inspirational quotes for hard times in life

This collection of uplifting quotes about tough times will 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.

You are reading: inspirational quotes for hard times in life

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

It is during these times that reading quotes of power, inspirational depression quotes, encouragement, or words of wisdom from others who have walked in our shoes before, can give us some clarity to fully understand that we will get through this difficult time.

Two Women Sitting

Tomorrow is another day. Sometimes, even just the simplest encouraging word can be what we need to turn things around. Perhaps these quotes about a hope for the future will provide encouragement when tough times hit.

Uplifting Sayings and Quotes To Help You Get Through Tough Times

1. “All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.” – J.R.R. Tolkien, ‘The Fellowship of the Ring’

2. “One word of encouragement can be enough to spark someone’s motivation to continue with a difficult challenge.” – Roy T. Bennett

3. “You need to be buried deep in the dirt before you can find your bloom.” – Roz Inga

4. “Don’t just learn, experience.

Don’t just read, absorb.

Don’t just change, transform.

Don’t just relate, advocate.

Don’t just promise, prove.

Don’t just criticize, encourage.

Don’t just think, ponder.

Don’t just take, give.

Don’t just see, feel.

Don’t just dream, do.

Don’t just hear, listen.

Don’t just talk, act.

Don’t just tell, show.

Don’t just exist, live.” – Roy T. Bennett, ‘The Light in the Heart’

5. “Our chief want is someone who will inspire us to be what we know we could be.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

6. “You cannot expect victory and plan for defeat.” – Joel Osteen

7. “Thankfully, persistence is a great substitute for talent.” – Steve Martin, ‘Born Standing Up: A Comic’s Life’

8. “I think that little by little I’ll be able to solve my problems and survive.” – Frida Kahlo

If you’re enjoying these quotes, you’ll love our collection of survival quotes to motivate you to keep going.

9. “Do not sit still; start moving now. In the beginning, you may not go in the direction you want, but as long as you are moving, you are creating alternatives and possibilities.” – Rodolfo Costa, ‘Advice My Parents Gave Me: and Other Lessons I Learned from My Mistakes’

10. “Encourage yourself, believe in yourself, and love yourself. Never doubt who you are.” – Stephanie Lahart, ‘Overcoming Life’s Obstacles: Enlighten-Encourage-Empower’

Inspiring Quotes To Help You Get Through Tough Times

11. “If you always attach positive emotions to the things you want, and never attach negative emotions to the things you don’t, then that which you desire most will invariably come your way.” – Matt D. Miller

12. “One of the most important things you can do on this earth is to let people know they are not alone.” – Shannon L. Alder

13. “There are moments when troubles enter our lives and we can do nothing 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, ‘The Fifth Mountain’

If you’re enjoying these quotes, make sure to read our collection of encouraging quotes to help keep you going.

14. “Opportunity may knock only once but temptation leans on the door bell.” – Oprah Winfrey, ‘Oprah Winfrey Speaks: Insights from the World’s Most Influential Voice’

15. “Connecting with those you know love, like and appreciate you restores the spirit and gives you energy to keep moving forward in this life.” – Deborah Day, ‘BE HAPPY NOW!’

If you’re enjoying these quotes, make sure to read our collection of moving quotes about the power of a new environment.

16. “The greatest joys in life are found not only in what we do and feel, but also in our quiet hopes and labors for others.” – Bryant McGill, ‘Voice of Reason’

17. “Who do you spend time with? Criticizers or encouragers? Surround yourself with those who believe in you. Your life is too important for anything less.” – Steve Goodier

18. “If you feel like giving up, give up on that feeling and give into the realization there are endless possibilities waiting to be discovered before you.” – Tom Althouse

19. “So the next time you see a person with a compose face and a soft voice, remember that inside her mind she might be solving an equation, composing a sonnet, designing a hat. She might, that is, be deploying the powers of quiet.” – Susan Cain, ‘Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking’

20. “Encouragement is like water to the soul, it makes everything grow.” – Chris Burkmenn

Also read these deep dark quotes for moving past difficult times.

More Quotes and Sayings for When The Going Gets Tough

21. “The noble-minded encourage what is beautiful in people and discourage what is ugly in them. Little people do just the opposite.” – Confucius, ‘The Analects’

22. “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

23. “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.

