None of us expected to be where we are right now. The spring is usually a time of renewal — we start to shed our winter layers and emerge from the long, cold grips of winter. The snow melts, the buds begin to bloom, animals awaken, and we step outside into the warm embrace of spring.
This year things feel drastically different. Meeting with friends in the park or grabbing post-work patio drinks has been replaced with virtual “hang outs” on video chats. Many companies have had to lay off their employees or put their jobs “on hold” until further notice. Big events have been postponed or canceled. Everyone’s daily life has been disrupted.
However, the challenges and uncertainty of the current situation has brought forth some unity — an understanding that all of these changes and sacrifices are being made to keep each other safe. They are being made to save lives. People have encountered hardships before: People faced war, disease, poverty, natural disasters and a multitude of other obstacles. During these times, people made sacrifices. They made changes and they relied on one another to prevail. It’s times like these when we need each other the most. We have to trust other people to make the right choices and to prioritize the health and safety of those around them.
We’ve compiled a list of quotes about hope, overcoming adversity, and supporting one another through times of peril that we hope will inspire you and remind you that we, too, will overcome this crisis.
1. “Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.” — Helen Keller
2. “Resilience is accepting your new reality, even if it’s less good than the one you had before. You can fight it, you can do nothing but scream about what you’ve lost, or you can accept that and try to put together something that’s good.” — Elizabeth Edwards
3. “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.”– Dr. Seuss
4. “Strength does not come from winning. Your struggles develop your strengths. When you go through hardships and decide not to surrender, that is strength.” — Arnold Schwarzenegger
5. “A little consideration, a little thought for others, makes all the difference.” – Eeyore in ‘Winnie the Pooh’ by A.A. Milne
6. “You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” — Marcus Aurelius
7. “As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands: one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.”
– Audrey Hepburn
8. “We are only as strong as we are united, as weak as we are divided.” - Albus Dumbledore in ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’ by J.K Rowling
9. “There is a saying in Tibetan, ‘Tragedy should be utilized as a source of strength.’ No matter what sort of difficulties, how painful experience is, if we lose our hope, that’s our real disaster.” — 14th Dalai Lama
10. “You never know how strong you are until being strong is your only choice.” — Bob Marley
11. “A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles.” — Christopher Reeve
12. “Worry does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow. It empties today of its strength.” — Corrie ten Boom
13. “You may not always have a comfortable life and you will not always be able to solve all of the world’s problems at once, but don’t ever underestimate the importance you can have because history has shown us that courage can be contagious and hope can take on a life of its own.” — Michelle Obama
14. “Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.” – Albus Dumbledore in ‘Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban’ by J.K Rowling
