Perseverance quotes have the power to inspire us to keep going no matter how steep the climb or how heavy the burden may be.
They serve as a gentle reminder that every struggle is a step forward, every hurdle an opportunity for growth.
In today’s post, I’ve rounded up a collection of quotes that embody the spirit of tenacity and resilience, offering motivation when the odds seem stacked against us.
Perseverance quotes to keep going no matter what
1. “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.” – Confucius
2. “Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after the other.” – Walter Elliot
3. “Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.” – Pelé
4. “The road to success is dotted with many tempting parking places.” – Will Rogers
5. Through perseverance many people win success out of what seemed destined to be certain failure.” – Benjamin Disraeli
6. “Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.” – Thomas A. Edison
7. “Success is the child of drudgery and perseverance. It cannot be coaxed or bribed; pay the price and it is yours.” – Orison Swett Marden
8. “The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.” – Jimmy Johnson
9. “Don’t be discouraged. It’s often the last key in the bunch that opens the lock.” – John Wooden
Empowering quotes about perseverance
10. “Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th.” – Julie Andrews
11. “Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did.” – Newt Gingrich
12. “In the realm of ideas everything depends on enthusiasm… in the real world all rests on perseverance.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
13. “If you are going through hell, keep going.” – Winston Churchill
14. “The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places.” – Ernest Hemingway
15. “It’s not that I’m so smart, it’s just that I stay with problems longer.” – Albert Einstein
16. “Character consists of what you do on the third and fourth tries.” – James A. Michener
17. “The harder you fall, the heavier your heart; the heavier your heart, the stronger you climb; the stronger you climb, the higher your pedestal.” – Criss Jami
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18. “Keep a little fire burning; however small, however hidden.” – Cormac McCarthy
19. “The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it.” – Molière
20. “A hero is no braver than an ordinary man, but he is brave five minutes longer.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Best quotes on perseverance to live by
21. “The only way to achieve the impossible is to believe it is possible.” – Charles Kingsleigh
22. “A river cuts through rock not because of its power, but because of its persistence.” – James N. Watkins
23. “There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.” – Beverly Sills
24. Perseverance is the foundation of all actions.” – Lao Tzu
25. “Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves.” – Marie Curie
26. “Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance.” – Samuel Johnson
27. “Perseverance, secret of all triumphs.” – Victor Hugo
28. “When you get into a tight place and everything goes against you … never give up then, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.” – Harriet Beecher Stowe
29. “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” – Nelson Mandela
30. “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” – Nelson Mandela
31. “Stay committed to your decisions, but stay flexible in your approach.” – Tony Robbins
Inspirational quotes about perseverance
32. “With ordinary talent and extraordinary perseverance, all things are attainable.” – Thomas Fowell Buxton
33. “To succeed, you must have tremendous perseverance, tremendous will. ‘I will drink the ocean,’ says the persevering soul, ‘at my will mountains will crumble up.’ Have that sort of energy, that sort of will; work hard, and you will reach the goal.” – Swami Vivekananda
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34. “The will to persevere is often the difference between failure and success.” – David Sarnoff
35. “You just can’t beat the person who never gives up.” – Babe Ruth
36. “Fall down seven times, get up eight.” – Japanese Proverb
37. “What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight – it’s the size of the fight in the dog.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower
38. “Champions keep playing until they get it right.” – Billie Jean King
39. “Victory is always possible for the person who refuses to stop fighting.” – Napoleon Hill
40. “Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure.” – George Edward Woodberry
Motivational quotes about perseverance
41. “In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins – not through strength, but through persistence.” – H. Jackson Brown
42. “The best way out is always through.” – Robert Frost
43. “Continuous effort – not strength or intelligence – is the key to unlocking our potential.” – Winston Churchill
44. “To persevere, trusting in what hopes he has, is courage.” – Euripides
45. “Every strike brings me closer to the next home run.” – Babe Ruth
46. “Big shots are only little shots who keep shooting.” – Christopher Morley
47. “Let me tell you the secret that has led me to my goal. My strength lies solely in my tenacity.” – Louis Pasteur
Motivational quotes about hard work and perseverance
48. “The only failure is quitting. Everything else is just gathering information.” – Jen Sincero
49. I am not judged by the number of times I fail, but by the number of times I succeed: and the number of times I succeed is in direct proportion to the number of times I fail and keep trying.” – Tom Hopkins
50. “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I’ll try again tomorrow.” – Mary Anne Radmacher
51. “Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” – Dale Carnegie
52. “Don’t watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going.” – Sam Levenson
53. “The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.” – Thomas Paine
54. “The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something.” – Randy Pausch