24. “At the root of all misery is unfulfilled desire.” – Scott Hahn, ‘Hope for Hard Times’

25. “…I’ve discovered that if you want to reach your true potential, it’s much more effective to ignite a new passion for life than to dwell on past problems.” – Neil A. Fiore, ‘Awaken Your Strongest Self: Break Free of Stress, Inner Conflict, and Self-Sabotage’

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26. “In life, we make the best decisions we can with the information we have on hand.” – Agnes Kamara-Umunna, ‘And Still Peace Did Not Come: A Memoir of Reconciliation’

27. “Every goal first started as something in our mind. You have it all within you!” – Deborah Day, ‘BE HAPPY NOW!’

28. “He worked with her as she was and not as he wanted her to be.” – Colin Clark, ‘My Week with Marilyn’

29. “How can you love people without encouraging them? And how can you be loyal to people without educating them.” – Confucius, ‘The Analects’

30. “For the rest of his life, Oliver Twist remembers a single word of blessing spoken to him by another child because this word stood out so strikingly from the consistent discouragement around him.” – Charles Dickens, ‘Oliver Twist’If you’re enjoying these quotes, make sure to check out our collection of wise Charles Dickens quotes on self-worth, love, and more.

Uplifting quotes for difficult times

31. “You’ve got to stay strong to be strong in tough times.” – Tilman J. Fertitta

32. “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”—Confucius

33. “Every adversity brings new experiences and new lessons.” ― Lailah Gifty Akita

34. “We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope.”- Martin Luther King

35. “All of life is a test and we all have our challenges to meet.” ― Marjory Sheba

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

37. “Inside of a ring or out, ain’t nothing wrong with going down. It’s staying down that’s wrong.” – Muhammad Ali

38. “You were given this life because you were strong enough to live it.” – Unknown

39. “Never give up. Things may be hard, but if you quit trying they’ll never get better. Stop worrying and start trusting God. It will be worth it.” ― Germany Kent

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

Inspirational tough times quotes to make you strong

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41. “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

42. “Going through challenging things can teach you a lot, and they also make you appreciate the times that aren’t so challenging.” – Carrie Fisher

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

44. “I don’t know a startup that hasn’t been through tough times.” – Vinod Khosla

45. “You start with a darkness to move throughbut sometimes the darkness moves through you.” ― Dean Young

46. “I like to use the hard times of the past to motivate me today.” –Dwayne Johnson

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

48. “Hard times, when held with open hands and a tender heart, can prepare us for the future.” ― Cindee Snider Re

49. “There have been some hard times, people around me supported me.” – Laure Manaudou

50. “Hard times may have put you down sometimes but they will not last forever. When all is said and done, you will be wise and strong.” – Anurag Prakash Ray

Tough times quotes to remind you of your strength

51. “Problems are not stop signs; they are guidelines.”—Robert Schuller

52. “We must meet the challenge rather than wish it were not before us.”—William J. Brennan

53. “Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.”—Dale Carnegie

54. “I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness for it shows me the stars.”- Og Mandino

55. “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

56. “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.

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

58. “Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”—Christopher Robin to Pooh, A.A. Milne

59. “If you fell down yesterday, stand up today.”―H.G. Wells

60. “Tough times never last, but tough people do.”—Robert H. Schuller

61. “Let perseverance be your engine and hope your fuel.”—H. Jackson Brown, Jr.

62. “To be tested is good. The challenged life may be the best therapist.”—Gail Sheehy

63. “He knows not his own strength who hath not met adversity.”- William Samuel Johnson

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

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

Inspirational tough times quotes

66. “Enthusiasm is common. Endurance is rare.” — Angela Duckworth

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

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

69. “The bravest sight in the world is to see a great man struggling against adversity.” – Seneca The YoungerIf you’re enjoying these quotes, you’ll love our collection of Seneca quotes that will help you in all facets of your life.

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

71. “Hard times arouse an instinctive desire for authenticity.” – Coco Chanel

72. “Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.” — Og Mandino

73. “Hard times make you bitter or make you more compassionate.” – Jewel

74. “Hard times may have held you down, but they will not last forever. When all is said and done, you will be increased.” — Joel Osteen

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

Tough times quotes to get you through the difficult times

76. “Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it’s always your choice.” – Wayne Dyer

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77. “It takes a lot of courage to push through hard times. Never give up. Good things are coming your way.”― Robert Tew

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

79. “Hard times lifts the seeking souls to higher spiritual realms.”― Lailah Gifty Akita

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

81. “Don’t be discouraged. It’s often the last key in the bunch that opens the lock.”—Unknown

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

83. “The pain you feel today is the strength you feel tomorrow. For every challenge encountered, there is opportunity for growth.”—Unknown

84. “People are just as happy as they make up their minds to be.” – Abraham Lincoln

85. “Remember that guy that gave up? Neither does anyone else.” – Unknown

Tough times quotes to strengthen you

86. “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 IacoccaIf you’re enjoying these quotes, make sure to read our collection of positive energy quotes about the power of good vibes.

