“
This is an important lesson to remember when you're having a bad day, a bad month, or a shitty year. Things will change: you won't feel this way forever. And anyway, sometimes the hardest lessons to learn are the ones your soul needs most. I believe you can't feel real joy unless you've felt heartache. You can't have a sense of victory unless you know what it means to fail. You can't know what it's like to feel holy until you know what it's like to feel really fucking evil. And you can't be birthed again until you've died.
”
”
Kelly Cutrone (If You Have to Cry, Go Outside: And Other Things Your Mother Never Told You)
“
You can’t save anyone who wouldn’t save themselves without you. It’s the
hardest lesson to learn in life, take it from me.
”
”
Marc Jampole
“
You can’t save anyone who wouldn’t save themselves without you. It’s the hardest lesson to learn in life, take it from me.
- p. 47, The Brothers Silver
”
”
Marc Jampole (The Brothers Silver)
“
One of the hardest and truest things a grown-up learns is that sometimes it's not okay.
”
”
Christopher Buehlman
“
One of the hardest lessons in young Sam's life had been finding out that the people in charge weren't in charge. It had been finding out that governments were not, on the whole, staffed by people who had a grip, and that plans were what people made instead of thinking.
”
”
Terry Pratchett (Night Watch (Discworld, #29; City Watch, #6))
“
But I was going to learn the hardest lesson in life: that those who
are closest to you, always betray you first.
”
”
Susan Speranza (Tale of Lucia Grandi)
“
One of the hardest lessons in life is letting go.Whether it's guilt,anger,love,loss or betrayal.Change is never easy.We fight to hold on and we fight to let go.If you've been hurt until it breaks your soul into pieces,your perspective in life will definitely change, and no one and nothing in this world could ever hurt you again.
”
”
Mareez Reyes
“
A mother's hardest to forgive.
Life is the fruit she longs to hand you
Ripe on a plate. And while you live,
Relentlessly she understands you.
”
”
Phyllis McGinley
“
The happiest people are the one who have mastered life's hardest lesson. They've learned how to let go,
”
”
Romina Russell (Black Moon (Zodiac, #3))
“
You really can't go through life wanting to be liked. It's the hardest lesson to learn. Once you say, "Fuck it, I don't care," once you've got that attitude, then it's easy to relax, to talk, laugh, cry, whatever.
”
”
Jimmy McDonough (The Ghastly One: The Sex-Gore Netherworld of Filmmaker Andy Milligan)
“
The hardest lesson in life is learning to accept that there are some things we can’t change.
”
”
Christopher Paolini (To Sleep in a Sea of Stars: Epic space opera from the author of Eragon)
“
The simplest things are the hardest to understand.
”
”
Kevin Wilson (The Family Fang)
“
The hardest thing is being with other people - it's like they're on a different wavelenght, but only you know it. They talk about their lives and what's wrong with them, and you kind of, like, just let them go. It's a whole different language, and you've got to remember that you can only respond in their mother tongue. It's really hard to relate.
”
”
J.R. Ward (Lover at Last (Black Dagger Brotherhood, #11))
“
The hardest mistakes to learn from are those that lack consequence.
”
”
Jasper Sole
“
It's not easy. It's not supposed to be easy. Most people make mistakes. Most people have to learn the hardest lessons more than once.
”
”
Po Bronson (What Should I Do with My Life?: The True Story of People Who Answered the Ultimate Question)
“
Life's most obvious truths are the hardest to see but once you've burned everything to the ground they are the only things left standing.
André Chevalier
”
”
Nikki Sex (Elizabeth's Bondage Boxed Set (Elizabeth’s Sex Stories, #1-5))
“
No tie is as strong as family, making it the hardest one to break.
”
”
David Crow (The Pale-Faced Lie)
“
It's the hardest thing in the world to put yourself in someone else's place, try to really feel what they feel, figure out why they do the things they do. Especially when it's easier to stick a label on something. Or someone.
”
”
David Baldacci (Reader's Digest Select Editions, Volume 319, 2012 #1: One Summer / Cast Into Doubt / Casting About / The Lion)
“
Out there, life doesn't give you extensions. Even during the hardest times. So let this be a valuable lesson for you. You'll thank me later.
”
”
Dustin Thao (You've Reached Sam (You've Reached Sam, #1))
“
The hardest lesson in life is learning to accept that there are some things we can't change." Falcone paused, his eyes hard and glittering.
[...]
Then he unbuttoned the cuffs on his shirt and rolled back his sleeves to expose the melted surface of his forearms. He held them up for Kira to see.
"Why do you think I keep these scars?"
"Because you feel guilty over ..."
"No," Falcone said harshly.
Then, in a gentler tone, "No. I keep them to remind me of what I can survive. Of what I have survived. If I'm having a rough time, I look at my arms and then I know I'll get through whatever problem I'm dealing with. Life's not gonna break me. It can't break me. It might kill me, but nothing it throws at me is gonna make me give up.
