Struggles In Life Quotes

“Trying to seem calm and struggling to smile
a life, silently
keeps living me.”
― Suman Pokhrel

“My life is devoted to pulling me underground
yet, I stand strong on my battleground
determined I am
not to let my life defeat my pride.”
― Sanu Sharma

“No one would look at the seams that held me together and guess that they were scars.”
― Sarah Gailey, The Echo Wife

“There’s a beauty in struggle,” Neela had once said. “As awful as it may sound at first. It’s the friction that creates fire. It creates bonds stronger than steel. It pushes people—it forces people—together. If life were so perfect, there would be no reason or purpose at all. If there was no conflict, there’d be no journey. Without a mountain, there’d be no climb. That’s the beauty of it. Azure, do you know what I mean?”
― Steven Seril, The Destroyer of Worlds: An Answer to Every Question

“Without struggles, there would be no striving to be better, to overcome, to acquire the skills and strength to evolve as people. These are struggles that make us beautiful. Without difficulty, without suffering, no one would be on the path to self-actualization.”
― Todd Perelmuter

“Ada had always believed that her mother, in rebuilding the house only three miles from where it had once been, had kept her world piteously small, but maybe what mattered, Ada thought as she gazed at it now, was not how big or how small her mother's world was, but that her mother had managed to keep it at all. It must have been no trifling thing to carve out a space of her own, to protect it and hold within it the people she loved.”
― Cristina Henríquez, The Great Divide

“How can I be made so broken?”
― J Brian Long

“It's a struggle, life. Everyone is struggling with something. It's why we've got to be kind to each other, even when it's really fuckin' hard. You just don't know. You can't tell by looking. You can't tell by looking.”
― Juno Dawson, Stay Another Day

“The Pacific Ocean is angry, rolling over in an emerald coral foam, as he walks the grainy salt and pepper beach. He feels abandoned by both time and light. He had attempted to escape, only to travel to Vancouver after the unexpected passing of a friend. The Globe and Mail obit was just a few scribbled lines about his friend, a man identified by his profession and the opportunities and dreams that he had left behind. Kazan wanted to avoid a similar fate. He knew it was a desperate move. He should have given it more thought. Now, he blames Briar for the move. She is the cause of his fractured life. He struggles to even partially recall how they met.”
― Steve Hamilton, A Scandal of the Particular

“So, on March 17, 2016, when life handed me the highest and worst “mountain” I’ve ever had to climb, I was ready. While I never could have imagined the horrible events that unfolded would be part of my life story, I later realized I had trained for that moment my whole life. This book is my training plan. And my hard-earned gift to you.”
― Darcy Luoma, Thoughtfully Fit: Your Training Plan for Life and Business Success

“And you made me understand that
The real triumph lay
Not in being born a princess
But in struggles
Which had the power to transform
Even the steel into silver…”
― Neelam Saxena Chandra, LAYERS OF FLICKERING LIGHTS

“Steeper the climb, sweeter the vista.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Honor He Wrote: 100 Sonnets For Humans Not Vegetables

“The Strugglers"

He was born on a Friday. And it was raining that day. He still does not know whether the Gods were happy or sad at his arriving on earth.

He saw the world. He saw sadness. He saw misery. He saw the struggle of his dad and mom. They both struggled to give a good life to their children.

He started becoming serious in life. He started winning awards in academics and in quiz competitions to begin with. Then he tried essay competitions and debates. His sole aim was to win awards to make his parents feel proud of him.

He wanted to become an IAS officer to make his family (uncles, aunts, cousins) feel proud of him. He came to Delhi to prepare for the Civil Services. He thought he will do a job and not be dependent on his parents, and still clear the Civil Services. It did not happen. He lost out on becoming a Civil Servant of the people.

He tried a few odds jobs. He eventually became a Teacher, Poet, and Writer.

