20 Creative Quotes About Overcoming Adversity
Creatives know adversity all too well, and yet we often forget to ask for help, thinking our challenges are only our own. Here are some 20 inspiring creative quotes about overcoming adversity.
Adversity is part of the human experience. It takes many forms and affects each person differently. What’s important is how you choose to react. For the creative, adversity is an opportunity to learn, grow, and express oneself. As Francis Bacon once said, “An artist must be nourished by his passions and by his despairs.” Look anywhere in history, and you will find creative minds dealing with adversity and turning it into creativity.
When faced with challenges, look to the wisdom from great creative minds to not feel alone on your journey of overcoming adversity.
“The broken heart. You think you will die, but you keep living, day after day after a terrible day.”
― Charles Dickens
Writer
“Fire is the test of gold; adversity, of strong men.”
― Martha Graham
American dancer
“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.”
― Malcolm X
American Muslim minister and human rights activist
“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.”
― Elizabeth Kübler-Ross
Swiss-American psychiatrist
“We become wiser by adversity; prosperity destroys our appreciation of the right.”
― Lucius Anneaus Seneca
Roman philosopher
“We don’t develop courage by being happy every day. We develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity.“
― Barbara De Angelis
Relationship consultant and psychologist, author, and TV personality
“We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey.”
― Kenji Miyazawa
Japanese novelist
“Sometimes you don’t realize your own strength until you come face to face with your greatest weakness.”
― Susan Gale
American author
“And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.”
― Haruki Murakami
Japanese writer
“Risk anything! Care no more for the opinion of others … Do the hardest thing on earth for you. Act for yourself. Face the truth.”
― Katherine Mansfield
New Zealand Writer
“The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places.”
― Ernest Hemmingway
American novelist
“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.”
―
American poet
“You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”
― Marcus Aurelius
Roman emperor and philosopher
“A happy life consists not in the absence, but in the mastery of hardships.”
―
American author, disability rights advocate, and political activist
“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
American entrepreneur
“Sometimes things have to go wrong in order to go right.”
―
American Writer
“Never to suffer would never to have been blessed.”
―
American Writer
“You can’t be brave if you’ve only had wonderful things happen to you.”
―
American actress, producer, and social advocat
“Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty… I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.”
―
26th U.S. President
“I love those who can smile in trouble…”
―
Polymath
Zach is an international writer, photographer, filmmaker, martial artist, and creator of Creative Enso, the Zen art of creative living. His goal is to empower and inspire creatives to live healthier, happier, and more creative lifestyles.
