But I’ll be honest, today’s post is primarily for those among us who feel exhausted. 

Those of us who feel drained and depleted from the events of the year, both on the micro level of our own lives and on the macro level.

This post is for those who wondered once, twice, or more times this year, “How much more can I take?”

This post is for anyone who just wanted to stay in bed and not get out and adult this year.

This post is for anyone who didn’t know how you would get through the seeming mess of your life.

This post is for anyone who is leaving 2023 wearier than when the year started.

This post is for anyone who needs a boost to their soul and a kindling of their inner strength in the same way that cars need a jumpstart. 

This post is for you if you need to feel a little stronger, a little more resilient, a little more ready to face 2024.

I’ve curated 99 quotes from great thinkers, psychotherapy leaders, authors, and folks who just said plain old wise words so that this list may boost you and provide you with the spark you need to feel even a little more resilient and equipped as the year ends and before the new one begins.

I hope that this feels like a bit of a gift as the year ends, a gift of written words to spark your soul to help you cross the finish line of this year.

No matter what 2024 holds for us, I’ll be here with you and for you, sharing what I can to help make your relational trauma recovery journey clearer, more equipped, and a little less lonely.

For now, may even one of these quotes rekindle your inner resilience.

And then, if you feel so inclined, I’d love to know in the comments: 

Which of these quotes resonated the most with you? Which one brought you goosebumps? And what’s one more quote not on this list that you love and that helps rekindle your inner strength? 

If you feel so inclined, please leave a comment so our community of 30,000 readers can benefit from your wisdom and experience.

And until next time, until I write again in 2024, please take care of yourself. You’re so worth it.

