trouble halved.
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shawn i just discovered your quotes. Thanks for the great work
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