100+ Strength and Courage Quotes to Inspire You During Hard Times

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Courage and strength are two indispensable traits that we need to have in order to succeed in life. It takes courage to face difficult situations and strength to overcome them.

You must have faced so many challenges and tried to overcome them, haven’t you?

Challenging times or difficult situations are bound to come into our lives. You only become stronger by facing and overcoming them. And you lead a more fulfilling life.

Courage and strength are not always about being bold and outspoken. These qualities are also about persevering and trying again.

Here are 102 of the best courage and strength quotes by many famous figures such as Buddha, Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King Jr., and more. You can draw inspiration from these quotes. They will remind you that you can always find the power within you to be brave and strong.

 

Strength and Courage Quotes

 

#1. “And one has to understand that braveness is not the absence of fear but rather the strength to keep on going forward despite the fear.”

— Paulo Coelho

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

— Jodi Picoult

#3. “Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and, above all, confidence in ourselves. We must believe we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.”

— Marie Curie

#4. “If you surrendered to the air, you could ride it.”

— Toni Morrison

#5. “We do not have to become heroes overnight. Just a step at a time, meeting each thing that comes up, seeing it is not as dreadful as it appeared, discovering we have the strength to stare it down.”

— Eleanor Roosevelt

#6. “We don’t even know how strong we are until we are forced to bring that hidden strength forward.”

— Isabel Allende

#7. “A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.”

— Christopher Reeve

#8. “Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.”

— Hellen Keller

#9. “Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.”

— Arnold Schwarzenegger

#10. “Make up your mind that no matter what comes your way, no matter how difficult, no matter how unfair, you will do more than simply survive. You will thrive in spite of it.”

— Joel Osteen

#11. “Do not judge me by my success, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.”

— Nelson Mandela

#12. “Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.”

— Khalil Gibran

#13. “There is a stubbornness about me that never can bear to be frightened at the will of others. My courage always rises at every attempt to intimidate me.”

— Jane Austen

#14. “The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”

— Mahatma Gandhi

#15. “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

#16. “When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this: you haven’t.”

— Thomas A. Edison

#17. “You have power over your mind — not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”

— Marcus Aurelius

#18. “It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.”

— Edmund Hillary

#19. “It is good to love many things, for therein lies the true strength, and whosoever loves much performs much and can accomplish much, and what is done in love is well done.”

— Vincent Van Gogh

#20. “Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict.”

— William Ellery Channing

#21. “The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong in the broken places.”

— Ernest Hemingway

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

— Peter Marshall

#23. “The world is the great gymnasium where we come to make ourselves strong.”

— Swami Vivekananda

#24. “I love those who can smile in trouble, who can gather strength from distress, and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink, but they whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves their conduct, will pursue their principles unto death.”

— Leonardo da Vinci

#25. “Permanence, perseverance, and persistence in spite of all obstacles, discouragements, and impossibilities: It is this, that in all things distinguishes the strong soul from the weak.”

— Thomas Carlyle

#26. “Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength while loving someone deeply gives you courage.”

— Lao Tzu

#27. “You cannot swim for new horizons until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore.”

— William Faulkner

#28. “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”

— Nelson Mandela

#29. “Have the courage to say no. Have the courage to face the truth. Do the right thing because it is right. These are the magic keys to living your life with integrity.”

— W. Clement Stone

#30. “You can choose courage or you can choose comfort, but you cannot choose both!”

— Brene Brown

#31. “A ship is always safe a shore but that is not what it’s built for.”

— Albert Einstein

#32. “Calm mind brings inner strength and self-confidence, so that’s very important for good health.”

— Dalai Lama

#33. “You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”

— Marcus Aurelius

#34. “Take chances, make mistakes. That’s how you grow. Pain nourishes your courage. You have to fail in order to practice being brave.”

— Mary Tyler Moore

#35. “When we meet real tragedy in life, we can react in two ways – either by losing hope and falling into self-destructive habits or by using the challenge to find our inner strength. Thanks to the teachings of Buddha, I have been able to take this second way. “

— Dalai Lama

#36. “You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.”

— Bob Marley

#37. “Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle.”

