The wisdom of others can mean the world to us when we are down and struggling in life. We have a collection here of the most positive quotes when life is hard, that will might help you get through whatever it is that you are currently dealing with. When in dark times, let the light of others lift you up.
For more uplifting quotes, take a look at these positive uplifting quotes and these daily words of encouragement.
1. Dale Carnegie is Keepin’ On Keepin’ On
“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on.” – Dale Carnegie
People who have faced insurmountable odds have gone on to accomplish a great deal. You can do so in your own life. If you know that you’re doing something important, keep moving forward and don’t stop, you might be just so close to success. Do not let the chaos of life keep you from your importance.
2. Confucius Says Get Up
“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” – Confucius
The point of life is to never fall down or make mistakes, but instead, like a phoenix rising out of the ashes, you have turned into something stronger and better. You might be down right now, but don’t stay there forever. Rise again. It might take a while to muster the strength, but rise again.
3. Martin Luther King, Jr. On Facing Challenges
“The ultimate measure of a man is where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
It is possible to know the true mettle of a person when they are faced with trials and most especially controversy. A great measure includes someone being willing to see the validity in opposing arguments, as well as someone who is dedicated, fair, and courageous in hard times.
You may also like: These inspirational quotes about pushing through life struggles: https://brightdrops.com/inspirational-quotes-about-life-struggles
4. Robert H. Schuller Knows You’re Tough
“Tough times never last, but tough people do.” – Robert H. Schuller
Life is an ad and flow of experiences. Tough times might stick around for awhile, but they don’t last forever. Tough people can last through anything. And it is most often going through heartbreaking tough times that create tough people. You can do this.
5. Franklin D. Roosevelt Wants You to Hang On
“When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
Some days it’s like that, isn’t it? You have no idea how you are still managing, but somehow you do. Do you feel like you’re hanging by your fingernails, by a thread, by the skin of your teeth, etc.? It’s usually right at your most absolute, most desperate, weakest moment that things suddenly change. Hang on.
6. William J. Brennan, Jr. Encourages You to Rise Up
“We must meet the challenge rather than wish it were not before us.” – William J. Brennan, Jr.
Wishing for problems to go away does absolutely nothing but create more problems. Taking the step to meet your challenges is often the hardest step, but resolution is on it’s way because you have faced your problems. Step up and get through the tough times in life.
Related: Stay Positive Quotes
7. Thomas Edison Says You’re So Close!
“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.” – Thomas Edison
You might have seen the picture floating on the Internet’s of the minor that gives up digging for gold only a few feet away from it. Usually this is accompanied by the picture of a minor that keeps going and strikes gold. Which minor are you?
8. H.G. Wells Tells You to Get Back Up
“If you fell down yesterday, stand up today.” – H.G. Wells
You might have fallen down a lot yesterday, but with each sunrise a new day dawns for you to try again. Keep getting up and keep facing each day with the heart of a champion. Battered and bruised you get up and move forward; one foot in front of the other is to be celebrated.
9. Les Brown on Taking Responsibility
“Accept responsibility for your life. Know that it is you who will get you where you want to go, no one else.” – Les Brown
Blaming other people for the circ*mstances in your life does absolutely nothing to empower you. If you don’t like what is happening in your life, then you are the only one required to take steps to change it; no one else will do that for you.
10. Joshua J. Marine Knows the Depth of Challenges
“Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.” – Joshua J. Marine
You might never equate your challenges as being something interesting, and for someone to say that they are that can almost be an insult depending on what you are dealing with. However, overcoming our challenges does truly make life more meaningful. We become textured and resilient; we have great perspective about what’s truly important in life.
11. Carl Bard on Starting Now
“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
You only have this moment to make a new choice. No matter if you screamed at your children 5 minutes ago, right now you can choose to take a deep breath instead. No matter if you made a mistake at work, you can choose now to fix it and create a new ending.
