by 
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases made through links on this site. Your purchases help fund my content and come at no extra cost to you. Thank you for your support!
We all have those tough days when nothing seems to go right, and everything feels harder than usual.
Maybe something unexpected happens, or you’re just feeling worn out from the little challenges life throws your way.
I know I’ve been there.
Not too long ago, Google’s HCU update pretty much wiped out my old blog, and I was crushed.
I gave up for a bit, because it felt like all my hard work had been for nothing.
But during that time, I turned to something that always helps me feel better: books and quotes.
Reading has always been my way of escaping when things feel rough.
I picked up some old books and found quotes that reminded me how strong I really am.
Those words gave me the boost I needed to keep going.
And, it’s something I think everyone should do from time to time, especially when you need a little comfort or motivation.
In this post, I’ve gathered 41 of the best literary quotes about strength and courage.
These quotes come from books, poems, essays, and speeches, and they’re perfect for those days when you need a little reminder that you can handle whatever comes your way.
Pin This For Later
1. “We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.” – Oscar Wilde, Lady Windermere’s Fan
2. “The strength of character gained will be the measure of his true success, and this will form a new starting-point for future power and triumph.” – James Allen, As a Man Thinketh
3. “There is no pit so deep, that God’s love is not deeper still.” – Corrie ten Boom, The Hiding Place
4. “Even the darkest night will end, and the sun will rise.” – Victor Hugo, Les Misérables
5. “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, Your Best Life Now
6. “The only way out of the labyrinth of suffering is to forgive.” – John Green, Looking for Alaska
7. “The brave may not live forever, but the cautious do not live at all.” – Meg Cabot, The Princess Diaries
8. “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt, Inaugural Address, March 4, 1933
9. “When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what the storm is all about.” – Haruki Murakami, Kafka on the Shore
10. “You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.” – Maya Angelou, Letter to My Daughter
11. “It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” – J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
12. “Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.” – J.K. Rowling
13. “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, Kafka on the Shore
14. “Courage is the most important of all the virtues because without courage, you can’t practice any other virtue consistently.” – Maya Angelou, Letter to My Daughter
15. “When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.” – Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning
16. “You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you stop to look fear in the face.” – Eleanor Roosevelt, You Learn by Living: Eleven Keys for a More Fulfilling Life
17. “All the world is full of suffering. It is also full of overcoming.” – Helen Keller
18. “She stood in the storm, and when the wind did not blow her way, she adjusted her sails.” – Elizabeth Edwards
19. “The world breaks everyone, and afterward, many are strong at the broken places.” — Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell to Arms
Pin This For Later
20. “Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage.” – Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching
21. “There is some kind of a sweet innocence in being human—in not having to be just happy or just sad—in the nature of being able to be both broken and whole, at the same time.” – C. JoyBell C.
22. “And though she be but little, she is fierce.” – William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream
23. “Man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated.” – Ernest Hemingway, The Old Man and the Sea
24. “The strength of a nation derives from the integrity of the home.” – Confucius, Analects
25. “Great occasions do not make heroes or cowards; they simply unveil them to our eyes.” – Brooke Foss Westcott, The Gospel of Life
26. “We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey.” – Kenji Miyazawa, Night on the Galactic Railroad
27. “The oak fought the wind and was broken, the willow bent when it must and survived.” — Robert Jordan, The Fires of Heaven
28. “The human capacity for burden is like bamboo – far more flexible than you’d ever believe at first glance.” – Jodi Picoult, My Sister’s Keeper
29. “Sometimes the bravest and most important thing you can do is just show up.” – Brené Brown, Daring Greatly
30. “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
31. “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, Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story
32. “Courage makes a man more than himself; for he is then himself plus his valor.” – William R. Alger, The Poetry of the Orient
33. “Sometimes carrying on, just carrying on, is the superhuman achievement.” – Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus
34. “There is some good in this world, and it’s worth fighting for.” – J.R.R. Tolkien, The Two Towers
35. “Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul, and sings the tune without the words, and never stops at all.” — Emily Dickinson
36. “The brave may not live forever, but the cautious do not live at all.” – Meg Cabot, The Princess Diaries
37. “It’s not how hard you hit. It’s how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.” – Sylvester Stallone, Rocky Balboa
38. “Anyone can hide. Facing up to things, working through them, that’s what makes you strong.” – Sarah Dessen, Just Listen
39. “The strength of a nation derives from the integrity of the home.” – Confucius, Analects
40. “The only way out of the labyrinth of suffering is to forgive.” – John Green, Looking for Alaska
41. “Grief and resilience live together.” – Michelle Obama, Becoming
It’s amazing how a few well-chosen words can help us find the courage to keep going, no matter what life throws our way.
Pin This For Later
For more quotes and motivation, take a look at my other posts.
Don’t forget to save this pin for future tough days, and feel free to share your favorite quote in the comments.
I’m excited to hear which ones spoke to you the most.
