In the face of life’s inevitable ups and downs, it’s the strength within us that anchors us, helping us weather all storms.
This strength, of course, isn’t merely physical — it is a powerful blend of mental, emotional, and spiritual fortitude that enables us to persevere even when the odds are stacked against us.
Tapping into this inherent strength during our most challenging times often leads to some of the most transformative periods of our lives.
Throughout history, many wise individuals — from philosophers and authors to leaders and survivors — have shared their thoughts on the importance of staying strong. Their words offer solace, inspire courage, and remind us of the indomitable spirit within each of us.
We’ve collected some of these powerful ‘Stay Strong’ quotes here.
These pearls of wisdom can serve as a beacon of light in challenging times, a testament to human resilience and determination. Whether you’re going through a tough time, caring for someone else, or simply need a motivational boost — these quotes are here to inspire you and reinforce your strength.
Let these profound words uplift and empower you:
The Best Quotes About Staying Strong
Famous Quotes
“Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.”
— Mahatma Gandhi
“A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.”
— Christopher Reeve
“Courage isn’t having the strength to go on — it is going on when you don’t have strength.”
— Napoléon Bonaparte
“He who conquers others is strong; He who conquers himself is mighty.”
— Lao Tzu
“When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you, till it seems as though you could not hang on a minute longer, never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.”
— Harriet Beecher Stowe
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
— Winston Churchill
“Inside of a ring or out, ain’t nothing wrong with going down. It’s staying down that’s wrong.”
— Muhammad Ali
“Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is true strength.”
— Arnold Schwarzenegger
“It takes strength to face our sadness and to grieve and to let our grief and anger flow in tears when they need to. It takes strength to talk about our feelings and to reach out for help and comfort when we need it.”
— Fred Rogers
Motivational Quotes
“Stay strong. Stay true to yourself and to who you are because there is a community out there. It may not be in your town or perhaps even in your family, but you are wanted and you are loved and there are places in the world where you will be safe and supported.”
— Emma Walton Hamilton
“Inaction breeds doubt and fear. Action breeds confidence and courage. If you want to conquer fear, do not sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.”
— Dale Carnegie
“People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. I don’t believe in circumstances. The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can’t find them, make them.”
— George Bernard Shaw
“Feeling fear is human, but conquering it will make you feel empowered, courageous, and proud.”
— Alex Niles
“He who believes is strong; he who doubts is weak. Strong convictions precede great actions.”
— Louisa May Alcott
“Go ahead and believe that no one shines brighter than you. Become amazing, and be happy.”
— Demi Lovato
“Someday, everything will make perfect sense. So for now, laugh at the confusion, smile through the tears, be strong, and keep reminding yourself that everything happens for a reason.”
— John Mayer
“We don’t even know how strong we are until we are forced to bring that hidden strength forward.”
— Isabel Allende, Island Beneath the Sea
“The greatest test of courage on the earth is to bear defeat without losing heart.”
— R. G. Ingersoll
“If one dream should fall and break into a thousand pieces, never be afraid to pick one of those pieces up and begin again.”
— Flavia Weedn
After Death
“May you find the strength and resolve today, to allow a deeper sense of healing to begin.”
— Eleesha
“You will lose someone you can’t live without, and your heart will be badly broken, and the bad news is that you never completely get over the loss of your beloved. But this is also the good news. They live forever in your broken heart that doesn’t seal back up. And you come through. It’s like having a broken leg that never heals perfectly — that still hurts when the weather gets cold, but you learn to dance with the limp.”
— Anne Lamott
“When you lose what you love remember to stay strong. Look out the window and remember life goes on.”
— Drew Chadwick
“The reality is that you will grieve forever. You will not ‘get over’ the loss of a loved one; you will learn to live with it. You will heal and you will rebuild yourself around the loss you have suffered. You will be whole again but you will never be the same. Nor should you be the same nor would you want to.”
— Elizabeth Kubler-Ross, On Grief and Grieving: Finding the Meaning of Grief Through the Five Stages of Loss
Through Hard Times
“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
“Adversity is like a strong wind. It tears away from us all but the things that cannot be torn so that we see ourselves as we really are.”
