125 Powerful Quotes about Resilience in Life You Must Read

We will all experience difficult moments where “life happens,” little is under our control, and we feel we may not be able to make it through. Some believe the key to surviving such times is a small thing called resilience. And sometimes all you need to get started is to read some resilience quotes.

Words have the power to stimulate and inspire us, even when we feel like giving up. To remind you that every setback you overcame, every tear you wiped away, and every time you chose to get back up, formed your inner strength. You’ve been a lot farther than you believe. And you’re not finished yet.

That’s why I explored the web for the most inspiring quotes about resilience in life.

Quotes about Resilience in Life that help You Rise again

1. “My life was my life; I would have to stare it down, somehow, and make it work for me.” — Paula McLain

2. “Write the story of your life. Sharpen your pencil, freshen the ink & get to it. You are the author, the world your pages. The hero or the villain. You decide” — Megan Hine

3. “Life doesn’t get easier or more forgiving, we get stronger and more resilient.” — Steve Marabol

4. “Building our resilience muscles starts with the way we process the negative events in our lives. Mental toughness is a prerequisite for personal growth and success.” — Keisha Blair

5. “When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure.” — Peter Marshall

6. “Resilience is born by grounding yourself in your own loveliness, hitting notes you thought were way out of range.” — Gregory Boyle

7. “In order to succeed, people need a sense of self-efficacy, to struggle together with resilience to meet the inevitable obstacles and inequities of life.” — Albert Bandura

8. “Toughness is in the soul and spirit, not in muscles.” — Alex Karras

9. “Not all storms come to destroy. Some come to clear the path, to shake you awake, and to remind you of your strength.” — Intrepid Quips

10. “Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls: the most massive characters are seared with scars”. — Kahlil Gibran

11. “Be allergic to giving up on your dreams.” — Lynn Ujiagbe

12. “‎Hold yourself responsible for a higher standard than anybody else expects of you. Never excuse yourself. Never pity yourself. Be a hard master to yourself-and be lenient to everybody else.” — Henry Ward Beecher

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13. “As we advance in life it becomes more and more difficult, but in fighting the difficulties the inmost strength of the heart is developed.” —Vincent van Gogh

14. “We are stronger, gentler, more resilient and more beautiful than any of us imagine.” — Mark Nepo

15. “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

16. “Resiliency is the ability to spring back from and successfully adapt to adversity.” — Nan Henderson

17. “Remember: Every champion was once a contender that refused to give up.” — Rocky Balboa

18. “People are resilient. Correction: survivors are resilient.” — Sam North

19. “Resilience is, of course, necessary for a warrior. But a lack of empathy isn’t.” — Phil Klay

20. “If your heart is broken, make art with the pieces.” — Shane Koyczan

21. “There’s no such thing as ruining your life. Life’s a pretty resilient thing, it turns out.” — Sophie Kinsella

22. “Our resilience increases as we recognize the magnitude of what we have already accomplished.” — Patricia O’Gorman

23. “It is really wonderful how much resilience there is in human nature. Let any obstructing cause, no matter what, be removed in any way, even by death, and we fly back to first principles of hope and enjoyment.” — Bram Stoker

24. “A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks that others throw at him.” — David Brinkley

25. “Resilience is knowing that you are the only one that has the power and the responsibility to pick yourself up.” — Mary Holloway

Also read: 105 Best Overstepping Boundaries Quotes That Draw the Line

26. “Beautiful gems can emerge from dirt. Struggle can teach you self-discipline and resilience.” — Dipa Sanatani

27. “Victory is sweetest when you’ve known defeat.” — Malcolm S. Forbes

28. “When we learn how to become resilient, we learn how to embrace the beautifully broad spectrum of the human experience.” — Jaeda Dewalt

29. “Few men during their lifetime come anywhere near exhausting the resources dwelling within them. There are deep wells of strength that are never used.” —Richard E. Byrd

30. “The difference between a strong man and a weak one is that the former does not give up after a defeat.” — Woodrow Wilson

31. “Resilience is born by grounding yourself in your own loveliness, hitting notes you thought were way out of your range.” — Gregory Boyle

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

33. “Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.” — Helen Keller

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

35. “Only those who dare to fail greatly, can ever achieve greatly.” — Robert F. Kennedy

36. “Adversity causes some men to break; others to break records.” — William A. Ward

37. “Forget mistakes. Forget failures. Forget everything except what you are going to do right now, and do it. Today is your lucky day.” — Will Durant