Warmly, Annie

99 Quotes To Rekindle Your Inner Resilience

1. “I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become.” – Carl Jung
2. “There is no timestamp on trauma. There isn’t a formula that you can insert yourself into to get from horror to healed. Be patient. Take up space. Let your journey be the balm.” – Dawn Serra
3. “What we don’t need in the midst of struggle is shame for being human.” – Brené Brown
4. “Trauma teaches us that healing is not about forgetting; it’s about embracing our scars and using them as reminders of our strength and resilience.” – Dr. Christine A. Courtois
5. “Trauma is not what happens to us, but what we hold inside in the absence of an empathetic witness.” – Dr. Bessel van der Kolk
6. “Trauma shatters the illusion of invincibility, but in that vulnerability lies the seeds of strength.” – Jayneen Sanders
7. “There is no shame in asking for help to heal. It is courageous to reach out and seek the support you need.” – Lundy Bancroft
8. “The phoenix must burn to emerge.” – Janet Fitch
9. “You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
10. “Survival can be summed up in three words—never give up. That’s the heart of it really. Just keep trying.” – Bear Grylls
11. “There is no strength without struggle.” – Ken Poirot
12. “The most important day is today. The most important person is the one you are with now. The most important work is to be the person you wish to be.” – Jack Kornfield
13. “Never give up on you.” – Bernard Kelvin Clive
14. “Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.” – J.K. Rowling
15. “When you come out of the storm you won’t be the same person that walked in. That’s what the storm is all about.” – Haruki Murakami
16. “The paradox of trauma is that it has both the power to destroy and the power to transform and resurrect.” – Peter A. Levine
17. “I’m still coping with my trauma, but coping by trying to find different ways to heal it rather than hide it.” – Clemantine Wamariya
18. “Healing from trauma can also mean strength and joy. The goal of healing is not a papering-over of changes in an effort to preserve or present things as normal. It is to acknowledge and wear your new life – warts, wisdom, and all – with courage.” – Catherine Woodiwiss
19. “The ache will always be there, but the intensity will fade, and you’ll find other beautiful things to fill your days with.” – Lang Leav
20. “I’m going to follow this invisible red thread until I find myself again… until I finally figure out… who I’m meant to be.” – Jennifer Elisabeth
21. “There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in.” – Leonard Cohen
22. “Self-compassion is like a muscle. The more we practice flexing it, especially when life doesn’t go exactly according to plan – a frequent scenario for most of us – the stronger and more resilient our compassion muscle becomes.” – Sharon Salzberg
23. “The most powerful relationship you will ever have is the relationship with yourself.” – Steve Maraboli
24. “Compassion isn’t some kind of self-improvement project or ideal that we’re trying to live up to. Having compassion starts and ends with having compassion for all those unwanted parts of ourselves, all those imperfections that we don’t even want to look at.” – Pema Chodron
25. “I found in my research that the biggest reason people aren’t more self-compassionate is that they are afraid they’ll become self-indulgent. They believe self-criticism is what keeps them in line. Most people have gotten it wrong because our culture says being hard on yourself is the way to be.” – Kristen Neff
26. “I am better off healed than I ever was unbroken.” – Beth Moore
27. “What we change inwardly will change outer reality.” – Plutarch​​
28. “We have learned that trauma is not just an event that took place sometime in the past; it is also the imprint left by that experience on mind, brain, and body.” – Bessel van der Kolk​​
29. “Here is the test to find whether your mission on Earth is finished: if you’re alive, it isn’t.” – Richard Bach​​
30. “It doesn’t get easier. You just get stronger.”​​ – Robin Arzon
31. “It is your reaction to adversity, not the adversity itself that determines how your life’s story will develop.” – Dieter F. Uchtdorf​​
32. “To everyone battling a difficulty or under attack right now, smile, keep your head up, keep moving and stay positive, you’ll get through it.” – Germany Kent​​
33. “Strength doesn’t come from what you can do. It comes from overcoming the things you once thought you couldn’t.” – Rikkie Rogers
34. “Healing may not be so much about getting better, as about letting go of everything that isn’t you – all of the expectations, all of the beliefs – and becoming who you are.” – Rachel Naomi Remen
35. “Resilience is a multidimensional and not a unitary concept. There is no one characteristic or trait identified as resilience.” – Barbara Newman​​
36. “Life keeps throwing me stones. And I keep finding the diamonds.” – Ana Claudia Antunes​​
37. “The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.” – Chinese Proverb​​
38. “Nothing is more beautiful than the smile that has struggled through the tears.” – Demi Lovato​​
39. “Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant.” – Horace​​
40. “I am able to do all things through Him who strengthens me.” – Philippians 4:13​​.
41. “Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty.” – Theodore Roosevelt​​
42. “Difficulties strengthen the mind, as labor does the body.” – Seneca​​
43. “The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson​​
44. “Strength grows in the moments when you think you can’t go on but keep going anyway.” – Unknown​​
45. “It’s not the load that breaks you; it’s the way you carry it.” – Lou Holtz​​