”
”
Christopher Paolini (To Sleep in a Sea of Stars (Fractalverse, #1))
“
The hardest thing in life is a man to be honest with himself
”
”
Bangambiki Habyarimana (The Great Pearl of Wisdom)
“
My best advice is this - by the time you meet your Maker, and may it be a long, long time from now, I hope you can close your eyes on a life where you did your damn best and tried your damn hardest. It's not winning that's really winning. It's never giving up.
”
”
Robyn Carr (Any Day Now (Sullivan's Crossing, #2))
“
I just meant I'd seen things I'd as soon not of.
I know it. There's hard lessons in this world.
What's the hardest?
I don't know . Maybe it's just that when things are gone they're gone. They aint comin back.
”
”
Cormac McCarthy (Cities of the Plain (The Border Trilogy, #3))
“
The hardest lesson in life is learning to accept that there are some things we can’t change.” Falconi paused, his eyes hard and glittering. “Blaming yourself is perfectly normal, but it doesn’t do you any good. Until you stop, unless you can stop, you’ll never be able to fully recover.
”
”
Christopher Paolini (To Sleep in a Sea of Stars)
“
Hemingway never said any of this.
It's all AI-generated bullshit.
The hardest lesson I’ve had to learn as an adult is the relentless need to keep going, no matter how shattered I feel inside."
This truth is both raw and universal. Life doesn’t pause when our hearts are heavy, our minds are fractured, or our spirits feel like they’re unraveling. It keeps moving—unrelenting, unapologetic—demanding that we move with it. There’s no time to stop, no pause for repair, no moment of stillness where we can gently piece ourselves back together. The world doesn’t wait, even when we need it to.
What makes this even harder is that no one really prepares us for it. As children, we grow up on a steady diet of stories filled with happy endings, tales of redemption and triumph where everything always falls into place. But adulthood strips away those comforting narratives. Instead, it reveals a harsh truth: survival isn’t glamorous or inspiring most of the time. It’s wearing a mask of strength when you’re falling apart inside. It’s showing up when all you want is to retreat. It’s choosing to move forward, step by painful step, when your heart begs for rest.
And yet, we endure. That’s the miracle of being human—we endure. Somewhere in the depths of our pain, we find reserves of strength we didn’t know we possessed. We learn to hold space for ourselves, to be the comfort we crave, to whisper words of hope when no one else does. Over time, we realize that resilience isn’t loud or grandiose; it’s a quiet defiance, a refusal to let life’s weight crush us entirely.
Yes, it’s messy. Yes, it’s exhausting. And yes, there are days when it feels almost impossible to take another step. But even then, we move forward. Each tiny step is proof of our resilience, a reminder that even in our darkest moments, we’re still fighting, still refusing to give up. That fight—that courage—is the quiet miracle of survival.
”
”
Ernest Hemingway
“
Nature is not cruel, only pitilessly indifferent. This is one of the hardest lessons for humans to learn. We cannot admit that things might be neither good nor evil, neither cruel nor kind, but simply callous—indifferent to all suffering, lacking all purpose.
”
”
Richard Dawkins (River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life)
“
I knew even then that she was right. An en is a karmic bond lasting a lifetime. Nowadays many people seem to believe their lives are entirely a matter of choice; but in my day we viewed ourselves as pieces of clay that forever show the fingerprints of everyone who has touched them. Nobu's touch had made a deeper impression on me than most. No one could tell me whether he would be my ultimate destiny, but I had always sensed the en between us. Somewhere in the landscape of my life Nobu would always be present. But could it really be that of all the lessons I'd learned, the hardest one lay just ahead of me? Would I really have to take each of my hopes and put them away where no one would ever see them again, where not even I would ever see them?
”
”
Arthur Golden (Memoirs of a Geisha)
“
And out there, life doesn't give you extensions. Even during the hardest times. So let this be a valuable lesson for you.
”
”
Dustin Thao (You've Reached Sam (You've Reached Sam, #1))
“
Hardship is the hardest moment to soften the soul.
”
”
Lailah Gifty Akita
“
She told me that you get to have only one true love, and once you've found it, whether you kept it or lost it, you'd never recover...Accepting that was the hardest part.
”
”
Pamela Anderson (Love, Pamela)
“
No tie is as strong as family, making it the hardest one to break.
”
”
David Crow
“
Only if you work as hard as you can, and more, Chinnaya. Only if you work your hardest.
”
”
Bana (The Boy who would be King: *Marudhunayagam*)
“
know in your heart when its time to either hold on or let go. One of the hardest lessons in life is letting go.
”
”
Charles Elwood Hudson
“
For first-time vagabonders, this can be one of the hardest travel lessons to grasp, since it will seem that there are so many amazing sights and experiences to squeeze in. You must keep in mind, however, that the whole point of long-term travel is having the time to move deliberately through the world. Vagabonding is about not merely reallotting a portion of your life for travel but rediscovering the entire concept of time. At home, you’re conditioned to get to the point and get things done, to favor goals and efficiency over moment-by-moment distinction. On the road, you learn to improvise your days, take a second look at everything you see, and not obsess over your schedule.