87. “Hard days are the best because that’s when champions are made.” – Gabrielle Douglas

88. “When life changes itself to harder. Change yourself to stronger.” –Anurag Prakash Ray

89. “Only during hard times do people come to understand how difficult it is to be master of their feelings and thoughts.” – Anton Chekhov

90. “The hardest struggle of all is to be something different from what the average man is.” – Charles M Schwab

91. “Life will always be hard on you, but it doesn’t mean you should give up.” – Anurag Prakash Ray

92. “One small crack does not mean you are broken, it means that you were put to the test and you didn’t fall apart.” – Linda Poindexter

93. “In difficult times, it’s so hard to look around and to see what to be grateful for.” – Alice Barrett

94. “In my experience, people who don’t stick around during the hard times weren’t worth having around anyway.” – Kimberly Belle

95. “Why worry? If you’ve done the very best you can, worrying won’t make it any better.” – Walt Disney

Tough times quotes to remind you how strong you are

96. “The oak sleeps in the acorn. The bird waits in the egg, and in the highest vision of the soul, a waking angel stirs. Dreams are the seedlings of reality.” – Napoleon Hill

97. “It’s not exactly like you thought it would be, you think it’s a failure. What about the spectrum of colors in between.” – Sara Evans

98. “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

99. “Sometimes our light goes out, but is blown again into instant flame by an encounter with another human being.” – Albert Schweitzer

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

101. “The best way to get rid of the pain is to feel the pain. And when you feel the pain and go beyond it, you’ll see there’s a very intense love that is wanting to awaken itself.” – Deepak Chopra

102. “Man is fond of counting his troubles but he does not count his joys. If he counted them up, as he ought to, he would see that every lot has enough happiness provided for it.” – Fyodor Dostoevsky

103. “The greater the difficulty, the more glory in surmounting it. Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests.” – Epicetus

104. “To have darkness behind me, in front of me a bright sky, flickering lights on the water and to feel it on the stony face of the southern sun.” – Julia Hartwig

105. “The greatest glory in living lies not in never failing, but in rising every time we fail.” – Nelson Mandela

Tough times quotes for when things get difficult

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106. “We are all dealing with a challenge of some kind. Some of us are just better at hiding it than others.” – Karen Salmansohn

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

108. “When someone is going through a storm…your silent presence is more powerful than a million empty words.” – Thelma Davis

109. “Turn your wounds into wisdom.” — Oprah Winfrey

If you’re enjoying these quotes, make sure to read our collection of wisdom quotes from the world’s greatest minds.

110. “Sometimes the best thing you can do is not think, not obsess. Just breathe and have faith that all will work out for the best.” – Unknown

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

112. “Falling down is how we grow. Staying down is how we die.” – Brian Vaczily

113. “Strong people alone know how to organize their suffering so as to bear only the most necessary pain.” — Emil Dorian

114. “Sometimes painful things can teach us lessons that we didn’t think we needed to know.” – Amy Poehler

115. “It may sound strange, but many champions are made champions by setbacks.” — Bob Richards

Don’t forget to also check out these disappointment quotes that will inspire you to keep moving forward.

Tough times quotes to keep you going strong

116. “We should always pray for help, but we should always listen for inspiration and impression to proceed in ways different from those we may have thought of.”- John H. GrobergIf you’re enjoying this collection of quotes, then you’ll love our collection of short inspirational quotes that will help you remain positive and optimistic.

