Life — with its many successes, failures, and periods of stagnancy — is a careful balancing act between uncontrollable circumstances, our own actions, and the fleeting, fickle nature of “the odds.” Despite our best efforts, the process of achieving our goals can be thwarted by any number of factors: environmental, social, political, cultural, and just about anything in between.
When we find ourselves struggling against the hands of fate, it can help to reflect on the advice of those who found themselves in similar battles and won — or, at the very least, made it to the other side relatively unscathed and reasonably enlightened. From refugees fleeing their war-ravaged homelands to courageous individuals who overcame near-debilitating medical ailments, these brave souls have helped forge paths for the rest of us.
Beating the odds is a testament to the human spirit: We have an indomitable desire to push ahead in the pursuit of happiness, even when it defies all logic or reason to do so. May these quotes about beating the odds help you muster the strength to leap over the next hurdle life throws your way.
Success is not measured by what you accomplish but by the opposition you have encountered and the courage with which you have maintained the struggle against overwhelming odds.Orison Swett Marden
Freedom is not just the absence of chains; it’s overcoming the brutality of reality and, despite it all, daring to be happy.Mario Escobar
Although the world is full of suffering, it is full also of the overcoming of it.Helen Keller
We have two options, medically and emotionally: give up, or fight like hell.Lance Armstrong
Prosperity is not without many fears and distastes; and adversity is not without comforts and hopes.Francis Bacon
You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.Maya Angelou
Failure is temporary. Giving up is permanent.Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
Leaders are visionaries with a poorly developed sense of fear and no concept of the odds against them.Nigel Paine
The bird rises against a strong head wind, not only in spite of the wind, but because of it. The opposing forces become a lifting force if faced at the right angle.L.B. Cowman
I wanted you to see what real courage is … It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway, and you see it through no matter what.Harper Lee
It is not only in the rose, / It is not only in the bird / Not only where the rainbow glows / Nor in the song of woman heard, / But in the darkest, meanest things / There alway, alway something sings.Ralph Waldo Emerson
Featured image credit: Mint/ Hindustan Times via Getty Images
