We offer the following quotations as potential sources of inspiration and food-for-thought. If you have a quote on some aspect of resilience that you would like to share with others, please let us know via our Contact Us form.
- The Heart is your Center …
The heart is your center. It’s as central to your soul as your nose is to your face. Yet even though “it’s as plain as the nose on your face” this most obvious thing is often the easiest to ignore.
—Peter Kreeft - Forgiveness
A resilient person tends to rely more on forgiveness than blame.
—Buzz Beeman - Never Be Hopeless
We need never be hopeless because we can never be irreparably broken.
—Albert Einstein - Change
When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.
―Viktor Frankl - Dare to fail …
Only those who dare to fail greatly, can ever achieve greatly.
—Robert F. Kennedy - Our protectors …
Trees are, and always have been, dear to us. We see in them our protectors. We sense in them the continuity of life. And we find in their steadfastness, our own steadfastness … Trees hold us fast in their embrace.
—Jill Neimark, The Hugging Tree - Encapsulation of Faith
Faith is the realization of what is hoped for and evidence of things not seen.
—Hebrews 11:1 - Yours in Abundance
May mercy, peace, and love be yours in abundance.
—Jude 1:2 - Survival
It is not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the most responsive to change.
—Charles Darwin - Grief and Resilience
Grief and resilience live together.
—Michelle Obama - Leadership Attributes
Leaders must be tough enough to fight, tender enough to cry, human enough to make mistakes, humble enough to admit them, strong enough to absorb the pain, and resilient enough to bounce back and keep moving.
—Jesse Jackson - Rootedness
The soul wants to keep us rooted in the ground of our own being, resisting the tendency of other faculties, like the intellect and the ego, to uproot us from who we [truly] are.
—Parker J. Parker - The Inner Core
The “soul” is that still point at the heart of every person, that deepest center, that point of encounter with the transcendent yet incarnate mystery of God. When the soul is healthy, it is in a living relationship with God; it is firmly rooted in the soil of meaning and is the deepest center of the person.
—Bishop Robert Barron, Lenten Gospel Reflection (3/24/2020) - Courage, Serenity, Insight
Father, give us courage to change what must be altered, serenity to accept what cannot be helped, and the insight to know the one from the other.
—The Serenity Prayer (attribution uncertain) - Within Our Grasp
Resilience is not something that”s just a matter of grit and determination, and it’s not a matter of writing a prescription. It’s hard work! But the answer – the promised land – is within our grasp.
—Jack Shonkoff MD, Resilience (KPJR Films) - What’s possible
Start by doing what’s necessary, then what’s possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.
—Saint Francis of Assisi - All Our Wisdom
All our wisdom is stored in the trees.
—Santosh Kalwar - Success
Success isn’t about conquering something. It’s being happy with who you are.
—Britney Spears - Having a Backbone
Resilience is the strength and speed of our response to adversity – and we can build it. It isn’t about having a backbone. It’s about strengthening the muscles around our backbone.
—Sheryl Sandberg - That which does not kill us …
That which does not kill us makes us stronger.
—Friedrich Nietzsche
