244 Tough Times Quotes That Will Empower You
In difficult moments, sometimes all it takes is the right quote to inspire resilience and positivity.
That’s why we’ve curated a collection of powerful quotes to uplift and motivate you during tough times.
Whether you’re seeking encouragement for yourself or looking to share inspiring messages with others, these quotes are perfect for navigating life’s challenges.
Take a moment to browse through and find the words that resonate with you.
Short Tough Times Quotes
“I don’t know a woman alive who isn’t courageous.” ― Reese Witherspoon
“Choose to be optimistic, it feels better.” —Dalai Lama
“How you love yourself is how you teach others to love you.” – Rupi Kaur
“I want to reach my potential, impact my world, and leave a legacy.” —Seth Buechley
“People have to remain positive and believe in those dreams. It’s really important.” – Kirsty Coventry
“Hope is the most exciting thing there is in life.” —Mandy Moore
“When you are enthusiastic about what you do, you feel this positive energy.” – Paolo Coelho
“A positive attitude awakens inner strength, energy, motivation, and initiative.” – Remez Sasson
“Get busy living or get busy dying.” — Stephen King
“In order to write about life first you must live it.”– Ernest Hemingway
“A friend may be waiting behind a stranger’s face.” —Maya Angelou
“Let us dance in the sun, wearing wild flowers in our hair…” – Susan Polis Schutz
“Storms make trees take deeper roots.” —Dolly Parton
“Gray skies are just clouds passing over.” —Duke Ellington
“Problems are not stop signs, they are guidelines.” —Robert Schuller
“We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope.” —Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Learn how to be happy with what you have while you pursue all that you want.” —Jim Rohn
“A problem is a chance for you to do your best.” —Duke Ellington
“He knows not his own strength who hath not met adversity.” —William Samuel Johnson
“The first step is you have to say that you can.” —Will Smith
“The greatest glory in living lies not in never failing, but in rising every time we fail.” —Nelson Mandela
“We have nothing to fear, but fear itself.” —Franklin D. Roosevelt
“Limit your ‘always’ and your ‘nevers.’” —Amy Poehler
“Being a strong woman is very important to me. But doing it all on my own is not.” — Reba McEntire
“Happiness is a how; not a what. A talent, not an object.” – Herman Hesse
“The healthiest response to life is joy.” — Deepak Chopra
“When you’re positive, good things happen.” – Deep Roy
“Surround yourself with positive people.” —Rod Rohrich
“Sometimes you will never know the value of a moment, until it becomes a memory.” —Dr. Seuss
“Always let your conscience be your guide.” —Jiminy Cricket
“If you love life, don’t waste time, for time is what life is made up of.” – Bruce Lee
“You never fail until you stop trying.” – Albert Einstein
“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” – Confucius
“All limitations are self-imposed.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes
“Nobody can be uncheered with a balloon” – Winnie the Pooh
“Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t do something. Especially not yourself.” —Mindy Kaling
“Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Turn every life situation into a positive one.” – Rhonda Byrne
“Memories of our lives, of our works and our deeds will continue in others.” —Rosa Parks
“Joy blooms where minds and hearts are open.” – Jonathan Lockwood Huie
“We know what we are, but know not what we may be.” —William Shakespeare
“Joy is a net of love by which you can catch souls.” – Mother Teresa
“Life is short, and it is here to be lived.” —Kate Winslet
“Life is short it is up to you to make it sweet.” – Sarah Louise
“In order to be irreplaceable one must always be different.” – Coco Chanel
“Positive thinking is more than just a tagline. It changes the way we behave.” – Harvey Mackay
“You carry so much love in your heart. Give some to yourself.” – R.Z.
“The mind is everything. What you think you become.” —Buddha
“After all, life is too short to be anything but happy.” – Karl Marx
“The question isn’t who’s going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.” —Ayn Rand
“I’d rather regret the things I’ve done than regret the things I haven’t done.” —Lucille Ball
“We love the things we love for what they are.” – Robert Frost
“No one is useless in this world who lightens the burdens of others.” – Charles Dickens
“Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible.” —Tony Robbins
“Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them.” – Marcus Aurelius
“My best successes came on the heels of failure.” —Barbara Corcoran
“I never dreamed about success. I worked for it.” —Estée Lauder
“I believe in strong women. I believe in the woman who is able to stand up for herself.” — C. JoyBell C.
