Resilience is our ability to return to a mindful and grounded center after having been thrown off balance. Resilience quotes are powerful statements about the mind’s power to return to neutral once stretched to the extremes. A resilient mind is both stable and flexible. Like a tree that can withstand high winds, our ability to flow with the current conditions prevents us from breaking.
Mental resilience is just one of the many benefits of mindfulness meditation. May the following quotes about resilience inspire a daily mindfulness meditation practice.
80 Empowering Quotes on Resilience
- "The oak fought the wind and was broken, the willow bent when it must and survived." - Robert Jordan
- "I can be changed by what happens to me, but I refuse to be reduced by it." - Maya Angelou
- "The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." - Nelson Mandela
- "Tough times never last, but tough people do." - Robert H. Schuller
- "Life doesn't get easier or more forgiving; we get stronger and more resilient." - Steve Maraboli
- "The only real measure of success is the number of obstacles you've overcome." - Tim Fargo
- "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
- "A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles." - Christopher Reeve
- "Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life." - J.K. Rowling
- "When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it." - Henry Ford
- "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts." - Winston Churchill
- "You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them." - Maya Angelou
- "The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new." - Socrates
- "Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit." - Napoleon Hill
- "You are not what happened to you. You are what you choose to become." - Carl Jung
- "I can't change the direction of the wind, but I can adjust my sails to always reach my destination." - Jimmy Dean
- "Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall." - Confucius
- "The human capacity for burden is like bamboo – far more flexible than you'd ever believe at first glance." - Jodi Picoult
- "In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity." - Albert Einstein
- "Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it." - Charles R. Swindoll
- "Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved." - Helen Keller
- "The only way to do great work is to love what you do." - Steve Jobs
- "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
- "Believe in yourself and all that you are. Know that there is something inside you that is greater than any obstacle." - Christian D. Larson
- "It's not the load that breaks you down; it's the way you carry it." - Lou Holtz
- "The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it." - Molière
- "I will love the light for it shows me the way, yet I will endure the darkness because it shows me the stars." - Og Mandino
- "Adversity has the effect of drawing out strength and qualities of a man that would have lain dormant in its absence." - Herodotus
- "Never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense." - Winston Churchill
- "Sometimes you don't realize your own strength until you come face to face with your greatest weakness." - Susan Gale
- "The strongest people aren't always the people who win, but the people who don't give up when they lose." - Ashley Hodgeson
- "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
- "With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts." - Eleanor Roosevelt
- "When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure." - Peter Marshall
- "Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time." - Thomas Edison
- "The darkest hour has only sixty minutes." - Morris Mandel
- "The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today." - Franklin D. Roosevelt
- "A problem is a chance for you to do your best." - Duke Ellington
- "The turning point in the process of growing up is when you discover the core of strength within you that survives all hurt." - Max Lerner
- "It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop." - Confucius
- "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." - Maya Angelou
- "We develop our character muscles by overcoming challenges and obstacles." - Stephen Covey
- "The road to success and the road to failure are almost exactly the same." - Colin R. Davis
- "You are the master of your destiny. You can influence, direct and control your own environment. You can make your life what you want it to be." - Napoleon Hill
- "It always seems impossible until it's done." - Nelson Mandela
- "The only thing that stands between you and your dream is the story you keep telling yourself as to why you can't achieve it." - Jordan Belfort
- "Sometimes when you're in a dark place, you think you've been buried, but you've actually been planted." - Christine Caine
- "The sun himself is weak when he first rises, and gathers strength and courage as the day gets on." - Charles Dickens
- "Strength does not come from the body. It comes from the will." - Mahatma Gandhi
- "What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
- "Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful." - Joshua J. Marine
- "Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass, but about learning how to dance in the rain." - Vivian Greene
- "The pain you feel today is the strength you feel tomorrow. For every challenge encountered, there is opportunity for growth." - Unknown
- "You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream." - C.S. Lewis
- "We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey." - Kenji Miyazawa
- "The best way to predict your future is to create it." - Abraham Lincoln
- "It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters." - Epictetus
- "The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
- "The harder you fall, the higher you bounce." - Unknown
- "Don't watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going." - Sam Levenson
- "Every morning brings new potential, but if you dwell on the misfortunes of the day before, you tend to overlook tremendous opportunities." - Harvey Mackay
- "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take." - Wayne Gretzky
- "The only thing standing between you and your goal is the story you keep telling yourself as to why you can't achieve it." - Jordan Belfort
- "No matter how much it hurts now, someday you will look back and realize your struggles changed your life for the better." - Unknown
- "When you feel like giving up, remember why you held on for so long in the first place." - Unknown
- "It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get up." - Vince Lombardi
- "Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths." - Arnold Schwarzenegger
- "Don't let yesterday take up too much of today." - Will Rogers
- "Perseverance is not a long race; it's many short races one after the other." - Walter Elliot
- "The harder the conflict, the greater the triumph." - George Washington
- "The only way to achieve the impossible is to believe it is possible." - Charles Kingsleigh
- "Obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it." - Michael Jordan
- "You have within you right now, everything you need to deal with whatever the world can throw at you." - Brian Tracy
- "We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided." - J.K. Rowling
- "The true test of a person’s character is how they stand during a test of adversity." - Unknown
- "The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack in will." - Vince Lombardi
- "It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters." - Epictetus
- "Adversity reveals genius, prosperity conceals it." - Horace
- "Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person." - Mother Teresa
- "It’s not whether you get knocked down, it’s whether you get up." - Vince Lombardi
- "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.
How Can Quotes About Resilience Help in Difficult Times?
Quotes on resilience bring mindfulness to life by connecting us to lived examples of those who have transformed obstacles into opportunities. When facing a challenge or hardship, it can be helpful to read quotes about being resilient, to be reminded of our common humanity. There is no difficulty that hasn’t been faced by another, either now or in the past.
How we respond to our challenges is entirely up to us. Mindfulness meditation helps create space and awareness in which to respond skillfully. Inspirational quotes about resilience can motivate us to stay strong and consistent with our practice.
How Can I Use Quotes About Resilience in My Daily Life?
Work with the above quotes on resilience by selecting a few that resonate with you most clearly, and then keeping them close. You may want to copy them into your journal, onto a sticky note, or into the notes on your smartphone.
Repeat your quotes daily as affirmations or mantras, or use them to inspire your meditation practice. For example, after grounding yourself in the body and breath, look at your favorite resiliency quote. As you read it, observe the sensations in your body and notice if there’s a change in your breath. Whatever arises, allow for it. Continue to observe as you silently repeat the quote.
Summing up
Every challenge we face in life holds within it the potential for learning, growth and positive change. But only if we can hold space for that possibility to arise. A consistent mindfulness meditation practice is one means of creating space in which our hardships can be transformed. Reading inspirational quotes on resilience reminds us that all is transmutable, and anything is possible.