12. Christopher Reeve Has Hope At His Side
“Once you choose hope, anything’s possible.” – Christopher Reeve
Having hope seems somewhat underrated. How could hope possibly change the atrocities in the world? To be honest, it doesn’t. What hope does is change the individual who has it and and then that person changes the world. Hope sends out a vibration of openness and optimism that helps bring solutions.
13. Mary Anne Radmacher Says Courage is Quiet
“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 Radmacher
Having courage every day to get up and try to make ends meet, live a purposeful life, and be healthy can be overwhelming depending on the cards that we have been dealt. When you feel defeated at the end of the day, find that courageous voice within you, and get ready to tackle tomorrow.
14. William Frederick Halsey, Jr. Says Challenges Make Us Great
“There are no great people in this world, only great challenges which ordinary people rise to meet.” – William Frederick Halsey, Jr.
Great people are created by their great challenges. Ordinary people with extraordinary life circ*mstances have found a way to surmount the odds and live lives of purpose, meaning, and compassion. Get through your challenges and become an even greater version of yourself because of them.
15. Bernice Johnson Reagon Encourages You to Discover
“Life’s challenges are not supposed to paralyze you; they’re supposed to help you discover who you are.” – Bernice Johnson Reagon
Think about it like this, in grade school you were presented with many challenges. Pop quizzes, finals, and big school projects.If you had frozen at those challenges you never would have graduated school. Well, life is just a great big school so use your life’s tests to learn more about yourself.
16. Shaun Hick Knows the Value of Being in Shadow
“You need to spend time crawling alone through shadows to truly appreciate what it is to stand in the sun.” – Shaun Hick
Tough times in life give us opportunities to really appreciate the good times we have had and will have again. It gives perspective. If you lost your job, you now know how to appreciate having one, even if you don’t like it. If you have lost a loved one, you now know how to cherish those still in your life.
17. H. Jackson Brown, Jr. Says Hard Work and Hope Are Key
“Let perseverance be your engine and hope your fuel.” – H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
Your perseverance will get you through any troubles that you might be experiencing. However perseverance is useless by itself; it needs hope. Hope inspires you with strength and lends power to your perseverance so that you traverse your difficulties with more grace. You’ve got this.
18. Thisuri Wanniarachchi Wants You to Fight
“Life is at its best when everything has fallen out of place, and you decide that you’re going to fight to get them right” – Thisuri Wanniarachchi
This might seem a little backwards, but there is sense in it if you are open to seeing it. Life is at a great place when you have finally decided that you are fed up with the misery you’ve been living with, and you fight with your heart and soul to change your life for the better.
19. Jonathan Anthony Burkett on Faith
“Faith is why I’m here today and faith is why I made it through.’ – Jonathan Anthony Burkett
Having faith in sometimes the most obscure and unseen things are often the only life lines we have during our darkest hours. Do not discount having faith in what seems impossible. It may be the very thing that saves you. Have faith that you are strong enough, that things will change for the better.
20. Annie Proulx Wants You to Face Your Problems
“We face up to awful things because we can’t go around them. The sooner you say ‘Yes, it happened,’ the sooner you can get on with your own life.” – Annie Proulx
There are always ways to avoid certain aspects of your challenges, but that usually ends up creating more problems. If you simply face your problems, admit the realities, and take accountability, you can move on. It can be scary to do so, but you save a lot of face by it and often feel much better for it.
21. Geraldine Solon Says Chocolate is Cathartic
“May your life be filled, as mine has been, with love and laughter; and remember, when things are rough all you need is … Chocolate.” – Geraldine Solon
Hopefully you have had plenty of love and laughter in your life so that you remember that life is worth living. During this rough time that you are experiencing remember this positive quote and go get some gourmet chocolate to snack on while watching your favorite movie.