117. “You are not allowed to let the sadness ruin you.” – Karen Salmansohn

118. “Things turn out the best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.”- John Wooden

119. “After a storm comes a calm.” – Matthew Henry

120. “To succeed, you have to do something and be very bad at it for a while. You have to look bad before you can look really good.”- Barbara DeAngelis

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121. “Tough times helped many commodities traders become lean and mean through consolidation, mergers and cost cutting. All that excess supply has been sopped up.” – Jim Rogers

122. “It’s true that no one ever said life would be easy, but it is also true that no one ever said you had to go through it alone.”― Jellis Vaes

123. “Suffering can refine us rather than destroy us because God himself walks with us in the fire.” – Timothy Keller

124. “Difficult times will come.” It’s a fact of life, isn’t it? There are good times and bad times in everybody’s life.”― Raj Kosaraju

125. “Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.” – Harriet Beecher Stowe

Relatable tough times quotes

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

127. “Become a happy memory collector. Live fully in the now, appreciating each moment. This is how you capture future memories.” – Karen Salmansohn

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

129. “People in tough times – it doesn’t mean they don’t have a great attitude.” – Joel Osteen

130. “See your hard times through the spectacles of your experiences. They, too, shall pass away.”― Ogwo David Emenike

131. “Everybody goes through some tough times in their life, no matter what you do. Man, I’ve had my tough times.” – David Ortiz

132. “Life keeps throwing me stones. And I keep finding the diamonds…”― Ana Claudia Antunes

133. “The only thing that overcomes hard luck is hard work.” – Harry Golden

134. “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

135. “When life takes the wind out of your sails, it is to test you at the oars.” –Robert Breault

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Tough times quotes to elevate your mind

136. “Life’s challenges are not supposed to paralyze you; they’re supposed to help you discover who you are.”—Bernice Johnson Reagon

137. “You can make heaven out of hell, or hell out of heaven. The choice is yours.”― Shannon L. Alder

138. “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 Radmach

139. “Difficult times produce strong men and women. Keep on your struggle to achieve your dreams!”― Avijeet Das

140. “No one is going to hand me success. I must go out and get it myself. That’s why I’m here. To dominate. To conquer. Both the world and myself.”—Unknown

141. “Do not get discouraged in times of difficulties.”― Lailah Gifty Akita

142. “In tough times, everyone has to take their share of the pain.” – Theresa May

143. “Difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations. The best is yet to come.”― Zig Ziglar

144. “Tough times call for tough choices and pinching every penny.” – John Hickenlooper

145. “When you meet the real problems of life, think of the real lessons of life for the real lessons of life are in the real problems of life.”― Ernest Agyemang Yeboah

Tough times quotes to strengthen your mindset

146. “There are no great people in this world, only great challenges which ordinary people rise to meet.”—William Frederick Halsey, Jr.

147. “It is during the worst times of your life that you will get to see the true colors of the people who say they care for you.”― Anonymous

148. “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.

If you’re enjoying these quotes, make sure to read our collection of keep pushing quotes about moving forward.

149. “It’s getting tougher because you’re getting Closer to your Breakthrough and the things you’ve been praying for. When things get tough, you must toughen up.”― Jeanette Coron

150. “I say find one true friend to help you get through the tough times.” – Kelly Osbourne

151. “All warriors of a free life share a hardcore mantel that brindles them through troubled times.”― Kilroy J. Oldster

152. “I think you need to go through some stuff to really appreciate life and understand what it means to persevere, overcome and have faith. I think those tough times make you a stronger person.” –Judith Hill

153. “Don’t miss the blessing disguised as shit.”― Jennifer Ho-Dougatz

154. “I wouldn’t ever say if you’re having tough times then there must be something wrong with you or your attitude. Life’s a fight. It’s a good fight of faith. I encourage people to stay up, stay hopeful, stay faith-filled.” – Joel Osteen

155. “Don’t stop breathing just because night has fallen! Don’t stop breathing just because you are sleeping.”― Ernest Agyemang Yeboah

More tough times quotes and sayings

156. “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

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

158. “There were good times, there were hard times, but there were never bad times.” – Steve Jobs

159. “Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.” – Thich Nhat Hanh

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

161. “Love so joyfully and freely given can never be taken away. It is never truly gone.” – Cameron Dokey

162. “Certainly, there were tough times, but no, you can’t go back and change it. So, why dwell on it?” – Alex Smith

163. “Everything is within your power, and your power is within you.” – Janice Trachtman

164. “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

165. “I will always find a way and a way will always find me.” – Charles F. Glassman

Are you experiencing some tough times?

Don’t worry: there’s always light at the end of every tunnel. Difficult times don’t last. You may experience pain, sadness, or loss, but remember that they’re only there for a season. Often, no matter how hard life gets, it’s up to us to pick up the pieces and continue.

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