”
”
Rolf Potts (Vagabonding: An Uncommon Guide to the Art of Long-Term World Travel)
“
This is one of the hardest lessons this world will present you with. The knowledge that you have taken a life is terrible. But the knowledge that you haven’t saved a life because you haven’t lived up to your responsibilities can destroy even the most battle-hardened warrior. So decide wisely, which action you think is best to take when you are in a conflict situation’.
”
”
Torsten Weitze (The Naming (The 13th Paladin #2))
“
Bullshit. The truth is you don’t want to. It makes you feel good to blame yourself. You know why?” Kira shook her head, mute. “Because it gives you a sense of control. The hardest lesson in life is learning to accept that there are some things we can’t change.” Falconi paused, his eyes hard and glittering. “Blaming yourself is perfectly normal, but it doesn’t do you any good. Until you stop, unless you can stop, you’ll never be able to fully recover.
”
”
Christopher Paolini (To Sleep in a Sea of Stars)
“
The hardest lesson you will ever learn will be to love yourself. But you can do it. There will always be days when you hate yourself, days when you wish you had never been born. But darling, you are beautiful, and if Shakespeare had met you, you would've inspired his 18th sonnet, and if Monet had known you, he would've given up painting water lilies and chosen to paint you instead. I know it’s hard to love yourself, but sometimes it’s okay to be a little selfish with your love..
When you begin to feel worthless, remember that the stars died for you. You are made of elements that are thousands of years old, elements that make up every atom of your being. When you want to cut your wrists, remember that the souls of stars live in your veins. Don’t kill them.
Live for the life you always wanted but were too scared to pursue.
Live for you. Live for me. Live for every person who has ever loved you, for the people who have come before you, so that you may be here today.
Live for the fire that burns in your soul, that tells you: keep going, you’re almost there, just a little farther. Because when Rome burned down the emperor didn't run away, he stayed and he sang for his people. Stay. Sing for your people. Sing for us.
”
”
M.K. excerpt from "The Twelve-Step Program for Life"
“
One of the hardest lessons I had to learn was that I was going to need a lot of help, and for a long time. (Even this morning.) What saved me was that I found gentle, loyal and hilarious companions, which is at the heart of meaning: maybe we don’t find a lot of answers to life’s tougher questions, but if we find a few true friends, that’s even better.
”
”
Anne Lamott (Stitches: A Handbook on Meaning, Hope and Repair)
“
The hardest lesson are the ones that from ourselves we don’t learn.
The everlasting ones are those we are not able to forget.
”
”
Lamine Pearlheart
“
Why? It is the easiest question to ask and the hardest question to answer.
”
”
J.R. Rim
“
Some of the hardest lessons
of life are being taught to you
when there’s the fear of losing
and the hope of winning
deep within you
- The waves of life
”
”
Jyoti Patel (ANAMIKA: BEYOND WORDS)
“
One of the hardest lessons I have learned from my messy life is that God sees trials differently than we do.
”
”
Carole Leathem
“
Time cannot erase the sadnesses of life, but it can help us to learn from them the hardest lesson of all: that even one’s mistakes are enriching.
”
”
Robert Goddard (Past Caring)
“
The easiest thing to do is let go, the hardest is forgetting, That's why they're called memories. Life's Lessons
”
”
B. Easley
“
My teacher told me something once,” I heard myself say in a quiet voice. “That the hardest lesson in life is learning when to do nothing. To learn to let go.
”
”
Jim Butcher (Proven Guilty (The Dresden Files, #8))
“
We often forget that we are as we are until we're not. We are the same until we're changed. We can move that a bit further by putting into place healthy habits and to show up to our lives in a way that fosters growth, but we can't game timing.
Timing is the one thing that we often forget to surrender to.
Things are dark until they're not. Most of our unhappiness stems from the belief that our lives should be different than they are. We believe we have control -- and our self-loathing and self-hatred comes from this idea that we should be able to change our circumstances, that we should be richer or hotter or better or happier. While self-responsibility is empowering, it can often lead to this resentment and bitterness that none of us need to be holding within us. We have to put in our best efforts and then give ourselves permission to let whatever happens to happen--and to not feel so directly and vulnerably tied to outcomes. Opportunities often don't show up in the way we think they will.
You don't need more motivation or inspiration to create the life you want. You need less shame around the idea that you're not doing your best. You need to stop listening to people who are in vastly different life circumstances and life stages than you tell you that you're just not doing or being enough. You need to let timing do what it needs to do. You need to see lessons where you see barriers. You need to understand that what's right now becomes inspiration later. You need to see that wherever you are now is what becomes your identity later.
Sometimes we're not yet the people we need to be in order to contain the desires we have. Sometimes we have to let ourselves evolve into the place where we can allow what we want to transpire.