22. Dean Young Knows the Nature of Darkness
“You start with a darkness to move through but sometimes the darkness moves through you.” – Dean Young
Sometimes there is a darkness outside of us that we must move through and come out the of. Then sometimes there is a darkness that shows up out of nowhere and moves through us without much warning. Either way, hold fast to the light in your heart so you can make it through to the other side.
23. Gabrielle Williams Says You Can’t Know One Without the Other
“And hard times are good in their own way, too. Because the only way you can achieve true happiness is if you experience true sadness as well.” – Gabrielle Williams
Deep happiness is experienced often because of true sadness. Deep joy can be appreciated because of experience with deep sorrow. It’s not ideal but it exists nonetheless. The hard times let you appreciate the good ones more, and the good times remind you that the hard times don’t last forever.
24. Edward Young Knows Good Men Shine
“Affliction is a good man’s shining time.” – Edward Young
A good man will face affliction with courage no matter how frightened he is, and he will show resilience that might have previously been unknown, even to himself. Affliction can either bring out the worst or the best in people. What is it bringing out in you?
25. Steve Goodier Says Laugh, Just Laugh!
“A sense of humor helps us to get through the dull times, cope with the difficult times, enjoy the good times and manage the scary times” – Steve Goodier
Laughter is so incredibly therapeutic. Being able to apply laughter in times of boredom, heartache, challenging times and frightening ones, brings light and life to each situation. It shatters through tense energy and allows breaths of fresh air to enter you as you let loose in joy, even if for a moment.
26. Martin Luther King Wants You to Keep Hope
“We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope.” – Martin Luther King
Finite disappointment will come and go throughout your life. However having infinite hope can be a challenge when you are going through hard time. Having hope gives you something to look forward to and it infuses your heart with strength so that you can hold on.
27. Kenji Miyazawa Says Pain is Useful
“We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey.” – Kenji Miyazawa
Let your pain be useful, otherwise it is simply a waste. Let the pain you feel during your hard times build up in pressure and then use it as fuel to create better times and a better life for yourself. Your pain can be the catalyst you need to propel you forward into a greater future.
28. Albert Schweitzer Knows Others Can Help You
“Sometimes our light goes out, but is blown again into instant flame by an encounter with another.” – Albert Schweitzer
Imagine a person holding a lit candle that is surrounded by others who have unlit candles. The person with the light simply reaches out and lights the candle of another, then that person reaches out and lights someone else’s candle, and so on. You might have lost your light but someone may share theirs with you. Have hope.
29. Duke Ellington Wants to Know if You’ll Pass the Test?
“A problem is a chance for you to do your best.” – Duke Ellington
Your challenges give you a chance to show up as best you can for yourself and your life. If you don’t do your best, fall on your face, or make mistakes, that’s OK. Learn the lessons you need to so that you move onto a better version of yourself and can handle the next problem that presents itself.
30. William Hazlitt Knows the Lessons in Both
“Prosperity is a great teacher; adversity is a greater.” – William Hazlitt
Having prosperity can teach you a great many things about the abundance that exists in the world and gives you a chance to tap into gratitude for all that you have. However, when you have experienced adversity, you learn deeper and often more valuable lessons. You’ve got this.
31. Francis Bacon Points Out Good and Bad Things
“Prosperity is not without many fears and disasters; and adversity is not without comforts and hopes.” – Francis Bacon
Being prosperous comes with sacrifices, disasters, and many fears depending on the person. However, adversity also includes comforting times and new hope. Nothing is absolute; good things often have bad elements, and bad things often surprise you with good elements. Everything is a give and take; remember to find the good in the bad.
32. Thich Nhat Hanh Says Tomorrow is Another Day
“If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
If you can just hold to the fact that tomorrow will bring a better day for you, then maybe you can get through this day which might be breaking your heart. Holding onto the hope and vision that tomorrow will be better can infuse you with the strength you need just to get through the day at hand.