“May your troubles be less and your blessings be more.” —Irish Blessing
“Life itself is the most wonderful fairy tale.” — Hans Christian Andersen
“We have to collectively work together to improve the world.” —Samuel Strauch
“She remembered who she was and the game changed.” —Lalah Deliah
“Be positive with every idea surrounding your dreams.” – Israelmore Ayivor
“We can truly love one another once we love who we are.” –Angela C. Santomero
“I never lose sight of the fact that just being is fun.” —Katherine Hepburn
“Take the first step.” —Darius Fisher
“Every morning starts a new page in your story. Make it a great one today.” – Doe Zantamata
“If you have the ability to love, love yourself first.” – Charles Bukowski
“Base your relationships on the right values.” —Dick Gephardt
“Life is a first impression. You get one shot at it. Make it everlasting.” – J.R. Rim
“The power of imagination makes us infinite.” —John Muir
“When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.” – Rumi
“The truly rich are those who enjoy what they have.” —Yiddish Proverb
“You do not find the happy life. You make it.” —Thomas S. Monson
“Don’t settle for what life gives you; make life better and build something.” — Ashton Kutcher
“Every new day gives me ceaseless hope to reach out for my dreams.” – Lailah Gifty Akita
“We have to teach our girls that they can reach as high as humanly possible.” —Beyonce
“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” – Aesop
“The most wasted of days is one without laughter.” —E. E. Cummings
“A woman with a voice is, by definition, a strong woman.” – Melinda Gates
“Give yourself the love you’re willing to give to others.” – Mahin Ismail
“Keep your face always toward the sunshine—and shadows will fall behind you.” —Walt Whitman
“Make each day your masterpiece.” – John Wooden
“I dream things that never were and say why not.” —George Bernard Shaw
“Striving for excellence motivates you; striving for perfection is demoralizing.” —Dr. Harriet Braiker
“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” —Mahatma Gandhi
“Think of all the beauty still left around you and be happy.” – Anne Frank
“Love is never wrong.” – Melissa Etheridge
“There are no regrets in life, just lessons.” — Jennifer Aniston
“We love because it’s the only true adventure.” – Nikki Giovanni
“The world is full of magical things patiently waiting for our wits to grow sharper.” —Bertrand Russell
“You can if you think you can.” – George Reeves
“The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.” – Jimmy Johnson
“Do what is true to your soul.” —Malini Saba
“You have to believe in yourself when no one else does.” —Serena Williams
“Love yourself enough to set boundaries.” – Anna Taylor
“It’s almost always possible to be honest and positive.” – Naval Ravikant
“The warrior knows that her heartbreak is her map.” —Glennon Doyle
“Learn to love yourself enough to be happy in your own company.” – Samantha Camargo
“‘No’ today doesn’t mean ‘no’ tomorrow.” —Yvonne Orji
“You go in with a positive attitude and stay there.” – Shelley Long
“Your positive action combined with positive thinking results in success.” – Shiv Khera
“If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun.” —Katharine Hepburn
“Stay positive in every situation and everything you do.” – Anurag Prakash Ray
“Let your life lightly dance on the edges of time like dew on the tip of a leaf.” —Rabindranath Tagore
“Today is a new day, the first day of the rest of your life.” – Abbie Hoffman
“Say something positive, and you’ll see something positive.” —Jim Thompson
“Time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.” – Marthe Troly-Curtin
“Be yourself and people will like you.” —Jeff Kinney
“Why not take a chance and bet on happiness? —Jenny Han
“Don’t be afraid. Be focused. Be determined. Be hopeful. Be empowered.” —Michelle Obama
“Every morning is a revolution against the darkness.” ― Mehmet Murat Ildan
“Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value.” —Albert Einstein
“Happiness is a state of activity.” – Aristotle
“Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
“In the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It’s the life in your years.” —Abraham Lincoln
“If I got rid of my demons, I’d lose my angels.” —Tennessee Williams
“Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will.” – Zig Ziglar
“Happiness is not something ready-made. It comes from your own actions.” – Dalai Lama
“You can choose to not let little things upset you.” – Joel Osteen
“Do good and good will come to you.” —Adam Lowy
“Jump in with both feet and be brave.” —Sujit Choudhry
“Hold onto your old friends. Kiss your mama. Admit what your dreams are.” —Maya Rudolph
“Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.” —Maya Angelou
“Most people are nice when you finally see them.” —Harper Lee
“Positive energy knows no boundaries.” – Lu Wei
“We may not have hit the peak yet, but we are on the journey up.” —Brian Nhira
“Have faith in yourself and in the future.” – Ted Kennedy
“In a gentle way, you can shake the world.” —Mahatma Gandhi
“The unexamined life is not worth living.” — Socrates
“As you know, life is an echo; we get what we give.” — David DeNotaris
“A woman is like a tea bag; you never know how strong it is until it’s in hot water.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
“Everything is figureoutable.”— Marie Forleo
“Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.”—Roald Dahl
“An attitude of positive expectation is the mark of the superior personality.” – Brian Tracy
“Today is a good day to try.” —Quasimodo
“Let us literally live from moment to moment.”—Mahatma Gandhi
“Do the best, give the best and leave the rest to run after you.” – Garima Yonzon
“If you are positive, you’ll see opportunities instead of obstacles.” – Widad Akrawi
“In order to carry a positive action, we must develop here a positive vision.” – Dalai Lama
“The big lesson in life, baby, is never be scared of anyone or anything.”– Frank Sinatra
“There is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish.” -Michelle Obama
“Tell yourself how much you love yourself.” – Don Miguel Ruiz
“Whoever is happy will make others happy too.” —Anne Frank
“It makes a big difference in your life when you stay positive.” – Ellen DeGeneres
“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” —Dr. Seuss
“Invite people into your life that don’t look or think like you.” —Mellody Hobson
“The joy of life is becoming a person you are proud of.” —Bill Orender
“Happiness held is the seed; Happiness shared is the flower.” – John Harrigan
“Learn to let go. That is the key to happiness.” – Buddha
“The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” —Chinese Proverb
“Life is a flower of which love is the honey.” — Victor Hugo
“The next choice is the most important choice.” —George Wells
“Make a determination that you will live your purpose today.” —Daniel Budzinski
“All you need is love.” – Paul McCartney
“Whatever you are, be a good one.” – Abraham Lincoln
“The only thing that will make you happy is being happy with who you are.” – Goldie Hawn
“Once you know who you are, you don’t have to worry anymore.” —Nikki Giovanni
“You will not determine my story. I will.” —Amy Schumer
“Choose your dream. Work to the extreme.” —Tyra Banks
“Recognize what you have inside you.” —Eric Pulier
“Every morning is a chance at a new day.” – Marjorie Pay Hinckley
“Life is really simple, but men insist on making it complicated.” — Confucius
“One small positive thought can change your whole day.” – Zig Ziglar
“You only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough.” —Mae West
“The more you praise and celebrate your life, the more there is in life to celebrate.” – Oprah Winfrey
We love these encouraging quotes for women.
“Life is the first gift, love is the second, and understanding the third.” – Marge Piercy
“Always aim high, work hard, and care deeply about what you believe in.” —Hillary Clinton
“Surround yourself with people and things that inspire you. Learn everything you can.” —Jameela Jamil
“A strong woman looks a challenge dead in the eye and gives it a wink.” —Gina Carey
“Nobody who ever gave his best regretted it.” – George Halas
“A loving heart is the truest wisdom.” – Charles Dickens
“Salvation lies within.” —Warden Samuel Norton
“Boss up and change your life.” —Lizzo
“If life were predictable it would cease to be life, and be without flavor.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
“Every morning, I wake up saying, ‘I’m still alive, a miracle.’ And so I keep on pushing.” — Jim Carrey
“I attribute my success to this: I never gave or took any excuse.” —Florence Nightingale
“Ditch the dream and be a doer.” —Shonda Rhimes
“A No. 2 pencil and a dream can take you anywhere.” —Joyce Meyer
“I think if you just look at life in a positive way, positive things will happen.” – Jake Owen
“The greatest pleasure of life is love.” — Euripides
“If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.”– Milton Berle
“To win big, you sometimes have to take big risks.” —Bill Gates
“To know oneself, one should assert oneself.” –Albert Camus
“Just for the record darling, not all positive change feels positive in the beginning.” —S. C. Lourie
“When people don’t want the best for you, they are not the best for you.” —Gayle King
“Start each day with a positive thought and a grateful heart.” – Roy T. Bennett
“A flower blossoms for its own joy.” – Oscar Wilde