46. “Strength doesn’t come from what you can do. It comes from overcoming the things you once thought you couldn’t.” – Rikkie Rogers​​
47. “Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.” – Khalil Gibran​​
48. “The broken heart. You think you will die, but you keep living, day after day after terrible day.” – Charles Dickens​​
49. “Adversity is preparation for greatness.” – Andy Andrews​​
50. “Adversity reveals strength. Comfort reveals weakness.” – James Clear​​
51. “Be like stars; instead of cursing the darkness, shine.” – Matshona Dhliwayo​​
52. “Every adversity brings new experiences and new lessons.” – Lailah Gifty Akita​​
53. “He who has a WHY to live for can bear almost any how.” – Friedrich Nietzsche​​
54. “Our faith, trust, AND LOVE are proved and REVEALED in adversities.” – John of Kronstadl​​
55. “Mentally strong people overcome setbacks with confidence because adversity only makes them better.” – Amy Morin​​
56. “Adversity is like a strong wind. It tears away from us all but the things that cannot be torn, so that we see ourselves as we really are.” – Arthur Golden​​
57. “Trauma is a deep wound etched in the soul, but it doesn’t have to define who we become.” – Alice Sebold
58. “The only thing standing between you and your goal is the story you keep telling yourself as to why you can’t achieve it.” – Jordan Belfort​​
59. “Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” – Confucius​​
60. “Always listen to experts. They’ll tell you what can’t be done, and why. Then do it.” – Robert A. Heinlein​​
61. “Obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up.” – Michael Jordan​​
62. “One who gains strength by overcoming obstacles possesses the only strength which can overcome adversity.” – Albert Schweitzer​​
63. “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” – Winston Churchill​​
64. “Trauma is personal. It does not disappear if it is not validated. When it is ignored or invalidated, the silent screams continue internally.” – Danielle Bernock
65. “The darkest nights produce the brightest stars.” – Khalil Gibran
66. “Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome.” – Booker T. Washington​​
67. “You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.” – Maya Angelou​​
68. “Resilience is believed to be a process rather than a single event and a continuum rather than a binary outcome.” – Meetu Khosla
69. “To everyone battling a difficulty or under attack right now, smile, keep your head up, keep moving and stay positive, you’ll get through it.” – Germany Kent​​
70. “I’ve had to learn to fight all my life – got to learn to keep smiling. If you smile, things will work out.” – Serena Williams​​
71. “Nothing is more beautiful than the smile that has struggled through the tears.” – Demi Lovato​​
72. “Overcoming adversity not only makes you stronger, it makes you more hopeful.” – Valerie Jarrett​​
73. “Healing takes courage, and we all have courage, even if we have to dig a little to find it.” – Tori Amos
74. “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” – Albert Einstein​​
75. “Everyone is handed adversity in life. No one’s journey is easy. It’s how they handle it that makes people unique.” – Kevin Conroy​​
76. “When the going gets tough, put one foot in front of the other and just keep going. Don’t give up.” – Roy T. Bennett​​
77. “There is no education like adversity.” – Benjamin Disraeli​​.
78. “We don’t develop courage by being happy every day. We develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity.” – Barbara De Angelis​​
79. “With every challenge you face, there is an opportunity hidden that will lead you towards the path of wealth and abundance.” – Stephen Richards​​
80. “Weak minds sink under prosperity as well as adversity; but strong and deep ones have two high tides.” – David Hare​​
81. “Prosperity is not without many fears and distates; adversity not without many comforts and hopes.” – Francis Bacon​​
82. “Comfort and prosperity have never enriched the world as much as adversity has.” – Billy Graham​​
83. “If the road is easy, you’re likely going the wrong way.” – Terry Goodkind​​
84. “You’ll never find a better sparring partner than adversity.” – Golda Meir​​
85. “Show me someone who has done something worthwhile, and I’ll show you someone who has overcome adversity.” – Lou Holtz​​
86. “Prosperity is a great teacher; adversity a greater.” – William Hazlitt​​
87. “When adversity strikes, that’s when you have to be the most calm. Take a step back, stay strong, stay grounded and press on.” – LL Cool J​​
88. “Mentally strong people overcome setbacks with confidence because adversity only makes them better.” – Amy Morin​​
89. “Life is truly known only to those who suffer, lose, endure adversity and stumble from defeat to defeat.” – Anais Nin​​
90. “One thing about championship teams is that they’re resilient. No matter what is thrown at them, no matter how deep the hole, they find a way to bounce back and overcome adversity.” – Nick Saban​​
91. “Adversity is like a strong wind. It tears away from us all but the things that cannot be torn, so that we see ourselves as we really are.” – Arthur Golden​​
92. “Sometimes adversity is what you need to face in order to become successful.” – Zig Ziglar​​
93. “You’ve got to learn to laugh in the face of adversity.” – Emily Atack​
94. “Good things are often birthed from adversity.” — Robert Schuller​​
95. “A man is insensible to the relish of prosperity until he has tasted adversity.” – Rosalind Russell​​
96. “Adversity cause some men to break; others to break records.” – William Arthur Ward​​
97. “Adversity precedes growth.” — Rosemarie Rossett​​
98. “Everyone goes through adversity in life, but what matters is how you learn from it.” – Lou Holtz​​
99. “Life keeps throwing me stones. And I keep finding the diamonds.” – Ana Claudia Antunes​​