Top 200 Obstacles Quotes (2025 Update)

1. “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

— Thomas A. Edison

Also featured in: Inspirational Entrepreneurship Quotes, Positive Quotes, Startup Quotes, Inspirational Quotes, Perseverance Quotes

2. “The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.”

— Marcus Aurelius

Also featured in: Action Quotes, Wisdom Quotes, Mindset Quotes

3. “Being an entrepreneur is like eating glass and staring into the abyss of death.”

— Elon Musk

Also featured in: Inspirational Entrepreneurship Quotes, Depressing Quotes, Challenges Quotes

4. “It’s not because things are difficult that we dare not venture. It’s because we dare not venture that they are difficult.”

— Seneca

Also featured in: Courage Quotes, Life Philosophy Quotes, Philosophical Quotes

5. “Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty. I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led them well.”

— Theodore Roosevelt

Also featured in: Success Quotes, Persistence Quotes, Hard Work Quotes, Live Life Quotes

6. “Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.”

— Khalil Gibran

Also featured in: Quotes About Strength, Deep Quotes About Life, Life Lessons Quotes

7. “Look at a stone cutter hammering away at his rock, perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred-and-first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not the last blow that did it, but all that had gone before.”

— Jacob August Riis

Also featured in: Persistence Quotes, Quotes About Strength, Resilience Quotes, Giving Up Quotes

8. “The obstacle in the path becomes the path. Never forget, within every obstacle is an opportunity to improve our condition.”

— Ryan Holiday

Also featured in: Empowering Quotes, Opportunity Quotes, Resilience Quotes, Challenges Quotes

9. “There is nothing in life so difficult that it cannot be overcome. This faith can move mountains. It can change people. It can change the world. You can survive all the great storms in your life.”

— Norman Vincent Peale

Also featured in: Perseverance Quotes, Self-Esteem Quotes, Never Give Up Quotes, Optimism Quotes

10. “You may write me down in history With your bitter, twisted lies. You may trod me in the very dirt, but still like dust, I’ll rise.”

— Maya Angelou

Also featured in: Quotes About Strength, Inspirational Quotes for Women, Poetry Quotes

11. “You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. Please remember that your difficulties do not define you. They simply strengthen your ability to overcome.”

— Maya Angelou

Also featured in: Perseverance Quotes, Inspirational Quotes for Women, Never Give Up Quotes, Wellness Quotes

12. “I have learned that 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 while trying to succeed.”

— Booker T. Washington

Also featured in: Journey Quotes, Life is Hard Quotes, Resilience Quotes, Grit Quotes

13. “You may be in a tough time but that setback is simply a setup for a greater comeback.”

— Joel Osteen

Also featured in: Recovery Quotes, Resilience Quotes, Momentum Quotes

14. “In a day when you don’t come across any problems, you can be sure that you are traveling on the wrong path.”

— Swami Vivekananda

Also featured in: Life Lessons Quotes, Wisdom Quotes, Challenges Quotes

15. “The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt.”

— Sylvia Plath

Also featured in: Creativity Quotes, Poetry Quotes, Struggle Quotes, Doubt Quotes

16. “Don’t complain; just work harder.”

— Randy Pausch

Also featured in: Hard Work Quotes, Motivational Monday Quotes, Habit Quotes

17. “The very first company I started failed with a great bang. The second one failed a little bit less, but still failed. The third one, you know, proper failed, but it was kind of okay. I recovered quickly. Number four almost didn’t fail. It still didn’t really feel great, but it did okay. Number five was PayPal.”

— Max Levchin

Also featured in: Startup Quotes, Business Quotes, Failure Quotes, Challenges Quotes

18. “Often it isn't the mountains ahead that wear you out, it's the little pebble in your shoe.”

— Muhammad Ali

19. “Why do we Fall? So we can learn to pick ourselves back up.”

— Christopher Nolan

Also featured in: Persistence Quotes, Failure Quotes, Change Quotes, Inspirational Life Quotes

20. “Get out of your own way. Often, we’re our own worst enemy when working towards our goals.”

— Robert T. Kiyosaki

Also featured in: Goal Quotes, Motivational Monday Quotes, Mindset Quotes

21. “Failure is success if we learn from it.”

— Malcolm S. Forbes

Also featured in: Failure Quotes, Learning Quotes, Impact Quotes, Quotes About Trying

22. “The hardest part is starting. Once you get that out of the way, you’ll find the rest of the journey much easier.”

— Simon Sinek

Also featured in: Motivational Work Quotes, Positive Motivational Quotes, Positive Motivation Quotes

23. “For every failure, there’s an alternative course of action. You just have to find it. When you come to a roadblock, take a detour.”

— Mary Kay Ash

Also featured in: Failure Quotes, Motivational Quotes for Work, Opportunity Quotes, Self-Empowerment Quotes

24. “The block of granite which was an obstacle in the pathway of the weak, became a stepping-stone in the pathway of the strong.”

