Samuel Smiles Quotes

There is no doubt that life is given us, not to be enjoyed, but to be overcome; to be got over.

The work of many of the greatest men, inspired by duty, has been done amidst suffering and trial and difficulty. They have struggled against the tide, and reached the shore exhausted.

Difficulties should act as a tonic. They should spur us to greater exertion.

Difficulty, my brethren, is the nurse of greatness - a harsh nurse, who roughly rocks her foster - children into strength and athletic proportion.

Man needs his difficulties because they are necessary to enjoy success.

I look for struggle in the roles I choose - struggle and perseverance.

Nothing's ever easy as long as you go on living.

Where there is no struggle, there is no strength.

Difficulty, my brethren, is the nurse of greatness.

To the stars through thorns.

You cannot understand a man’s work by what he has accomplished but by what he has overcome in accomplishing it.

I feel like, sometimes, when things are just handed to people, in a way, right away, you don't get a sense of what the rejection and the struggle is like that comes along with life.

The greatness comes not when things go always good for you. But the greatness comes when you're really tested, when you take some knocks, some disappointments, when sadness comes. Because only if you've been in the deepest valley can you ever know how magnificent it is to be on the highest mountain.

Everything's been a struggle for me.

I've learned at the book signings that everyone has obstacles.

I've gone through many, many things. I tell you something, that if it doesn't kill you, you get stronger.

It's okay to lose. Losing teaches you something. Having to try and going through the trials and tribulations to actually overcome, to get there to win, to triumph, that's what makes life interesting.

Discomfort is very much part of my master plan.

I like struggle.

Everything that I've ever been able to accomplish in skating and in life has come out of adversity and perseverance.

Constant success shows us but one side of the world; adversity brings out the reverse of the picture.

There is no success without hardship.

I've been through a lot of struggles.

If there's no fire, there's no scream. If there's no scream, then no one hears you and no one comes to help you in the first place. The depth of my struggle has definitely determined the height of my success. To be able to teach my kids not just about success but about the struggle that comes with it.

Hard times always lead to something great.