Every social worker will have a bad day, but you push ahead because you know how important your work is to countless individuals and communities. For those very bad days, we have compiled a list of 31 inspirational quotes to keep you going when the going gets tough.
“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.”—Dale Carnegie
“Our greatest glory is not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”—Confucius
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”—Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Promise me you’ll always remember: You’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.”—Christopher Robin to Pooh, A.A. Milne
“Tough times never last, but tough people do.”—Robert H. Schuller
“When you come to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.”—Franklin D. Roosevelt
“There is neither happiness nor unhappiness in this world; there is merely the comparison of one state to the other. Only a man who has felt ultimate despair is capable of feeling ultimate bliss.”—Alexandre Dumas
“We must meet the challenge rather than wish it were not before us.”—William J. Brennan, Jr.,
“To be tested is good. The challenged life may be the best therapist.”—Gail Sheehy, Author
“When the going gets tough, the tough get going.”—Joseph Kennedy
“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”—Thomas Edison
“And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.”―Haruki Murakami
“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
“The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.” —Randy Pausch
“If you fell down yesterday, stand up today.”―H.G. Wells
“Accept responsibility for your life. Know that it is you who will get you where you want to go, no one else.”—Les Brown
“Don’t be discouraged. It’s often the last key in the bunch that opens the lock.”—Unknown
“Challenges are what make life interesting and overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.”—Joshua J. Marine
“In order to succeed, your desire for success should be greater than your fear of failure.”—Bill Cosby
“The pain you feel today is the strength you feel tomorrow. For every challenge encountered, there is opportunity for growth.”—Unknown
“Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.”—Carl Bard
“No one is going to hand me success. I must go out and get it myself. That’s why I’m here. To dominate. To conquer. Both the world, and myself.”—Unknown
“Nobody trips over mountains. It is the small pebble that causes you to stumble. Pass all the pebbles in your path, and you will find you have crossed the mountain.”—Author Unknown
“Problems are not stop signs; they are guidelines.”—Robert Schuller
“Don’t let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use.”—Earl Nightingale
“Let perseverance be your engine and hope your fuel.”—H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”—Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Remember that guy that gave up? Neither does anyone else.”—Unknown
“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I’ll try again tomorrow.”―Mary Anne Radmacher
“There are no great people in this world, only great challenges which ordinary people rise to meet.”—William Frederick Halsey, Jr.
“Life’s challenges are not supposed to paralyze you; they’re supposed to help you discover who you are.”—Bernice Johnson Reagon
source msw-USC