”
”
Jamie Varon
“
When I agreed to give this address, I started trying to think what the best advice I'd been given over the years was.
And it came from Stephen King twenty years ago, at the height of the success of Sandman. I was writing a comic that people loved and were taking seriously. King had like Sandman and my novel with Terry Pratchett, Good Omens, and he saw a madness, the long signing lines, all that, and his advice was this:
"This is really great. You should enjoy it."
And I didn't. Best advice I got that I ignored. Instead I worried about it. I worried about the next deadline, the next idea, the next story. There wasn't a moment for the next fourteen or fifteen years that I wasn't writing something in my head, or wondering about it. And I didn't stop and look around and go, This is really fun. I wish I'd enjoyed it more. It's been an amazing ride. But there were parts of the ride I missed, because I was too worried about things going wrong, about what came next, to enjoy the bit I was on.
That was the hardest lesson for me, I think: to let go and enjoy the ride, because the ride takes you to some remarkable and unexpected places.
”
”
Neil Gaiman (The View from the Cheap Seats: Selected Nonfiction)
“
Anger is a secondary emotion, a defense, armor we put up around the primary feeling underneath. We burn through anger so we can get to what’s underneath: fear or grief. Only then can we begin the hardest work of all. Forgiving ourselves.
”
”
Edith Eger (The Gift: 14 Lessons to Save Your Life)
“
One of the hardest lessons of young Sam’s life had been finding out that the people in charge weren’t in charge. It had been finding out that governments were not, on the whole, staffed by people who had a grip, and that plans were what people made instead of thinking.
”
”
Terry Pratchett (Night Watch (Discworld, #29))
“
Feminist narrative theory notes that for most of literary history there's been an imbalance between men's and women's stories. Male characters go out into a world of infinite possibilities. Female characters either get married or die. This makes enlightened female readers such as ourselves pissed off. But however much we deconstruct the narrative, however vigilantly we plow and apply the theory and read with our skeptical, over-educated eyes, still some lessons are hard to fully internalize, and the dream of happily-ever-after love, in real life and in literature, dies hardest of all.
”
”
Laurie Frankel (The Atlas of Love)
“
I told him that to endure oneself may be the hardest task in the universe. You cannot hire a wise man or any other intellect to solve it for you. There's no writ of inquest or calling of witness to provide answers. No servant or disciple can dress the wound. You dress it yourself or continue bleeding for all to see.
”
”
Frank Herbert (Dune Messiah (Dune #2))
“
Every single parent is doing the best he or she can. Never judge an angry parent who screams at their child, or judge any parent for any behavior. You don’t know them, you don’t know their story, you don’t know about their silent struggles or childhood traumas, you don’t know
how hard it is for them, you don’t know anything about anyone. you don’t know what you would do if you were in their shoes. Viktor Frankl said, “No man should judge unless he asks himself in absolute honesty whether, in a similar situation, he might not have done the same.” We all do the best we can. It is hands down the hardest never-ending but fulfilling job
on this planet. It isn’t easy to create, shape, and raise another human being when most of us aren’t raised, shaped, or grown up. So, one of the biggest lessons I also learned is to stay in my lane, don’t judge any parent, to never say never, and be compassionate toward myself and others. Of course, if you see a parent spanking a child, you have to stop them, if you know a child is in an unsafe environment, you have to change it and help any child in need, but try as hard as you can not to judge them and just let
go of your thoughts when they arise. At the end of the day, we all do the best we can with the tools we have.
”
”
Ani Rich (A Missing Drop: Free Your Mind From Conditioning And Reconnect To Your Truest Self)
“
The truth is you don’t want to. It makes you feel good to blame yourself. You know why?” Kira shook her head, mute. “Because it gives you a sense of control. The hardest lesson in life is learning to accept that there are some things we can’t change.” Falconi paused, his eyes hard and glittering. “Blaming yourself is perfectly normal, but it doesn’t do you any good. Until you stop, unless you can stop, you’ll never be able to fully recover.
”
”
Christopher Paolini (To Sleep in a Sea of Stars)
“
One of the hardest lessons to learn in academic life—and for me one of the most disconcerting—is the speed with which a radical insurgency can become orthodoxy. In just a few years a generation of students championing a dangerous new idea are elevated by an initial success into professorships. From these positions of influence they form a powerful network of academic power brokers, which they use to ensure the continuation of the revolution.
”
”
Lee Smolin (Einstein's Unfinished Revolution: The Search for What Lies Beyond the Quantum)
“
Because I'm a Black Woman:
They don't see me;
They don't believe me;
They don't give me a fair trial;
They don't give me a fair pay.
Because I'm a Black Woman:
They ridicule my appearance;
They don't protect my existence;
They hate my assertiveness;
They disobey my leadership.
Because I'm a Black Woman:
I bear the hardest experiences;
I receive the most harmful lessons;
I hear the harshest words;
I wake up immersed in swords, to survive,
and only to repeat the same for a lifetime.
