Elizabeth Gilbert Quotes

My parents believe in the principle of ‘sink or swim,’ or ‘what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger ― or it kills you.” From “The Education of Robert Nifkin

I'm here because they've killed almost all of us, but not all of us. And that's their mistake, son. That's the flaw in their plan. Because if you don't kill all of us at once, whoever's left are not going to be the weak ones. The strong ones- and only the strong ones- will survive. The bent but unbroken, if you know what I mean. People like me. And people like you.

I've always believed in survival.

Survival is the main objective. There are going to be some awful days, I know that from my background in the sport.

Our predecessors overcame many troubles and much suffering, but each time got back up stronger than before.

People say, That which doesn't kill you makes you stronger. But they are wrong. What doesn't kill you doesn't kill you. That's all you get. Sometimes, you just have to hope that's enough.

No matter where you go, poor people have the capacity to endure. Some people even compliment us on it, as if endurance is all we can achieve.

Surviving, that's my plan.

What is the victory of a cat on a hot tin roof? - I wish I knew... Just staying on it, I guess, as long as she can.

While we sometimes feel and have felt in days that are past and gone, to complain because we meet with oppression, persecution, and affliction, yet I wish to say to my brethren and sisters that these things are the heritage of the Saints of God. … I have never read of the people of God in any dispensation passing through life, as the sectarian world would say, on flowery beds of ease, without opposition of any kind.

Because I've been doing my practice for so long, I knew what to do even under really hard circumstances.

I've been screwed and sued and tattooed, and I'm still standin' here in front of you.

The story of survival is a nice metaphor for our experience making this movie, finding your inner strength and powering through and getting to the endpoint alive.

In the absence of hope we must still struggle to survive, and so we do-by the skin of our teeth.

The strongest oak of the forest is not the one that is protected from the storm and hidden from the sun. It’s the one that stands in the open where it is compelled to struggle for its existence against the winds and rains and the scorching sun.

Adversity can strengthen us if it does not go on too long.

What doesn't kill us sharpens us. Hardens us. Schools us. You're beating plowshares into swords, Vosch. You are remaking us. We are the clay, and you are Michelangelo. And we will be your masterpiece.

Life itself is short, but lasts longer than misfortunes.

Survival is the key word to remember—not victory, not conquest, just survival.

Life asks not merely what you can do; it asks how much can you endure and not be spoiled.

Through these adversities, Israel has endured with continued strength, conviction, and faith.

In my early days in school, I had no shoes, no school bags. There were days I had only one meal... I walked miles and crossed rivers to school every day. Didn't have power, didn't have generators, studied with lanterns, but I never despaired.

Poverty is uncomfortable; but nine times out of ten the best thing that can happen to a young man is to be tossed overboard and compelled to sink or swim.

If you're actually talking to someone who's been through a disastrous number of years, that only means one thing: They survived it.

I hope that I'm always struggling, really. You develop when you're struggling. When you're struggling, you get stronger.