Also read: Top 110 Quotes about Feeling Amazing and Being You

38. “There comes a time in your life, when you walk away from all the drama and people who create it. You surround yourself with people who make you laugh. Forget the bad and focus on the good. Love the people who treat you right, pray for the ones who do not. Life is too short to be anything but happy. Falling down is a part of life, getting back up is living.” — José N. Harris

39. “Resilience is very different than being numb. Resilience means you experience, you feel, you fail, you hurt. You fall. But, you keep going.” — Yasmin Mogahed

40. “Someone I once loved gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this, too, was a gift.” — Mary Oliver

41. “We will either find a way, or make one.” — Anibal Barca

42. “There’s no such thing as ruining your life. Life’s a pretty resilient thing, it turns out.” — Sophie Kinsella

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

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

45. “The farther backward you can look, the farther forward you are likely to see.” — Winston Churchill

46. “You learn to be resilient, to survive when you know you are capable of making worthy contribution to the world; you fight it when you have nothing to lose and so much to gain.” — Mala Naidoo

47. “When your world is in pieces, you can choose to see it as crumbling or building. Your attitude, resilience and determination mark the difference.” — Rita Zahara

48. “Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.” — Conrad Hilton

49. “Everyone experiences tough times, it is a measure of your determination and dedication how you deal with them and how you can come through them.” — Lakshmi Mittal

50. “Resilience is not about being able to bounce back like nothing has happened. Resilience is your consistent resistance to give up.” — Janna Cachola

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

52. “Resilience is distinct from mere survival, and more than mere endurance. Resilience is often endurance with direction.” — Eric Greitens

53. “Cracked up by life with a laugh that’s known bitter but, past it, got better.” — Jayne Relaford Brown

54. “Do not judge me by my success, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.” — Nelson Mandela

55. “All of us need to begin to think in terms of our own inner strengths, our resilience and resourcefulness, our capacity to adapt and to rely upon ourselves and our families.” — Steven Pressfield

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

57. “A good school teaches you resilience – that ability to bounce back.” — Kate Reardon

58. “Loving ourselves calls us to give up the illusion that we can control everything and focuses us on building our inner resource of resilience.” — Sharon Salzberg

59. “Like tiny seeds with potent power to push through tough ground and become mighty trees, we hold innate reserves of unimaginable strength. We are resilient.” — Catherine DeVrye

60. “Having high resilience does not mean it doesn’t sometimes sting.” — Aisha Mirza

61. “The difference between a strong man and a weak one is that the former does not give up after a defeat.” — Woodrow Wilson

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

Also read: 105 Quotes about Going through Hard Times and Staying Strong

63. “Joy, collected over time, fuels resilience – ensuring we’ll have reservoirs of emotional strength when hard things do happen.” — Brené Brown

64. “My barn having burned down, I can now see the moon.” — Mizuta Masahide

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

66. “Become more resilient by learning to focus on solutions rather than problems.” — Byron Pulsifer

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

68. “Being resilient is so much easier when you’re surrounded by the right people.” — Maxime Lagacé

69. “I hope you never fear those mountains in the distance. Never settle for the path of least resistance.” — Lee Ann Womack

70. “No matter how you define success, you will need to be resilient, empowered, authentic, and limber to get there.” — Joanie Connell

71. “I do believe there’s a heaven. I do believe that God has given me the resilience and the survival skills to withstand the chiffon trenches.” — Andre Leon Talley

72. “We are not a product of what has happened to us in our past. We have the power of choice.” — Stephen Covey

73. “The best antidote to stress is resilience… having the ability to respond to change or adversity proactively and resourceful.” — Lauren Mackler

74. “In many ways, the idea of resilience is a more useful concept than the idea of sustainability.” — Rob Hopkins

75. “When we learn how to become resilient, we learn how to embrace the beautifully broad spectrum of the human experience.” — Jaeda Dewalt

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76. “I wouldn’t be where I am now if I didn’t fail … a lot. The good, the bad, it’s all part of the success equation.” — Mark Cuban

77. “No one escapes pain, fear, and suffering. Yet from pain can come wisdom, from fear can come courage, from suffering can come strength – if we have the virtue of resilience.” — Eric Greitens

78. “True will is quiet humility, resilience, and flexibility; the other kind of will is weakness disguised by bluster and ambition.” — Ryan Holiday

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

80. “Be the cactus, a proof of unsubmission, and blossom amidst the fiercest environment.” — Abhijit Naskar

81. “The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a man’s determination.” — Tommy Lasorda

