Originally published 2020-05-09.
The best-known line on resilience is probably Albert Camus’s image of finding “an invincible summer” inside himself in the depth of winter. It captures what most good quotes about hard times share: the idea that strength is not the absence of fear or failure, but something you discover while going through them. Below are 25 sayings on that theme from writers, athletes, artists and public figures, grouped by the idea they express, with notes on where each one comes from and which are only “often attributed”.
Quotations travel fast online and often lose their source along the way, so the notes matter. A line from a letter or a book you can open carries a different weight from one that simply appears on a thousand posters.
Finding strength inside yourself
1. Albert Camus
Camus wrote that in the depth of winter he learned “there was in me an invincible summer.” The line comes from his 1952 essay “Return to Tipasa”, later collected in the volume Summer; the exact English wording varies between translations. He was describing a return to a coastal Algerian landscape he loved after years of war and political bitterness.
2. Washington Irving
In “The Wife”, a story in The Sketch Book (1819–20), Irving pictures a spark of heavenly fire in the heart that lies dormant when life is easy and blazes up in the dark hour of adversity. Modern readers may find the gender framing dated, but the image of hidden strength that only hardship reveals has lasted two centuries.
3. John Green
In his first novel, Looking for Alaska (2005), Green turns the cliché about teenagers believing they are invincible on its head: perhaps they are right, because people can be hurt badly without being broken beyond repair.
4. Rumi
A popular line credited to the 13th-century Persian poet urges readers not to settle for other people’s stories but to unfold their own myth. It circulates in loose modern English renderings, so treat the wording as an interpretation rather than a translation.
5. Richard Bach
In Illusions (1977), Bach writes that you are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it true, and adds that you may have to work for it. The popular version swaps “wish” for “dream” and quietly drops the part about work.
Acting despite fear
6. Vincent van Gogh
Writing to his brother Theo in 1883, the painter advised: “If you hear a voice within you say ‘you cannot paint,’ then by all means paint, and that voice will be silenced.” He was still struggling, largely unsold, and teaching himself; the letter is a working artist’s answer to self-doubt.
7. Dale Carnegie
Often attributed to the author of How to Win Friends and Influence People: inaction feeds doubt, while action builds courage, so the cure for fear is to get busy rather than sit at home thinking about it. The source is unconfirmed, but it matches advice he repeated throughout his books.
8. T. Harv Eker
The self-help author argues that successful people feel fear, doubt and worry like everyone else; the difference is that they do not let those feelings stop them.
9. T. Harv Eker, again
A second line attributed to Eker addresses insecurity directly: everyone else feels it too, so stop overrating the competition and underrating yourself.
10. Robert Anthony
Self-help writer Robert Anthony is credited with the idea that much of what we want becomes possible once we let go of the belief that we cannot have it.
11. Mary Engelbreit
The American illustrator, known for her bright greeting-card art, is credited with a cheerful piece of advice: if your ship has not come in, swim out to meet it.
12. Katherine Mansfield
In a 1922 journal entry, the New Zealand-born writer urged herself to take risks, stop caring about others’ opinions, do the hardest thing and face the truth. She wrote it while seriously ill with tuberculosis, which gives her call to “Risk anything!” its weight.
13. Bradley Whitford
In his 2004 commencement speech at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, the West Wing actor told graduates not to wait passively for life, grace or love to arrive, but to make them happen themselves, right here and now.
Defeat as a state of mind
14. Bruce Lee
One of the martial artist’s most-shared lines holds that no one is defeated until they accept defeat as real. It appears in collections of his writings, though the exact original source is hard to pin down.
15. Bruce Lee, again
Short and defiant, another saying attributed to Lee dismisses circumstances altogether: he creates opportunities instead. Like many Lee quotes, it is widely repeated but not traced to a specific interview.
16. “Vince Lombardi” on energy and determination
The line that the difference between people lies in energy, will, settled purpose and invincible determination is commonly pinned on the American football coach. It closely echoes a famous passage by the British abolitionist Thomas Fowell Buxton (1786–1845), who led the anti-slavery campaign in Parliament after Wilberforce retired, so the Lombardi attribution looks doubtful.
17. “Thomas Fuller” on great and little men
A similar sentence, that invincible determination can achieve almost anything and marks the distinction between great and small people, is often credited to the 17th-century writer Thomas Fuller. It appears to be another version of the same Buxton idea.
18. Vince Lombardi
The coach is widely quoted as saying that what matters is not whether you get knocked down but whether you get up. It fits his reputation, though no original source is generally given, and Wikiquote does not list it among his sourced remarks.
19. Orison Swett Marden
Marden, founder of Success magazine in 1897, is credited with saying that no one has truly failed who keeps their courage, character, self-respect and self-confidence; such a person, in his words, is still a king.
20. Malcolm X
Often attributed: adversity is the best teacher, because every defeat, heartbreak and loss carries a lesson for next time. The version that circulates online frequently drops the word “teacher”, which makes the sentence hard to read.
Turning hardship into an advantage
21. Walt Disney
A widely shared quote credits Disney with saying that his troubles strengthened him and that a kick in the teeth may turn out to be the best thing for you. The source is unverified, but his early career included a bankrupt first studio and the loss of his popular character Oswald the Lucky Rabbit to a distributor.
22. Michelle Obama
Attributed to the former First Lady: experience of facing and overcoming adversity is not a handicap but one of your biggest advantages. The idea runs through her speeches to students.
23. Oprah Winfrey
The advice to think like a queen opens a line often credited to Winfrey, which treats failure as a stepping stone rather than something to fear.
24. Drew Barrymore
Barrymore, who became famous as a child in E.T. and went through very public struggles as a teenager, has said in much saltier words that she has been through too much to be insecure, and that being humbled made her grateful for every day.
25. Carry Nation
The most surprising name on the list. Nation (1846–1911) was a radical of the American temperance movement who said she felt invincible, a giant with God beside her, when she smashed saloons. Her own account, The Use and Need of the Life of Carry A. Nation (1908), describes destroying saloons in Kiowa, Kansas, in 1900 with rocks before she took up her famous hatchet. She was arrested dozens of times. It is a reminder that a feeling of invincibility can drive destruction as easily as courage.
How to make a quote actually help
Reading an encouraging line can lift your mood for a minute. Making it useful takes one more step:
- Pick one that fits today. Not the most impressive, just the one that speaks to what you are facing.
- Put it in your own words. Writing what it means for you turns a slogan into a thought you own.
- Attach a small action. If the quote is about acting despite fear, decide on one step: send the email, ask for help, return to an unfinished task.
- Be realistic. You do not have to feel unbeatable for this to work, and not every setback comes with an immediate lesson. Some hard days are simply hard.
If difficult days have become most days, a quote is not enough on its own. Talking to someone you trust or to a doctor is a sign of strength, not of defeat.
A note on misattributed quotes
Inspirational quotes are among the most misattributed texts online. Famous names attract orphaned lines, wording drifts as quotes are copied, and context disappears. A good habit is to check a quote against a book, letter, speech or reliable collection before sharing it. When that is not possible, “often attributed to” is the honest label, and the idea can still be worth keeping even when its author is uncertain.
Sources: Wikipedia: Carrie Nation; Wikipedia: Thomas Fowell Buxton; Wikipedia: Bradley Whitford; Wikiquote: Vince Lombardi.
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