”
”
Mitta Xinindlu
“
Know that by the very nature of your earth-time existence you are learning lessons daily. Life is how you perceive it. Live each day on the tiptoes of excitement. And know that everything in the universe is good, even the hardest experiences, and everything is working toward your evolvement. Go with the flow of life, and do not resist your lessons. Give everything away that you receive. You will find that what you receive in return is a greater understanding of your oneness with all. All is one, and one is all. Know this from the knowing level.
”
”
Rosalind McKnight (Cosmic Journeys: My Out-of-Body Explorations With Robert A. Monroe)
“
In the end, they're the only ones who can answer for themselves. So stop blaming yourself."
"I can't seem to help it."
"Bullshit. The truth is you don't WANT to. It makes you feel good to blame yourself. You know why?" Kira shook her head, mute. "Because it gives you a sense of control. The hardest lesson in life is learning to accept that there are some things we can't change." Falconi paused, his eyes hard and glittering. "Blaming yourself is perfectly normal, but it doesn't do you any good. Until you stop, unless you CAN stop, you'll never be able to fully recover.
”
”
Christopher Paolini (To Sleep in a Sea of Stars (Fractalverse, #1))
“
In life, as in chess, learning must be constant - both new things and fresh ways of learning them. The process will invariably involve a certain degree of unlearning, and possessing the readiness to that is utterly important. If your way of doing things isn't working, clinging to your conclusions is only going to hold you back. You have to get to the root of a snag in order to make a breakthrough, because it's possible that what you thought you knew isn't actually the way it is. Unlearning is perhaps the hardest thing to do, but it is a necessity if growth and success are your goals.
”
”
Viswanathan Anand (Mind Master:Winning Lessons from a Champion's Life)
“
The hardest lesson you will ever learn will be to love yourself. But you can do it. There will always be days when you hate yourself, days when you wish you had never been born. But darling, you are beautiful, and if Shakespeare had met you, you would've inspired his 18th sonnet, and if Monet had known you, he would've given up painting water lilies and chosen to paint you instead. I know it’s hard to love yourself, but sometimes it’s okay to be a little selfish with your love..
When you begin to feel worthless, remember that the stars died for you. You are made of elements that are thousands of years old, elements that make up every atom of your being. When you want to cut your wrists, remember that the souls of stars live in your veins. Don’t kill them.
Live for the life you always wanted but were too scared to pursue.
Live for you. Live for me. Live for every person who has ever loved you, for the people who have come before you, so that you may be here today.
Live for the fire that burns in your soul, that tells you: keep going, you’re almost there, just a little farther.
Because when Rome burned down the emperor didn't run away, he stayed and he sang for his people. Stay. Sing for your people. Sing for us.
”
”
M.K.
“
If I’m ever tempted to let it get to my head, all I have to do is remember the first time I was recognized in public. I was with Jennie Garth, back in Season 3. She was way more famous than me (Derek Who?) and she was asked to the Eiffel Tower ceremony at the Paris Las Vegas hotel. They shut off half the strip and there were thousands of people outside the hotel lined up to see it. I was onstage supporting her, when I was suddenly hit with a wave of nausea. I knew instantly I had food poisoning from something I’d eaten earlier in the day. I knew if I didn’t get off the stage at that moment, I was going to throw up--and that would be the story on the evening news, not Jennie’s lighting!
I jumped off the stage and just wanted to get back to my room where I could vomit in peace. As I was racing through the hotel lobby, a few people stopped me. “Aren’t you Derek Hough from Dancing with the Stars?” I was trying to be polite, but I just kept eyeing garbage cans in case I couldn’t hold it in any longer.
“Yeah, thanks,” I said. I signed a few autographs and tried to push my way to the elevators.
“Wait! Derek! Can I get you to sign this?” More people started coming at me. I swear, I had to hold my breath so I wouldn’t hurl! When I finally got upstairs, I threw up thirty-two times. I was deathly ill. But somewhere, in that haze of hellish food poisoning, it hit me: This is pretty cool! People know who I am! But I’ve tried my hardest not to let that change me. I’m kind of a free spirit; what you see is what you get. Inside is still that crazy little boy who liked to bounce off his living room walls.
”
”
Derek Hough (Taking the Lead: Lessons from a Life in Motion)
“
One of the hardest lessons we all have to learn is how few choices life gives to a civilized woman with any conscience at all.
”
”
Sean Stewart (Galveston)
“
Thinking it’ll be tough, one forwent the test;
while other took it but studied hardest.
Thinking it might rain, one canceled his trip;
while other pushed through, with raincoat equipped.
Thoughts of hindrance make you not negative,
it’s in the kind of reaction you’ll give.
If the negative’s way is just to quit,
the positive’s style is find ways round it.