— Arthur Golden
“I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.”
— Maya Angelou
“Your strength doesn’t come from winning. It comes from struggles and hardships. Everything that you go through prepares you for the next level.”
— Germany Kent
“When adversity strikes, that’s when you have to be the most calm. Take a step back, stay strong, stay grounded, and press on.”
— LL Cool J
“Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.”
— Khalil Gibran
“A warrior is worthless unless he rises above others and stands strong in the midst of a storm.”
— Yamamoto Tsunetomo, Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai
“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
“Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one.”
— Bruce Lee
“You should never view your challenges as a disadvantage. Instead, it’s important for you to understand that your experience facing and overcoming adversity is actually one of your biggest advantages.”
— Michelle Obama, Becoming
About Life
“Life is very interesting… in the end, some of your greatest pains become your greatest strengths.”
— Drew Barrymore
“Life’s challenges are not supposed to paralyze you, they’re supposed to help you discover who you are.”
— Bernice Johnson Reagon
“Sometimes our light goes out, but is blown again into instant flame by an encounter with another human being.”
— Albert Schweitzer
“Talents are best nurtured in solitude, but the character is best formed in the stormy billows of the world.”
— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
— Winston Churchill
“A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent in doing nothing.”
— George Bernard Shaw
“The human capacity for burden is like bamboo — far more flexible than you’d ever believe at first glance.”
— Jodi Picoult
“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
Keep Fighting
“In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.”
— Albert Camus
“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
“Pain can change you, but that doesn’t mean it has to be a bad change. Take that pain and turn it into wisdom.”
— The Dalai Lama
“Don’t be afraid to give your best to what seemingly are small jobs. Every time you conquer one it makes you that much stronger. If you do the little jobs well, the big ones will tend to take care of themselves.”
— Dale Carnegie
“When someone tells you that you can’t do something, perhaps you should consider that they are only telling you what they can’t do.”
— Tom Freston
“Remember: Every champion was once a contender that refused to give up.”
— Rocky Balboa
“When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.”
— Henry Ford
“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, The Autobiography of Malcolm X
“Don’t give up. There are too many nay-sayers out there who will try to discourage you. Don’t listen to them. The only one who can make you give up is yourself.”
— Sidney Sheldon
→ Read more quotes about resilience
Short Quotes
“You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.”
— Margaret Thatcher
“It is not the strength of the body that counts, but the strength of the spirit.”
— J.R.R. Tolkien
“You just can’t beat the person who never gives up.”
— Babe Ruth
“When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this: you haven’t.”
— Thomas Edison
“Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall.”
— Confucius
“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.”
— Mahatma Gandhi
“The harder the struggle, the more glorious the triumph. Self-realization demands very great struggle.”
— Swami Sivananda
“If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it.”
— Michael Jordan
“Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.”
— Samuel Beckett
“The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places.”
— Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms
“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
“I am not afraid of storms, for I am learning how to sail my ship.”
— Louisa May Alcott
More Quotes
“There comes the point when you either embrace who and what you are or condemn yourself to be miserable all your days. Other people will try to make you miserable; don’t help them by doing the job yourself.”
— Laurell K. Hamilton
“Even when matches don’t work out the way you planned, you’ve always got to stay strong in defense; it’s a matter of willpower and intelligence.”
— Becky Sauerbrunn, American soccer player
“It takes more courage to reveal insecurities than to hide them, more strength to relate to people than to dominate them, more “manhood” to abide by thought-out principles rather than blind reflex. Toughness is in the soul and spirit, not in muscles and an immature mind.”
— Alex Karras
“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.”
— Anaïs Nin
“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.”
— Dale Carnegie
“Strength is the ability to break a chocolate bar into four pieces with your bare hands — and then eat just one of those pieces.”
— Judith Viorst
“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
“Things happen to you to make you realize your true potential, strength, willpower, and heart. You’ve got to have faith.”
— Jennifer Lopez