55. “By perseverance, the snail reached the ark.” – Charles Spurgeon
56. “The price of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and the determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand.” – Vince Lombardi
Quotes about perseverance through hard times
57. “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” – Joseph P. Kennedy
58. “There are two ways of attaining an important end: force and perseverance. Force falls to the lot only of the privileged classes… but perseverance can be practiced by the most insignificant.” – Honoré de Balzac
59. “You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” – Carter Crocker
60. “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” – Thomas A. Edison
61. “There is no telling how many miles you will have to run while chasing a dream.” – Shelley K. Wall
62. “The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it.” – Arnold H. Glasow
63. “Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go.” – William Feather
64. “The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.” – Vince Lombardi
65. “The only thing that overcomes hard luck is hard work.” – Harry Golden
66. “Let perseverance be your engine and hope your fuel.” – H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
Quotes about determination and perseverance
67. “All great achievements require time.” – Maya Angelou
68. “To persist with a goal, you must treasure the dream more than the costs of sacrifice to attain it.” – Richelle E. Goodrich
69. “Endurance is not just the ability to bear a difficult thing, but to turn it into glory.” – William Barclay
70. “Perseverance is a great element of success. If you only knock long enough and loud enough at the gate, you are sure to wake up somebody.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
71. “Success is stumbling from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.” – Winston S. Churchill
72. “When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
73. “Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we react to it.” – Charles R. Swindoll
74. “Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground.” – Theodore Roosevelt
75. “At the end of hardship comes happiness.” – Korean Proverb
76. “Don’t let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it.” – Earl Nightingale
77. “The oak fought the wind and was broken, the willow bent when it must and survived.” – Robert Jordan
Quotes about perseverance and success
78. “No great thing is created suddenly.” – Epictetus
79. “Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
80. “The difficulties of life are intended to make us better, not bitter.” – Unknown
81. “Perseverance is the act of true role models and heroes.” – Liza Wiemer
82. “No matter how much it hurts now, someday you will look back and realize your struggles changed your life for the better.” – Unknown
83. “Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” – Theodore Roosevelt
84. “The drops of rain make a hole in the stone, not by violence, but by oft falling.” – Lucretius
85. If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
86. “Victory belongs to the most persevering.” – Napoleon Bonaparte
87. “The secret of our success is that we never, never give up.” – Wilma Mankiller
88. “Some lean back. But those who lean forward are poised to cross the finish line, first!” – T.F. Hodge
Quotes on passion and perseverance
89. “A winner is just a loser who tried one more time.” – George M. Moore Jr.
90. “The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” – Confucius
91. “The only thing that stands between a person and what they want in life is the will to try it and the faith to believe it is possible.” – David Viscott
92. “The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will.” – Vince Lombardi
93. “The best way to guarantee a loss is to quit.” – Morgan Freeman
94. “Persistence can change failure into extraordinary achievement.” – Matt Biondi
95. If you are going through a time of discouragement, there is a time of great personal growth ahead.” – Oswald Chambers
96. “Success is sweet and sweeter if long delayed and gotten through many struggles and defeats.” – Amos Bronson Alcott
97. “We can do anything we want to if we stick to it long enough.” – Helen Keller
Best quotes about perseverance
98. “Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another.” – Walter Elliot
99. “Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.” – Napoleon Hill
100. “There will be obstacles. There will be doubters. There will be mistakes. But with hard work, there are no limits.” – Michael Phelps
101. “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
102. “You do what you can for as long as you can, and when you finally can’t, you do the next best thing. You back up but you don’t give up.” – Chuck Yeager
103. “If you wish to succeed in life, make perseverance your bosom friend.” – Joseph Addison
104. “It does not matter how slowly you go, as long as you do not stop.” – Confucius
105. “I am a slow walker, but I never walk back.” – Abraham Lincoln
106. “The difference between perseverance and obstinacy is that one often comes from a strong will, and the other from a strong won’t.” – Henry Ward Beecher
Perseverance quotes for work
107. “Flaming enthusiasm, backed up by horse sense and persistence, is the quality that most frequently makes for success.” – Dale Carnegie
108. “There is no substitute for hard work, 23 or 24 hours a day. And there is no substitute for patience and acceptance.” – Cesar Chavez
109. “The man who can drive himself further once the effort gets painful is the man who will win.” – Roger Bannister
110. “Without perseverance, talent is a barren bed.” – Welsh Proverb
111. “Let me tell you the secret that has led to my goal. My strength lies solely in my tenacity.” – Louis Pasteur
112. “An invincible determination can accomplish almost anything and in this lies the great distinction between great men and little men.” – Thomas Fuller
113. “Perseverance is not a passive submission to circumstances – it is a strong and active response to the difficult events of life.” – Elizabeth George