33. L.M. Montgomery Knows the Value of Failure
“Next to trying and winning, the best thing is trying and failing.” – L.M. Montgomery
Of course everybody wants to try and win all the time, that would be kind of fun. However, losing provides many opportunities to learn new things. We become better by losing and making mistakes so that we can analyze ourselves and show up as a bigger and better version of ourselves next time.
34. Elie Weisel Says to Lean On Hopeful People
“Just as despair can come to one only from other human beings, hope, too, can be given to one only by other human beings.” – Elie Weisel
Sometimes your dark times are created by the choices of other people. his is unfortunate for you to be caught up in their web, but if someone is creating despair in your life, someone else can give you the hope that you need. Hopefully these positive quotes can be of assistance to you.
35. Nelson Mandela Knows About Rising After Falling
“The greatest glory in living lies not in never failing, but in rising every time we fail.” – Nelson Mandela
Here is another quote about continuing to get up after being knocked down . We all get knocked down. Even if you get knocked out and don’t get up right away, you’ll get up eventually. Your track record for getting up after being knocked down is 100% so far.
36. Sara Evans Wants You to Look For the Colors
“If 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
Many times people think that they have failed because something did not meet their expectations. What about all of the other silver linings and blessings that were created because you risked success? Do not take the valuable lessons of failure for granted. Celebrate whatever level of successes you can.
37. Yvonne Pierre Says You Can Do It
“Use what you’ve been through as fuel, believe in yourself and be unstoppable!” – Yvonne Pierre
There really must be something to using your pain and strife to fuel you into a better life because there are so many quotes about it. Having belief in yourself is probably the key to being able to accomplish anything, especially if you can believe in yourself when others do not.
38. Napoleon Hill Sees The Lessons in Everything
“Every adversity, every failure and every heartache carries with it the seed of an equivalent or a greater benefit.” – Napoleon Hill
Every negative thing we go through gives us opportunities to learn and grow. That learning and that growth can sometimes be uncomfortable and downright painful, but with it comes the power of experience and wisdom. This power can be used to help you avoid future failures.
39. John Wooden Inspires You to Be Positive
“Things turn out the best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.” – John Wooden
This quote might seem trite but it is quite true. When someone consistently makes lemonade out of lemons, they often end up having things turn out quite well for them in general. A positive attitude creates a lot of movement and momentum in one’s life. How might you show up more positively during your tough times?
40. Winston Churchill Wants You to Keep Yourself Enthusiastic
“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” – Winston Churchill
You can’t let your failures crush you; you need to keep going, and keep learning, and keep growing. Do you think that anyone that accomplished any great deed did it on their first try? No. You get better the longer you practice and you learn more from your failures. Please don’t give up.
41. Deepak Chopra Knows Feeling is Healing
“The best way to get rid of the pain is to feel the pain.” – Deepak Chopra
This quote might also seem a little backwards, but be open to the idea for a moment. Sometimes what we resist persists and if we avoid our pain it will just follow us everywhere. If you’re going through a hard time right now then lean into it and feel the pain so you can process through it, and move on.
42. Jacques Prevert Says to Remember Happiness
“Even if happiness forgets you a little bit, never completely forget about it.” – Jacques Prevert
Happiness might forget you for a while but it is still there, and you can still tap into it anytime you choose. Remember that happier times have been experienced and happier times will come, even if you are experience trials and tribulations right now.
43. James Allen Says Be Mindful of Your Thoughts
“You are today where your thoughts have brought you; you will be tomorrow where your thoughts take you.” – James Allen
This can be a hard pill to swallow for many, but you have created your life more than you probably think that you have. You are the master of your universe and the thoughts you think create the future you have. Make sure that your thoughts are positive and healthy so your tomorrow will be as well.
44. Barbara DeAngelis Knows Everything Takes Practice
“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
Being good at anything means not being good at it for a little while. And sometimes we just aren’t that good at life. Learning new things can be messy and complicated at first, but that is part of the wonderful process of learning! Take your tough times and use them to make you a pro at life – your life.