”
”
Rodolfo Martin Vitangcol, The Pink Poetry
“
Books bear the dreary whisper of an author's memory, a phantom of dreams and mares woven from lessons. Read and explore a life beyond your own, one where forgotten names triumph and fall, and where love and hate crumble the hardest hearts. There is power in words. It can alter the living, immortalize the dead, and forge Gods.
”
”
H.S. Crow
“
Life's hardest teachings yield the most beautiful lessons.
”
”
Lynda Cheldelin Fell
“
Very rarely do we find a man or woman who is following closely the footsteps of the Master in meekness and in humility. I believe that it is the hardest lesson which Jesus Christ had to teach His disciples while He was here upon earth. It
”
”
Dwight L. Moody (The Overcoming Life and Other Sermons)
“
The lesson of acceptance is one of the hardest to learn. I've been working on it for quite a spell, and cannot yet rate myself as A or even B. To accept changes, slow or sudden, to accept the inevitable alterations in one's life, even in one's way of living or thinking, isn't easy; and to accept other people's inviolable right to opinions other than your own is hard, too.
To accept God's will, even if you do not understand it—and few of us do—is the most difficult, yet rewarding of all acceptances. Those of us who say the Lord's Prayer—formally at religious gatherings, aloud in a quiet room, or mentally to ourselves—rarely stop to think about each word and sentence or ponder on its strong core of inner meaning. To me the four words, Thy Will be done, are the most important; and they are valid in every creed.
Blind faith is something we've heard about as long as we remember. I do not think this is the ultimate in belief. Unless his small personal world has been shattered, the faith of a child in his parents and in his total security is blind until he begins to think for himself, at which point reason gives blind faith its sight. An adult's faith must be logical and based upon an immutable foundation, which gives him the capacity, when for him the world is shattered, to go a step beyond the bewildered child and accept loss or alteration.
”
”
Faith Baldwin (Testament of Trust)
“
30. Storms Make You Stronger
A lot of the advice in this book is about how to cope when things don’t go well.
You see, life is unpredictable, and as sure as eggs is eggs, it won’t always swing your way. But when those storms come I have a clear and simple mantra:
The time to shine is when it is darkest.
In other words: when it is all going wrong, step up to the plate, give it your all, heave hardest on that rope, and show that you are bigger than the obstacle.
Nature has a way of rewarding that sort of attitude.
Sometimes life tests us a little. Things we had banked on coming in just don’t work out. People let you down, one disaster follows another. You know the phrase: it never rains but it pours.
When those times come we have a choice: do we cower and get beaten or do we stand tall and face it?
I liken it to the school bully. When you stand up to them, they often stand down. They are testing you to see what you are made of. Man or mouse?
So use those tough times as an opportunity to show the world and yourself what you are made of. Regardless of how you feel, how you see yourself, I have learnt one key lesson from mountains and the wild: that underneath it all, we humans are made strong.
We all behave and act a little differently, depending on how we have been brought up and what has been thrown at us in our lives - but the underlying truth is that the real core of each of us is strong.
I have seen incredible heroics from unlikely people on mountains. But it took exceptional circumstances for that bravery to emerge.
You see, we are all a bit like grapes: when you squeeze us, you see what we are made of. And I believe that most people are far stronger than they ever imagine. It is refined within us from thousands of years of having to survive as a species.
It might be dusty and hidden away, but it is there somewhere inside you: the heart of a survivor. Courage. Tenacity. Strength.
So don’t shy away from hard times, they are your chance to shine.
Write this on your bathroom mirror:
Struggle develops strength and storms make you stronger.
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Bear Grylls (A Survival Guide for Life: How to Achieve Your Goals, Thrive in Adversity, and Grow in Character)
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60. Don’t Dwell On Mistakes
Mistakes are for learning from, not dwelling on. If you muck something up, spend a few minutes working out why, learn the lesson, then move swiftly on.
Dwelling on mistakes, endlessly replaying scenes in your head, only makes them grow.
So the next time you find yourself lying in bed at night, cursing your stupidity or foolishness, it’s worth reminding yourself that, in all probability, the mistake isn’t that big a deal to anyone else. Too often we can be our own hardest critic and worst enemy. Let it go and don’t waste more energy on regrets than you need to.
Look objectively. Learn humbly. Smile positively. Then move on, wiser and smarter than before.
There’s a very good reason why you made a mistake: you’re human! We all make them from time to time. Which is why we should also be understanding and forgiving when someone else makes one.
Ever heard the phrase ‘When you’re in a hole, stop digging’? It’s the same with mistakes. Don’t give the mistake more power than it warrants by squandering precious time worrying about it.
Yesterday is not ours to recover, but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.
Oh, and if you want to be really smart, then learn from the mistakes that other people make, so as to avoid the pain yourself. (A newspaper is a good place to start, and it is one of the few benefits of reading them!)