His inspirations to writing - his Mom who manages to write Poetry even now along with her struggles of life, Sylvia Plath, Maya Angelou, Franz Kafka, Roald Dahl, Jack Kerouac, Charles Bukowski, Ernest Hemingway, and all the other poets, artists, writers, and strugglers in Life.”
― Avijeet Das

“You don't know the background story of resilience, struggles and strength of beautiful and outgoing women. All you see is what is showcased.”
― Germany Kent

“No Struggle No Life (The Sonnet)

Ain't no life without struggle,
Ain't no heart without heartbreak.
Ain't no destination without the journey,
Ain't no courage without some dread.
Ain't no clarity without some confusion,
Ain't no serenity without suffering.
Ain't no contentment without disappointment,
Ain't no resilience without failing.
Ain't no mindfulness without mindlessness,
Ain't no uplift without some devastation.
Ain't no knowledge without ignorance,
Ain't no salvation without self-annihilation.
Ain't no I without the Us, without the We.
Ain't no We, unless the norm is nonbinary.”
― Abhijit Naskar, High Voltage Habib: Gospel of Undoctrination

“There is no obstacle more formidable than the mind.”
― A.J. Garces

“There was a time, when I came to Delhi from my hometown and I have survived on Parle G biscuits for the whole day.”
― Avijeet Das

“The Edge by Stewart Stafford

Hanging on the jagged edge,
Taunted to plunge in the deep,
Surfing wild on stormy winds,
Cold sweat at pain's brief sweep.

Nestled in some whirling gusts,
Gooseflesh skin from chilly hands,
A mask for a mimicry ball,
An everyman's muddled land.

Rising from some inner call,
Not a fugazi in Kismet's window.
The path still fogged from sight,
I climb higher, to touch the rainbow.

© Stewart Stafford, 2023. All rights reserved.”
― Stewart Stafford

“When I stand in front of my students and tell my students to never give up their passion to chase dreams in life, I speak with conviction and purpose. And I try to live up to my words. And that's why I am here to struggle for my passion. I am here to keep believing in myself and keep trying to achieve my dreams in life. Live your dreams. Breathe your dreams. Never give up on your dreams.”
― Avijeet Das

“Sweat today, savor tomorrow!”
― Abhijit Naskar, Bulletproof Backbone: Injustice Not Allowed on My Watch

“A thousand such voices are always crying aloud in Oxford Street. All are tense, all are real, all are urged out of their speakers by the pressure of making a living, finding a bed, somehow keeping afloat on the bounding, careless, remorseless tide of the street. And even a moralist, who is, one must suppose, since he can spend the afternoon dreaming, a man with a balance in the bank—even a moralist must allow that this gaudy, bustling, vulgar street reminds us that life is a struggle; that all building is perishable; that all display is vanity; from which we may conclude . . .”
― Virginia Woolf, The London Scene: Six Essays on London Life

“You just try to get through the day. The small stuff—waiting on a bus, eating, having a simple conversation—is too much to bear, and you fight to make it through the next minute without screaming. You look around at people going about their day—smiling, laughing, having meaningless encounters and conversations as if living was effortless, and you curse yourself and your mind and you wonder if someday things will get easier, and you become terrified of what will happen if they don’t.”
― Scott Gordon, Head Fake

“Toby’s pain, cut with his guilt and sorrow, raced in my veins as if I’d shot up with it, finally overwhelming me and knocking me out.”
― Scott Gordon, Head Fake

“We are all walking one fire road or another, be it paved by relational upheaval or financial upheaval, physical or emotional or the general inconveniences of life. But when you and I come along with a posture of peace, or with gentle and kind words, or with an offer of prayer or a hug, or with anything that looks and acts like Jesus, it is as though we have used a fire extinguisher - the flames that burned hot settle down.”
― Kim Phuc Phan Thi, Fire Road: The Napalm Girl’s Journey through the Horrors of War to Faith, Forgiveness, and Peace