“Find joy in everything you choose to do.” – Chuck Palahniuk
“There were times I was underestimated a lot. It gave me a unique benefit.” —Elaine Welteroth
“No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.” —Aesop
“When in doubt, throw doubt out and have a little faith….” – E.A. Bucchianeri
“Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” — Forrest Gump
“Joy is not in things; it is in us.” – Richard Wagner
“If you stay positive good things and good people will be drawn to you.” – Mary Lou Retton
“Think and wonder. Wonder and think.” —Dr. Suess
“I dwell in possibility.” —Emily Dickinson
“Live for each second without hesitation.” — Elton John
“Do good, live in the most positive and joyful way possible every day.” – Roy T. Bennett
“Most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” – Abraham Lincoln
“The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you. Don’t go back to sleep.” – Rumi
“We all have two lives. The second one starts when we realize we only have one.” —Confucius
“Every moment is a fresh beginning.” —T.S. Eliot
“A really strong woman accepts the war she went through and is ennobled by her scars.” — Carly Simon
“I think positive emotion trumps negative emotion every time.” – Leonardo DiCaprio
“Simplicity makes me happy.” – Alicia Keys
“You can have it all. Just not all at once.” —Oprah Winfrey
“Happiness [is] only real when shared” – Jon Krakauer
“No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world.” —Robin Williams
“Every day is a new opportunity to change your life and be who you want to be.” —Demi Lovato
“Don’t be like the rest of them darling.” —Coco Chanel
“You can be everything. You can be the infinite amount of things that people are.”— Kesha
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.” —Mahatma Gandhi
“Mostly, the world sees you the way you see yourself.”– Lisa Nichols
“The most effective way to do it, is to do it.” —Amelia Earhart
“Find ecstasy in life; the mere sense of living is joy enough.” – Emily Dickinson
“When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be.” —Lao Tzu
“If you want to be happy, be.” – Leo Tolstoy
“The only joy in the world is to begin.” – Cesare Pavese
“Don’t wait, the time will never be just right.” – Napoleon Hill
“The mere sense of living is joy enough.” – Emily Dickinson
“The longer I live, the more beautiful life becomes.” —Frank Lloyd Wright
“In order to carry a positive action we must develop here a positive vision.” – Dalai Lama
“There is nothing in a caterpillar that tells you it’s going to be a butterfly.” —Buckminster Fuller
“All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.” —Walt Disney
“One has to be positive. When you’re positive, good things happen.” – Deep Roy
“You get in life what you have the courage to ask for.” —Oprah Winfrey
“It’s a helluva start, being able to recognize what makes you happy.” – Lucille Ball
“Let your creativity be a river, not a destination.” —Elizabeth Gilbert
“Extraordinary things are always hiding in places people never think to look.” —Jodi Picoul
“Be mindful. Be grateful. Be positive. Be true. Be kind.” – Roy T. Bennett
“Make your life matter and have fun doing it.” —Aaron Hurst
“Happiness is not a goal…it’s a by-product of a life well-lived.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
“Love is a game that two can play and both win.” – Eva Gabor
“In a world that wants women to whisper, I choose to yell.” —Luvvie Ajayi
“You have to train your brain to be positive just like you work out your body.” – Shawn Achor
“There is no saint without a past, no sinner without a future.” – Augustine of Hippo
“Happiness depends upon ourselves.” – Aristotle
“Life is not so much what you accomplish as what you overcome.” —Robin Roberts
“Where there is love there is life.” – Mahatma Gandhi
“Each day provides its own gifts.” —Marcus Aurelius
“When I wake up in the morning, I feel like a billionaire without paying taxes.” – Ernie Banks
“Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.” – Muhammad Ali
“An early-morning walk is a blessing for the whole day.” – Henry David Thoreau
“When you cease to dream you cease to live.” —Malcolm Forbes
“Yesterday ended last night, today is a brand-new day. And it’s yours.” – Zig Ziglar
“Be happy for this moment. This moment is your life.” —Omar Khyyam
“Only in the darkness can you see the stars.” —Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Let your compassion fuel your passion.” — Achea Redd, founder of Real Girls F.A.R.T.
“The past is gone. Today is full of possibilities.” – Karen Casey
“Love yourself more, you’ll never regret it.” – Ann Marie Molina
“Nothing is impossible. The word itself says “I’m possible!” – Audrey Hepburn