You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.
Adversity is sometimes hard upon a man; but for one man who can stand prosperity, there are a hundred that will stand adversity.
A gentleman can withstand hardships; it is only the small man who, when submitted to them, is swept off his feet.
There is no education like adversity.
It is difficulties that show what men are.
Man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated.
The great thing in this world is not so much where we stand as in what direction we are moving: To reach the port of heaven, we must sail sometimes with the wind and sometimes against it - but we must sail, and not drift, nor lie at anchor.
If you would hit the mark, you must aim a little above it; Every arrow that flies feels the attraction of earth.
It is a common fault of men not to reckon on storms in fair weather.
I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.
The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.
Defeat doesn't finish a man - quit does. A man is not finished when he's defeated. He's finished when he quits.
You've got to learn to survive a defeat. That's when you develop character.
Prosperity is no just scale; adversity is the only balance to weigh friends.
You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.' You must do the thing you think you cannot do.
The highest form of success ... comes, not to the man who desires mere easy peace, but to the man who does not shrink from danger, from hardship, or from bitter toil, and who out of these wins the splendid ultimate triumph.
Sweet are the uses of adversity,
Which like the toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet a precious jewel in his head.
Success is measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which one has overcome while trying to succeed.