“True care is proactive, not reactive. Not everyone struggling can find the strength to ask for help. Sometimes, it’s up to you, the helper, to notice and step in. You don’t need permission to be someone’s light in their darkest moments, sometimes, you just have to shine. Not every struggle comes with a cry for help. When someone is drowning in silence, it’s up to you to throw the lifeline they’re too afraid to request. Sometimes, it’s up to you to hear what isn’t being said.”
― Carson Anekeya

“I see men and women walking down roads
going about their days and nights

they have found meaning in
doing things that they had not planned in their lives

their lives may not be flashy
they may not go to lavish parties

but their lives have a deeper meaning and purpose for them and their loved ones

traveling on the roads of life,
they have not yet given up the fight!”
― Avijeet Das

“I will go before you and divide the bitter waters so you can walk through”
― Betsy Wise, A Life Tale Christian Mini Book: On Struggling and Next Levels

“My overbearing mind has dug its claws deep within me. I struggle to sleep every night. Hell, I'm tired of acting like I'm alright, yet I aspire to see the sunrise.”
― James B. Agape, Pent Up Thoughts

“Peculiar Pleasure of Struggling Without a Crutch

There is, I have discovered, a peculiar dignity in suffering untainted. One might even call it artisanal anguish—pain in its purest, unadulterated form, free from the chemical counterfeits and fleeting frivolities of the numbed and narcotized. To struggle without addiction is to sip despair neat—no chaser, no chill, no comforting cocktail of escape. It is, in a word, exquisite.

And yet, the world frowns upon this flavor of masochism. It whispers seductively of shortcuts: the cigarette for the soul, the glass of good cheer, the endless scroll of digital dopamine. “Go on,” it purrs, “you deserve a little relief.” Ah, but therein lies the trap—the treacherous transition from tranquilization to torment. The reprieve is brief; the reckoning, ruinous.

The addict’s cycle is a cruel carousel: a dizzying dance of relief and remorse. The initial sip, puff, click, or swipe feels like a lover’s kiss—warm, understanding, indulgent. But oh, the aftermath! The betrayal! The comedown’s claws sink deep, dragging one’s mood from fleeting euphoria to existential audit. The high, once heavenly, morphs into a hellish hangover of regret and self-recrimination.

How much simpler, then, to stay in the storm—to weather the wind rather than chase the calm! The sober struggler suffers steadily, stoically, and without the added insult of having engineered their own undoing. Misery, when left unmedicated, becomes oddly manageable; predictable, even companionable. One learns its moods, its manners, its mild sadism. It becomes, in time, a houseguest rather than a hostage-taker.

There is, I concede, no glamour in this path. The unaddicted struggler has no anecdotes of wild binges, no tales of tragic relapse to regale their therapist. But they do have something rarer: consistency. Their lows are low, yes—but they are honestly low, organically cultivated through the diligent discipline of despair.

Perhaps this is why the cleanly struggling soul so often radiates an irritating calm. They have, by refusing the refuge of vice, discovered the paradoxical pleasure of prolonged discomfort. Their pain is honest, their fatigue authentic, their mornings clear. They are like monks in a monastery of modern malaise—chanting softly in the echoing halls of their own endurance.

So yes, dear reader, struggle. Struggle nobly, nakedly, needlessly. Let your suffering be sincere, your agony artisanal. Eschew the easy ecstasies of intoxication, and you may find, to your astonishment, that misery—when faced without filter—has its own subtle, stubborn sweetness.

After all, sobriety may not soothe you. But at least it won’t lie.”
― Franklin Human

“. . . and in this nauseating lightheadedness things gradually recede from you just as you too begin to gradually recede from them, in a word it is like when a person lugging a load becomes exhausted by all this lugging and suddenly looking down at his hands sees that there is nothing in them, there never was, that he had been lugging nothing--that is, when you suddenly realize that something is no longer in your possession, just as nothing ever had been.”
― László Krasznahorkai, The World Goes On