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

83. “Forgive yourself for your faults and mistakes and move on.” — Les Brown

84. “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

85. “You learn to be resilient, to survive when you know you are capable of making worthy contribution to the world; you fight it when you have nothing to lose and so much to gain.” — Mala Naidoo

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

87. “We will either find a way, or make one.” — Anibal Barca

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88. “Twists and turns in life produce straight and level mindset that is stable, resilient and reliable from practical experiences and lessons learned.” — Dr. Lucas D. Shallua

89. “Resilience can go an awful long way.” — Eddie the Eagle

90. “No one is going to come help you. No one’s coming to save you.” — David Goggins

91. “Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass. It’s about learning how to dance in the rain.” — Vivian Greene

92. “It’s amazing how much resilience you can have when you’re passionate about a project that you’re doing.” — Tamara Mellon

93. “Our resilience increases as we recognize the magnitude of what we have already accomplished.” — Patricia O’Gorman

94. “It’s a funny thing about life, once you begin to take note of the things you are grateful for, you begin to lose sight of the things that you lack.” — Germany Kent

95. “A dream doesn’t become reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination, and hard work.” — Colin Powell

96. “Each one of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.” — Sheryl Sandberg

97. “The key to life is resilience….We will always be knocked down. It’s the getting up that counts.” — Dominique Browning

98. “You can’t be that kid standing at the top of the waterslide, overthinking it. You have to go down the chute.” — Tina Fey

99. “Resilience is learning to fall without falling apart; it is learning how to crash without burning.” — Janet Autherine

100. “Resilience is the ability to adapt to change and to keep going in the face of adversity.” — Gordon B. Hinckley

Also read: 121 Effective Quotes on Determination and Willpower

101. “It’s hard to be calm until you’ve won a lot and lost a lot.” — Naval Ravikant

102. “I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become.” — Carl Jung

103. “I will not be another flower, picked for my beauty and left to die. I will be wild, difficult to find, and impossible to forget.” — Erin Van Vuren

104. “Resilience is knowing that you are the only one that has the power and the responsibility to pick yourself up.” — Mary Holloway

105. “Resilience is the ability to attack while running away.” — Wes Fessler

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

107. “Forget mistakes. Forget failures. Forget everything except what you are going to do right now, and do it. Today is your lucky day.” — Will Durant

108. “Like precious metal in the furnace, hardship tempers us and refines our character, forging us into a stronger and more resilient version of ourselves.” — Shabira Banu Sumbhaniya

109. “The human capacity for survival and renewal is never more tested than in times of great stress and turmoil.” — Eric Hoffer

110. “I tried and failed. I tried again and again and succeeded.” — Gail Borden

111. “The biggest lesson I had in my life was failure.” — Tim Rice

112. “Resilience is not a single skill. It is a variety of skills and coping mechanisms.” — Margaret J. Wheatley

Also read: 125 Best Motivational Quotes for Overcoming Obstacles

113. “Indeed, this life is a test. It is a test of many things – of our convictions and priorities, our faith and our faithfulness, our patience and our resilience, and in the end, our ultimate desires.” — Sheri L. Dew

114. “There is lonely, and there is alone time. I have found that both have etched character upon my soul.” — Alfa

115. “But hope has an astonishing resilience and strength. Its very persistence in our hearts indicates that it is not a tonic for wishful thinkers but the ground on which realists stand.” — Kathleen Norris

116. “A good half of the art of living is resilience.” — Alain de Botton

117. “You don’t learn to walk by following rules. You learn by doing, and by falling over.” — Richard Branson

118. “There’s no such thing as ruining your life. Life’s a pretty resilient thing, it turns out.” — Sophie Kinsella

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

120. “Resilience is the ability to recover from difficulties, to rebound from adversity, and to keep going in the face of obstacles.” — Dr. Harriet Lerner

121. “Persistence and resilience only come from having been given the chance to work through difficult problems.” — Gever Tulley

122. “Grief and resilience live together.” — Michelle Obama“

123. “Experience life in all possible ways—good-bad, bitter-sweet, dark-light, summer-winter. Experience all the dualities. Don’t be afraid of experience, because the more experience you have, the more mature you become.” — Osho

124. “I have a lot of stamina and I have a lot of resilience.” — Hillary Clinton

125. “I am what I am. I don’t worry about anything that I can’t control. That’s a really good lesson in life.” — Tom Watson

I hope you liked these powerful quotes about resilience in life. Which quotes did you like the most in the above list? Please let me know your favorite quote in the comments section.

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