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Bear Grylls (A Survival Guide for Life: How to Achieve Your Goals, Thrive in Adversity, and Grow in Character)
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No, not every Ross is going to find their Rachel, and not every Ron will snog their Hermione. But the happiest of times can come from making the hardest decisions. Trust your friend to be gentle if they don't feel the same way and understand that, in reality, friendships change all the time. It's futile ignoring your feelings to maintain something that will likely change anyway, regardless of what you do.
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Stylist Magazine (Life Lessons On Friendship: A collection of funny and inspiring essays on the power of friendship)
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My choice helped me realize that sometimes the hardest decisions a person can make will likely lead to the best outcomes.
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Colleen Hoover
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All oblivious to my dreams, and to my state of struggle:
some would greet me, smiling at me.
But some laughed the hardest, laughing at me.
Some would express pity,
while some expressed sympathy.
Some would pretend that I wasn't even there.
And those who ignored me equalled my presence to that of the debris.
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Mitta Xinindlu
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Whwn you're having a hard time, it's natural to feel like you're having the hardest time in the world. And it's not selfish to feel that way. Just because certain conditions in your life are relatively better, it doesn't mean you're better off in general.
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Baek Se-hee (I Want to Die But I Want to Eat Tteokpokki)
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When you become acquainted with love you develop the feeling of hatred simultaneously. It's human nature to hate everything that comes in the way as a hurdle. I have made my life complicated once I learned to hate. It's the heaviest therefore hardest to let go!
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Sehar Kamran
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This stage of life is designed to help us learn how to love ourselves. But if you don’t learn the lessons of the first ashram of love, then you won’t know how lovable you are and what you have to offer. This is an everyday practice of preparing ourselves to be in a relationship while staying true to who we are. It is one of the hardest rules in this book, and the most important.
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Jay Shetty (8 Rules of Love: How to Find It, Keep It, and Let It Go)
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Surprising choice proves hardest to come by. Most choices, even the disastrous ones, are predictable.
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Carrie Snyder (Girl Runner)
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The hardest part is always the beginning, when you feel uncomfortable. Know that this is normal, and all you need to do is go against your emotions.
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Jamie Cooper (Albert Einstein: Extraordinary Life Lessons That Will Change Your Life Forever (Inspirational Books))
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The hardest part is always the beginning, when you feel uncomfortable. Know that this is normal, and all you need to do is go against your emotions. There is nothing worse than doing the same thing again and again and expecting a different result. You will be wasting a ton of energy and happiness. Instead, face your fears, be uncomfortable, and experiment with different strategies until you find something that works.
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Jamie Cooper (Albert Einstein: Extraordinary Life Lessons That Will Change Your Life Forever (Inspirational Books))
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Life’s hardest experiences were in fact nothing more than tough lessons, the meaning never revealed until you got to the other side.
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Andrew E. Kaufman (Darkness & Shadows)
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If you think of the hardest thing for you to do and how much you resist it, then you’re looking at your greatest lesson at the moment. Surrendering,
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Louise L. Hay (You Can Heal Your Life)
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The three hardest tasks in the world are neither physical feats nor intellectual achievements, but moral acts: to return love for hate, to include the excluded, and to say, “I was wrong.” – Sydney J. Harris
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Darlene Schacht (The Virtuous Life of a Christ-Centered Wife: 18 Powerful Lessons for Personal Growth)
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The hardest part of letting go is letting go. Farren believed that she had done all she could do to save their marriage and if it had now come to an end, then she would appreciate the lesson learned and somehow place the pieces of her life back together.
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Nako (The Connect's Wife 2)
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She realized in this dire moment it was another gift of growth life was presenting to her. To step further into her power. To love unconditionally even when it felt the hardest.
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Alexis Jordan Dias
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If you think of the hardest thing for you to do and how much you resist it, then you’re looking at your greatest lesson at the moment. Surrendering, giving up the resistance, and allowing yourself to learn what you need to learn will make the next step even easier. Don’t let your resistance stop you from making the changes. We can work on two levels: 1) Looking at the resistance, and 2) Still making the mental changes. Observe yourself, watch how you resist, and then go ahead anyway.
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Louise L. Hay (You Can Heal Your Life)
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Prayer Works
Lessons from a prayerful Mother
In the darkest hour of the night
During the hardest time of life
When unsure if things will be alright
You should pray!
When your mind lacks peace
And your heart is too broken to beat
When you struggle to stand on your feet
You ought to pray!
When some things do not make sense
And everyone close becomes distant
When your faith is shaken in an instant
You must pray!
When the sun is about to set
And your noontime is filled with tears
When midnight is covered with fear
Wake up and pray!
When on the battlefield
And you seem to have lost your shield
When there is no sign you could win
Look upon the hills and pray!
When the race becomes too long
And you cannot keep going on
When everything seems over
Kneel and pray!
For prayer will:
Put you back together
Set you in a good place forever
Keep you going no matter what
Give you something to smile about
Remove the weight off your shoulders
Relieve you of discomfort
Heal even a gaping wound
Help you follow the right way
Take you through another day
Each and every day
Remember to pray
Because prayer works!