45. Seneca Sees Bravery
“The bravest sight in the world is to see a great man struggling against adversity.” – Seneca
A great man struggling against adversity is truly a brave sight. As he struggles, he inspires others to step up they are encouraged to face their own adversities. A great man becomes even greater through the adversity is that he experiences. Be grateful for the tough times that have made you into who you are today.
46. William Samuel Johnson Says You Don’t Know Until You Experience
“He knows not his own strength who hath not met adversity.” – William Samuel Johnson
You do not know the strength about you have until if it is actually tested. Not that any of us would want to go through painful experiences just to see what we’re made of, but the fact remains that life that is exactly like that. Your adversities are making you, hopefully, a stronger version of yourself.
47. Dr. Wayne W Dyer Wants You to Make a Choice
“Everything is either an opportunity to grow or an obstacle to keep you from growing. You get to choose.” – Dr. Wayne W Dyer
Good man Dyer has it right here. You can choose how something will affect you. Are you going to choose to learn and grow from it, or let it make you bitter and afraid? There is more success to be had by looking at everything as an opportunity. Try it now.
48. Og Mandino Points Out the Good in Both
“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
This is a fancy way of saying that there are blessings and silver linings in every challenge that you might have. The light is warm and comforting, though the darkness gives you perspective and teaches you courage. Do not run from your darkness, look up and see any stars that might exist within it.
49. Mia Farrow Says Losing is Precious
“I get it now; I didn’t get it then. That life is about losing and about doing it as gracefully as possible… and enjoying everything in between.” – Mia Farrow
Winning is fun, but losing teaches us to have grace, humility, as well as giving us a chance to learn very valuable lessons. There are so many beautiful experiences between winning and losing, make sure you don’t miss them. Sometimes in the middle of a hard time it is challenging to see the lessons, but you will someday.
50. Iyanla Vanzant Wants to Hear Your Story
“When you stand and share your story in an empowering way, your story will heal you and your story will heal somebody else.” – Iyanla Vanzant
It might seem that you don’t have a story worth telling, but everyone has a story worth telling. When you take the opportunity to tell your story to those who are willing to listen, you heal a part of you that you probably didn’t know even needed healing, and other people are inspired by your story. So make sure you share.
51. Ernest Hemingway Live Out Loud and Proud
“Try as much as possible to be wholly alive with all your might, and when you laugh, laugh like hell. And when you get angry, get good and angry.” – Ernest Hemingway
Live a life as full as you can! It doesn’t matter if you are in a dingy little apartment or a grand estate, see the beauty in everything, make time to laugh, and if you’re going to be upset or angry then make sure you do it good and well. Experience all of you and that includes all emotions.
52. Stephen Chbosky Says to Pick a Path
“If we don’t have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there; we can try to feel okay about it.” – Stephen Chbosky
Many people don’t have the best of childhoods and wish they could have chosen their roots. However, it is great that as adults we can choose where we go from the childhoods that we had. You can make better choices for yourself and feel perfectly OK about them.
53. Kurt Vonnegut Gives You Wings
“We have to continually be jumping off cliffs and developing our wings on the way down.” – Kurt Vonnegut
Hard times actually end up pushing us off the cliffs rather than us willingly jumping them, but it happens so that we might learn how to develop our wings while we fall. Adversity exists to teach us how to fly. Trust in the process and spread your wings wide; you are braver than you think.
54. Jennifer Weiner Knows How Pain Becomes Strength
“Sometimes the worst thing happens to you, the thing you think you can’t survive… it’s the thing that makes you better than you used to be.” – Jennifer Weiner
And many times, the thing that you think you cannot survive ends up not killing you. These deeply challenging life experiences that we all go through forge strength and perseverance within us. It is because of our challenging experiences that we become better people.