114. “No one succeeds without effort… Those who succeed owe their success to perseverance.” – Ramana Maharshi
115. “Adversity, and perseverance and all these things can shape you. They can give you a value and a self-esteem that is priceless.” – Scott Hamilton
116. “Success is no accident. It is perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice, and most of all, love of what you are doing.” – Pele
117. “A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.” – Christopher Reeve
Perseverance quotes for students
118. “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston S. Churchill
119. “What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight; it’s the size of the fight in the dog.” – Dwight D. Eisenhower
120. “Don’t confuse motion and progress. A rocking horse keeps moving but doesn’t make any progress.” – Alfred A. Montapert
121. “When obstacles arise, you change your direction to reach your goal; you do not change your decision to get there.” – Zig Ziglar
122. “To succeed, you must first improve. To improve, you must first practice. To practice, you must first learn. To learn, you must first fail.” – Michael Jordan
123. “No matter the number of times you fail you must be determined to succeed. You must not lose hope. Don’t stop in your storm.” – Tony Narams
124. “The only guarantee for failure is to stop trying.” – John C. Maxwell
125. “Perseverance is a positive, active characteristic.” – Joseph B. Wirthlin
126. “Stay strong, stay positive, and never give up.” – Roy Bennett
127. “Life is largely a matter of expectation.” – Horace
128. “If one dream should fall and break into a thousand pieces, never be afraid to pick one of those pieces up and begin again.” – Flavia Weedn
Positive quotes about perseverance
129. “Don’t let life’s challenges deter you from your purpose.” – Lailah Gifty Akita
130. “It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.” – Theodore Roosevelt
131. “Every adversity, every failure, and every heartache carries with it the seed of an equivalent or a greater benefit.” – Napoleon Hill
131. “I will persist until I succeed.” – Og Mandino
132. “It’s not about perfect. It’s about effort. And when you bring that effort every single day, that’s where transformation happens. That’s how change occurs.” – Jillian Michaels
133. “Those who conquer have learned the art of perseverance.” – Jeffrey Fry
134. “The key to success is action, and the essential in action is perseverance.” – Sun Yat-sen
135. “In the realm of ideas, everything depends on enthusiasm. In the real world, all rests on perseverance.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
136. “I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.” – Michael Jordan
137. “The only courage that matters is the kind that gets you from one moment to the next.” – Mignon McLaughlin
138. “Dripping water hollows out stone, not through force but through persistence.” – Ovid
139. “The difference between people who believe they have books inside of them and those who actually write books is sheer cussed persistence—the ability to make yourself work at your craft, every day.” – Jennifer Weiner
Quotes about perseverance and hope
140. “Persistence is to the character of man as carbon is to steel.” – Napoleon Hill
141. “Men fail much oftener from want of perseverance than from want of talent.” – William Cobbett
142. “Press forward. Do not stop, do not linger in your journey, but strive for the mark set before you.” – George Whitefield
143. “Never let your persistence and passion turn into stubbornness and ignorance.” – Anthony J. D’Angelo
144. “Energy and persistence conquer all things.” – Benjamin Franklin
145. Infinite patience brings immediate results.” – Wayne Dyer
146. “To make our way, we must have firm resolve, persistence, tenacity. We must gear ourselves to work hard all the way. We can never let up.” – Ralph Bunche
147. “The world’s greatest achievers have been those who have always stayed focused on their goals and have been consistent in their efforts.” – Dr. Roopleen
148. “Believe in yourself and all that you are. Know that there is something inside you that is greater than any obstacle.” – Christian D. Larson
149. “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says ‘I’ll try again tomorrow.'” – Mary Anne Radmacher
Quotes on perseverance in business
150. “The harder the struggle, the more glorious the triumph. Self-realization demands very great struggle.” – Swami Sivananda
151. “To be a champ, you have to believe in yourself when nobody else will.” – Sugar Ray Robinson
152. “He conquers who endures.” – Persius
153. “The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.” – Lucius Annaeus Seneca
154. “Your hardest times often lead to the greatest moments of your life. Keep going. Tough situations build strong people in the end.” – Roy T. Bennett
155. “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” – Oliver Goldsmith
156. “Sometimes adversity is what you need to face in order to become successful.” – Zig Ziglar
157. “Never, never, never give up.” – Winston Churchill
158. You’re going to find the people that make it work NEVER quit, quitting is NOT an option.” – Bob Proctor
Hard work and perseverance quotes
159. “Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever.” – Lance Armstrong
160. “Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they’ve got a second.” – William James
161. True perseverance is not just about bearing the hard times; it’s about refining our dreams along the way.” – A.J. Darkholme
162. “Opportunities are usually disguised as hard work, so most people don’t recognize them.” – Ann Landers
163. “A bend in the road is not the end of the road unless you fail to make the turn.” – Helen Keller
Final thoughts
These perseverance quotes can be a source of inspiration and encouragement when you’re facing difficult times.
Whether it’s in your career, relationships or any other area of life, never give up hope and stay focused on your goals.
Always remember that no amount of hard work is ever wasted. You gotta just keep pushing forward and have faith in yourself.
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