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Gift Gugu Mona (From My Mother's Classroom: A Badge of Honour for a Remarkable Woman)
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Amazing things happen when you realize you have no safety net. That’s the hardest and best lesson I’ve learned so far in my life.
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Lindsay Teague Moreno (Boss Up!: This Ain’t Your Mama’s Business Book)
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It was like peeling an onion. This time through his life he learned about consequences. He learned the results of things he had done; things he had been blind to as he did them; the ways he had hurt the world; the damage he had done to people he had never known, or met, or encountered. It was the hardest lesson yet.
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Neil Gaiman (Fragile Things)
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If I shine in the light of sun then will I be visible after the sunset? One thing I learnt very early... Because life had decided to hit me hardest. I made a conscious choice to face my own darkness and deep dive because below there swam some dots of light..
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Ramesh Sood (Untitled Life’s Random Lessons : A tapestry of anecdotes on life, mindset, leadership, communication and relationships.)
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Oftentimes, the hardest situations to get over with are the situations that will teach you great lessons.
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Krizha Mae G. Abia
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Sometimes the hardest lessons are the ones that change us the most".
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Twitter - @IntroIntrospect
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In leadership, some decisions are hard to make, but that is what leadership is all about. It is about making the hardest decisions and facing the harshest conditions to improve the followers’ living conditions.
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Gift Gugu Mona (The Effective Leadership Prototype for a Modern Day Leader)
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The hard truth that no one ever thinks about is that understanding oneself is one of the hardest things to do in a world where normality is expected. Outside voices always find a way into our heads. Humans are the most malicious beings on this planet, solely on the words we use. It changes and shapes us into someone we don't recognize. Whether at work, at school, or even in our home lives. No matter where you are in this world, someone will always have an opinion on how we direct our lives. Which is why recognizing this as only an opinion is the most important lesson one can learn. Because there will be someone out there that will always try and control someone else's life even as their own is falling into shambles.
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Kalina Ward
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The hardest part of knowing who we are is learning where to look.
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Anthony P. Mauro, Sr
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for this is a lesson to carry with you all your life long. God demands our allegiance above all things. We are to remain steadfast with him, even when things are the hardest, even when we are weakest, even when we are angry, even when we are afraid. These are all forces from beyond the boundaries of Eden. They exist, yes, and they test us. But we can carry the holy garden with us wherever we go, so long as our hearts remain true to God.
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Davis Bunn (Rare Earth (Marc Royce #2))
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When you feel like giving up. Remember that every person gives up when they are 1 second away from their breakthrough and success. They give up when the hardest part is over, and they are about to reach the finish line.
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D.J. Kyos
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The hardest part of letting go is letting go. Farren believed that she had done all she could do to save their marriage and if it had now come to an end, then she would appreciate the lesson learned and somehow place the pieces of her life back together. But when a man doesn’t even hide his side bitch anymore, it’s out in the open for friends and family to know but not speak on the situation, then yeah, it’s time to leave.
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Nako (The Connect's Wife 2)
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There will be a few times in your life when,the hardest lessons to learn are the ones your soul needs most.
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James Hilton
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There will be a few times in your life, when the hardest lessons to learn are the ones your soul needs most.
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James Hilton
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LEARN OF ME, for I am meek and lowly in heart” (Matthew 11:29). There is no harder lesson to learn than the lesson of humility. It is not taught in the schools of men, only in the schools of Christ. It is the rarest of all the gifts. Very rarely do we find a man or woman who is following closely the footsteps of the Master in meekness and in humility. I believe that it is the hardest lesson that Jesus Christ had to teach His disciples while He was here upon earth. It almost looked at first as though He had failed to teach it to the twelve men who had been with Him almost constantly for three years.
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Dwight L. Moody (The Overcoming Life (Moody Classics))
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Successful people make life happen.
Successful people make money work for them.
Successful people are committed to growing their wealth.
Successful people think outside of the box.
Successful people turn what life hands to their advantage.
Successful people fear no failure.
Successful people draw lessons from mistakes.
Successful people focus on opportunities.
Successful people understand basic functions of money.
Successful people look at the big picture.
Successful people associate with people with similar status.
Successful people do not back away from obstacles.
Successful people use all tools available to grow their business.
Successful people are problem-solvers, problems do not scare them.
Successful people are active listeners and action takers.
Successful people act on opportunities to get ahead.
Successful people earn based on performance.
Successful people think broad and consider all good ideas.
Successful people get their strength from their net worth.
Successful people make money work for them, no other way around.
Successful people commit to lifetime learning.
Successful people don’t let fear take control.
Successful people get up and shake off the dust after the hardest fall.
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John Taskinsoy
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Coming to turns with the knowledge that one does not have control over anything has been one of the hardest lessons in life I have not only struggled to overcome - but to accept also that sometimes, we must place our trust in the unknown.
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Lienner Bankole