55. Maya Banks Knows What’s Important
“Much of life isn’t fair. It’s how you live that matters. It’s how you deal with the bumps in the road.” – Maya Banks
There is many things in life that do not seem fair, however that is not really important. The most important things are how well you live, how deeply you love, and how much you laugh. Those are golden nuggets in a life of ups and downs, make sure you hold onto them.
56. Lemony Snicket Says to Believe in the Good
“At times the world may seem an unfriendly and sinister place, but believe that there is much more good in it than bad.” – Lemony Snicket
Just as much as the world is unfriendly and sinister at times, she is also supportive and compassionate. Communities come together in support of local residents and small kindnesses are extended to others every day. There is love, light, and magic in the world, you have but just to believe in it.
57. Marjorie Pay Hinckley Orders You To Not Waste Another Minute
“The trick is to enjoy life. Don’t wish away your days, waiting for better ones ahead.” – Marjorie Pay Hinckley
Are you one of those people who wait for the perfect circ*mstances before doing something? Or do you go through every day on autopilot while you wait for a better life ahead? If so, you’re wasting precious time and life energy. Jump in now and enjoy life in every way that you can!
58. Eleanor Roosevelt Says You Have to Give Permission
”Nobody can make you to feel inferior without your consent.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
This is very true. No one makes you feel anything; you choose your feelings for yourself. If you feel small or less than when you are in the presence of someone you know, do not give your power to them. You have the power to supersede your inferior feelings and show up with confidence.
59. Dan Millman Wants You To Take Back Your Life
“You don’t have to control your thoughts; you just have to stop letting them control you.” – Dan Millman
Thoughts, and go 1000 times over every day. It’s an overwhelming task to think that we have to control all over thoughts all of the time. There is value in that for sure, but the point here is that you stop letting your thoughts control your emotions and your life.
60. Alice Walker Knows the Power of Personal Happiness
“Don’t wait around for other people to be happy for you. Any happiness you get, you’ve got to make yourself.” – Alice Walker
It can be very disappointing when those in our lives are not happy for us. The sooner you understand that your own personal happiness is the most important for your well-being, then the happier you will actually be. If you don’t give yourself the pride and praise that you need, you can’t ever count on anyone else to do it for you.
61. Ayn Rand Wants You to Fight For Your Joy
“Learn to value yourself, which means: fight for your happiness.” – Ayn Rand
When you value yourself you are less likely to let others devalue you. Standing up for yourself takes pure self love and it means that you will do whatever it takes for your own happiness. This might mean moving out of state, or leaving a relationship. Whatever it is, you deserve it.
62. Friedrich Nietzsche Says You’re Not Dead yet
“That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” – Friedrich Nietzsche
That which does not kill us gives us a chance to make ourselves stronger. Do not let your hard times crush you; remain steadfast through the storm and you will come out the other side. You will come out with wisdom and experience at your side to help you get through future challenges.
63. Winston Churchill Doesn’t Want You To Campout In Hell
“If you’re going through hell, keep going.” – Winston Churchill
If your life is truly hell right now, then follow Winston’s advice and keep going. Stopping and camping out in hell does not sound like a very pleasurable thing to do. One foot in front of the other is sometimes all it takes, and eventually you find life has lightened up a bit.
64. Tim Westergren Recommends Being Prepared
“Just be prepared for a long and often uncertain journey. The good stuff doesn’t come easy.” – Tim Westergren
Good things really do sometimes come with great sacrifices. The journey of life and the journey of self is it not an easy one, but it is much harder to live a life of unhappiness and misery. Trust the process and enjoy the journey as best you can.
65. Mark Twain Knows That Being In Service Serves the Self Too
“The best way to cheer yourself is to try to cheer someone else up.” – Mark Twain
This is one of our most favorite positive quotes. It really can lighten your mood to lend a hand to someone else that needs help. Working on making someone else feel better about themselves can often make you feel better about yourself. Give it a try.
