Don't Give Up! 20 Quotes To Keep You Going When The Going Gets Tough

Sometimes, when people feel things are not going their way, the easiest thing seems to be to simply give up. To let that challenging but worthy opportunity pass. To accept failure because learning is more difficult. To throw up one’s hands and admit defeat because keeping on feels like too much work. We ask, “why me? Why now? Why can it not be simple?” It’s safe to say we’ve all been there.

Life is not black and white. There is much grey, murkiness and messiness in between. There are triumphs and there are letdowns. There are days you love your life and ones you don't. And throughout it all, there are choices: give up or go on.

In the moment, giving up might seem like the easier choice even though it has the worst overall outcome. It can result in long-term unhappiness, dissatisfaction and disappointment. There will be the inevitable “what if?” that will likely haunt you. It will nag you and you will never know what had happened if you kept on trying. Because keeping at it and knowing you gave it your all is better than not knowing what could have been.

Continuing your hard work when you want to give up shows true courage. Continuing in your efforts despite things not panning out how you had originally hoped takes guts. Mustering on when you just feel like moping is what will help you achieve your life goals and attain success.

For all those times you're looking for some encouragement (and aren't we all from time to time?), here are 20 quotes about not giving up to help you keep going:

1. “Nothing could be worse than the fear that one had given up too soon, and left one unexpended effort that might have saved the world.” ― Jane Addams
2. “Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th.” ― Julie Andrews
3. “Courage doesn't always roar, sometimes it's the quiet voice at the end of the day whispering 'I will try again tomorrow.” ― Mary Anne Radmacher
4. “I was taught the way of progress is neither swift nor easy.” ― Marie Curie 
5. “I didn’t get there by wishing for it or hoping for it, but by working for it.” ― Estée Lauder
6. “When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and hang on.” ― Franklin D. Roosevelt
7. “It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.” ― Confucius
8. “Step out of the history that is holding you back. Step into the new story you are willing to create.”  ― Oprah Winfrey
9. “Never give up on something that you can’t go a day without thinking about.” — Sir Winston Churchill
10. “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.” ― Samuel Beckett 
11. “Fall seven times, stand up eight.” ― Japanese Proverb
12. “Success is what happens after you have survived all your mistakes.” ― Anora Lee
13. “The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.” ― Ayn Rand
14. “Whatever course you decide upon, there is always someone to tell you that you are wrong. There are always difficulties arising which tempt you to believe that your critics are right. To map out a course of action and follow it to an end requires courage.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson
15. “A strong woman is a woman determined to do something others are determined not be done.” ― Marge Piercy
16. “I choose to make the rest of my life the best of my life.” ― Louise Hay 
17. “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 
18. “The most effective way to do it, is to do it.” ― Amelia Earhart
19. "You just have to keep on doing what you do. It's the lesson I get from my husband; he just says, Keep going. Start by starting." ― Meryl Streep 
20. “Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.” ― Harriet Stowe

When life tries to stop us from achieving our dreams of success, we can find the perseverance and strength to keep going.  It takes hard work, courage and hope ― and an inspirational quote or two to motivate us along the way!

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Jackie is the owner of her blog Moments of Musing, where she writes about her life as a wife, mom, and more living in New York City. She works with survivors of intimate partner violence.