10 Motivational Quotes for Dark Times to Keep You Fighting

Whether we’re trying to build a successful business, start a family, or studying for a degree, we all have moments when life knocks us down and then kicks us in a kidney for good measure. We lie in the dirt, waiting for the pain to subside, and sometimes we wonder whether there’s a point in getting up, because, sooner or later, we’ll get knocked down again.

Sometimes, the sting of our failures and the time we’ve lost blinds us from our destination.

It’s these moments when we need a reminder of where we’re going, and why it’s worth the pain. And that, if we keep going, we will reach our destination.

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Success is going from failure to failure without a loss of enthusiasm.

Winston Churchill

You either get bitter or you get better. The choice does not belong to fate, it belongs to you.

Josh Shipp

The only man who never makes a mistake is the man who never does anything.

Theodore Roosevelt

The same boiling water that softens the potato hardens the egg. It’s not about the circumstances, it’s about what you’re made of.

someone on the internet

No one is beat till he quits, no one is through till he stops. No matter how hard failure hits, no matter how often he drops, a fellow’s not down till he lies in the dust and refuses to rise.

Edgar A. Guest, Defeat

I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul.

William Ernest Henley, Invictus

Let us, then be up and doing, with a heart for any fate; still achieving, still pursuing, learn to labor and to wait.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, A Psalm of Life

If you don’t like the hand fate’s dealt you with, fight for a new one.

Masashi Kishimoto, Naruto

Honorable Mention:

Keep writing.

my girlfriend

Last but should be first, for she is my destination. She lives on the other side of the world. I’ve been writing fiction since I was 9, it’s my main passion, so I don’t need to be told to keep writing. But by saying it, she reminds me why I do everything else I do. To be with her, to build a family with her.

Also, every time she says it, she reminds me I’m not alone in this. Here’s another powerful source of motivation: having someone who believes in you. They’re cheering you on, investing their hopes into you. When you don’t feel like fighting for yourself anymore, fight for those who cheer for you.

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There you have it. Some quotes I think of during hard moments. Some of the latter ones are poems, which I highly recommend. You can even find them on Youtube.

But, before we exchange byes, I have something else to say, something really damn important.

I firmly believe we can’t rely on motivation. Motivation is temporary. It’s a gust of wind, propelling you up the hill, maybe with great force, but eventually it subsides. Even if it returns later, there are windless days when the steep path looms ahead.

Hell, on some days, the wind blows against you.

This is why I’ve always preferred building discipline.

Motivation is temporary; discipline is constant. As long as it’s practiced, it stays with you, and if you make productivity your habit, you will not want to take a break to watch a movie or play a game. Just the idea of it will make you feel uncomfortable. You’ll feel a stronger dopamine response from being productive.

Do I sound like a preachy self-help douche? Yes.

Am I right? Yes, I believe I am. From my experience, this is how it works.

Sometimes, I plan on watching a movie all day, but in the evening, I change my mind and keep writing, or keep working on something else.

Here’s one last quote. You might have heard Mike Tyson say this on the Joe Rogan podcast, or read a version of it on his Instagram: “Discipline is doing what you hate to do, but doing it like you love it.”

Hey, keep doing what you’re doing and you’ll reach your destination. I really believe it.

Have a wonderful day.