— Napoleon Hill

#38. “You really have to look inside yourself and find your own inner strength, and say, ‘I’m proud of what I am and who I am, and I’m just going to be myself’.”

— Mariah Carey

#39. “He who believes is strong; he who doubts is weak. Strong convictions precede great actions.”

— Louisa May Alcott

#40. “Don’t wait for extraordinary opportunities. Seize common occasions and make them great. Weak men wait for opportunities; strong men make them.”

— Orison Swett Marden

#41. “There are dark shadows on the earth, but its lights are stronger in the contrast.”

— Charles Dickens

#42. “We draw our strength from the very despair in which we have been forced to live.”

— Cesar Chavez

#43. “This is no time for ease and comfort. It is time to dare and endure.”

– Winston Churchill

#44. “It is our attitude toward events, not events themselves, which we can control. Nothing is by its own nature calamitous – even death is terrible only if we fear it.”

– Epictetus

#45. “Persistence and resilience only come from having been given the chance to work through difficult problems.”

– Gever Tulley

#46. “Confront the dark parts of yourself, and work to banish them with illumination and forgiveness. Your willingness to wrestle with your demons will cause your angels to sing.”

― August Wilson

#47. “It gives me strength to have somebody to fight for; I can never fight for myself, but, for others, I can kill.”

― Emilie Autumn

#48. “Anyone can hide. Facing up to things, working through them, that’s what makes you strong.”

― Sarah Dessen

#49. “There is a saying in Tibetan, ‘Tragedy should be utilized as a source of strength.’

No matter what sort of difficulties, how painful the experience is, if we lose our hope, that’s our real disaster.”

― Dalai Lama

#50. “Strength is the capacity to break a Hershey bar into four pieces with your bare hands – and then eat just one of the pieces.”

― Judith Viorst

#51. “Some people believe holding on and hanging in there are signs of great strength. However, there are times when it takes much more strength to know when to let go and then do it.”

― Ann Landers

#52. “One who gains strength by overcoming obstacles possesses the only strength which can overcome adversity.”

— Albert Schweitzer

#53. “People do not lack strength, they lack will.”

— Victor Hugo

#54. “The real man smiles in trouble, gathers strength from distress, and grows brave by reflection.”

— Thomas Paine

#55. “Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”

— Harriet Tubman

#56. “Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal: my strength lies solely in my tenacity.”

— Louis Pasteur

#57. “If you haven’t the strength to impose your own terms upon life, then you must accept the terms it offers you.”

— T.S. Eliot

#58. “Do not pray for an easy life. Pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.”

— Bruce Lee

#59. “If an ant carries an object a hundred times its weight, you can carry burdens many times your size.”

— Matshona Dhliwayo

#60. “Go within every day and find the inner strength so that the world will not blow your candle out.”

— Katherine Dunham

#61. “Believe in a love that is being stored up for you like an inheritance, and have faith that in this love there is a strength and a blessing so large that you can travel as far as you wish without having to step outside it.”

— Rainer Maria Rilke

#62. “Tears shed for self are tears of weakness, but tears shed for others are a sign of strength.”

— Billy Graham

#63. “The harder you fall, the heavier your heart; the heavier your heart, the stronger you climb; the stronger you climb, the higher your pedestal.”

— Criss Jami

#64. “In times of crisis, people reach for meaning. Meaning is strength. Our survival may depend on our seeking and finding it.”

— Dawna Markova

#65. “The depth and strength of a human character are defined by its moral reserves. People reveal themselves completely only when they are thrown out of the customary conditions of their life, for only then do they have to fall back on their reserves.”

— Leonardo da Vinci

#66. “Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved.”

— Helen Keller

#67. “Anyone can give up; it is the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone would expect you to fall apart, now that is true strength.”

— Chris Bradford

#68. “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”

— Nelson Mandela

#69. “You have been chosen, and you must therefore use such strength and heart and wits as you have.”

— J.R.R. Tolkien

#70. “The most beautiful people I’ve known are those who have known trials, have known struggles, have known loss, and have found their way out of the depths.”

— Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

#71. “Stand up to your obstacles and do something about them. You will find that they haven’t half the strength you think they have.”

— Norman Vincent Peale

#72. “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”

— Joshua

#73. “Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can’t ride you unless your back is bent.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

#74. “Life is truly known only to those who suffer, lose, endure adversity and stumble from defeat to defeat.”

— Anais Nin

#75. “Storms make trees take deeper roots.”

— Unknown

#76. “The only thing that can stop me, is me.”

— Unknown

#77. “The bamboo that bends is stronger than the oak that resists.”

— Japanese proverb

#78. “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”

— Joseph Kennedy

#79. “I survived because the fire inside me burned brighter than the fire around me.”

— Joshua Graham

#80. “May you grow up to be righteous, may you grow up to be true. May you always know the truth and see the lights surrounding you. May you always be courageous, stand upright, and be strong. May you stay forever young.”

— Bob Dylan

#81. “Smiles can hide so much; fear, pain, sadness, tears. But then again they reflect one thing: strength.”

— Unknown

#82. “In the mountains of truth, you will never climb in vain; either you will get up higher today or you will exercise your strength so as to be able to get up higher tomorrow.”

— Friedrich Nietzsche

#83. “Make mistakes of ambition and not mistakes of sloth. Develop the strength to do bold things, not the strength to suffer.”

— Niccolò Machiavelli

#84. “Life doesn’t get easier or more forgiving, we get stronger and more resilient.”

― Steve Maraboli

#85. “Be strong. Live honorably and with dignity. When you don’t think you can hold on.”

― James Frey

#86. “You can’t really be strong until you can see a funny side to things.”

― Ken Kesey

#87. “Never believe for a second that you are weak, within all of us we have a reserve of inner hidden strength,”

― Victoria Addino

#88. “Life is made of so many moments that mean nothing. Then one day, a single moment comes along to define every second that comes after. Such moments are tests of courage, of strength.”

― Sabaa Tahir

#89. “Valor is strength, not of legs and arms, but of heart and soul; it consists not in the worth of our horse or our weapons, but in our own.”

― Michel de Montaigne

#90. “One’s dignity may be assaulted, vandalized, and cruelly mocked, but it can never be taken away unless it is surrendered.”

― Michael J. Fox

#91. “My dark days made me strong. Or maybe I already was strong, and they made me prove it.”

― Emery Lord

#92. “It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.”

― Maya Angelou

#93. “Nothing is so strong as gentleness. Nothing is so gentle as real strength.”

― Ralph W. Sockman

#94. “Strength of character means the ability to overcome resentment against others, to hide hurt feelings, and to forgive quickly.”

― Lawrence G. Lovasik

#95. “Strength isn’t about bearing a cross of grief or shame. Strength comes from choosing your own path, and living with the consequences.”

– Jennifer Armintrout

#96. “Strong people alone know how to organize their suffering so as to bear only the most necessary pain.”

– Emil Dorian

#97. “Conquering others requires force. Conquering oneself requires strength.”

― Laozi

#98. “Strength comes from solitude, a waiting, a communion with the best in us, which is at one with the divine spark.”

― Elbert Hubbard

#99. “I know there is strength in the differences between us. I know there is comfort where we overlap.”

― Ani DiFranco

#100. “A person is strong only when he stands upon his own truth when he speaks and acts from his deepest convictions.”

― Mikhail Bakunin

#101. “Unity is strength… when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved.”

– Mattie Stepanek

#102. “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow’.”

— Mary Anne Radmacher

 

Also Read:

• 110 Attitude Quotes to Make You More Positive and Lift Your Thinking
• 70 Most Inspirational Quotes to Help You Move On in Life
• Top 75 Quotes About Perseverance for When You Want to Give Up

 

Final Thoughts

 

I hope you enjoyed these quotes and found them helpful in discovering the courage and strength inside you when you need them.

Courage and strength are very important traits in facing challenges and overcoming difficulties.

These quotes show that courage and strength can come from different sources, such as love and support from others, or from within oneself. They remind us that we all have the potential to be strong and courageous.

What are your favorite courage and strength quotes? Do let me know in the comments section below.