— Thomas Carlyle

Also featured in: Courage Quotes, Strong Quotes, Greatness Quotes, Struggle Quotes

25. “Through effort you will cross any raging flood, through energy you will pass any sorrow.”

— Buddha

Also featured in: Quotes About Strength, Buddhist Quotes, Helping Quotes

26. “Permanence, perseverance, and persistence in spite of all obstacles, discouragements, and impossibilities: It is these qualities that distinguish the strong soul from the weak.”

— Thomas Carlyle

Also featured in: Persistence Quotes, Quotes About Strength, Giving Up Quotes, Commitment Quotes

27. “No matter what happens, it is within my power to turn it to my advantage.”

— Epictetus

Also featured in: Willpower Quotes, Mental Strength Quotes, Personal Responsibility Quotes, Philosophy Quotes

28. “If Life Gets Too Hard To Stand, Kneel.”

— Gordon B. Hinckley

Also featured in: Sunday Quotes, Not Giving Up Quotes, Suffering Quotes, Adversity Quotes

29. “The genius thing that we did was, we didn’t give up.”

— Jay-Z

Also featured in: Failure Quotes, Giving Up Quotes, Not Giving Up Quotes, Victory Quotes

30. “Within every setback or obstacle or disadvantage there is the seed of an equal or opposite or greater advantage or benefit.”

— Napoleon Hill

Also featured in: Positive Work Quotes, Tuesday Motivational Quotes, Motivational Quotes for Men

31. “These things will be hard to do, but you can do hard things.”

— Glennon Doyle Melton

Also featured in: Quotes About Strength, Inspirational Quotes for Women, Journey Quotes, Life is Hard Quotes

32. “Nothing in life that’s worth anything is easy.”

— Barack Obama

Also featured in: Dedication Quotes, Friday Motivational Quotes, Not Giving Up Quotes, Work Hard Quotes

33. “I’ve always been a fighter. If you tell me I can’t, I’ll die trying to prove you wrong.”

— R.A. Salvatore

Also featured in: Quotes About Strength, Willpower Quotes, Warrior Quotes, Quotes About Trying

34. “In a difficult business, no sooner is one problem solved than another surfaces – never is there just one cockroach in the kitchen.”

— Warren Buffett

Also featured in: Problem-Solving Quotes, Witty Quotes

35. “Nothing can stop you until you choose to be stopped.”

— Robin S. Sharma

Also featured in: Giving Up Quotes, Being Strong Quotes, Vision Quotes

36. “Just because something is hard doesn’t mean it’s impossible.”

— Lysa TerKeurst

Also featured in: Growth Mindset Quotes, Good Morning Inspirational Quotes, Self-Belief Quotes, Not Giving Up Quotes

37. “Every time a man rises from defeat, he becomes mentally and emotionally stronger. Thus, in time, one may actually find his self – his true, inner self – through temporary defeat.”

— Napoleon Hill

Also featured in: Failure Quotes, Never Give Up Quotes, Inspirational Quotes for Men

38. “Problems are the gifts that make us dig out and figure out who we are, what we’re made for, and what we’re responsible to give back to life.”

— Tony Robbins

Also featured in: Positive Life Quotes, Friday Motivational Quotes, Problem-Solving Quotes

39. “I accept any challenge.”

— Jennifer Hudson

Also featured in: Challenges Quotes, Not Giving Up Quotes, Good Morning Motivational Quotes, Competition Quotes

40. “There are moments when troubles enter our lives and we can do nothing to avoid them. But they are there for a reason. Only when we have overcome them will we understand why they were there.”

— Paulo Coelho

Also featured in: Experience Quotes, Meaning Quotes, Resilience Quotes

41. “The only people without problems are those in cemeteries. It is not what happens to us that separates failures from successes. It is how we perceive and what we do about what happens that makes the difference.”

— Tony Robbins

Also featured in: Experience Quotes, Transformation Quotes, Perspective Quotes

42. “There are plenty of difficult obstacles in your path. Don’t allow yourself to become one of them.”

— Ralph Marston

Also featured in: Resilience Quotes, Problem-Solving Quotes, Path Quotes, Motivational Bodybuilding Quotes

43. “Realize that enough hidden strength lies within you to overcome all obstacles and temptations. Bring forth that indomitable power and energy.”

— Paramahansa Yogananda

Also featured in: Quotes About Strength, Transformation Quotes, Awakening Quotes, Moving Quotes

44. “Whatever brings you down, will eventually make you stronger.”

— Alex Morgan

Also featured in: Quotes About Strength, Motivational Quotes for Women, Mental Strength Quotes, Keep Going Quotes

45. “The best leaders are the ones who show their true colors not during the banner years but during times of struggle.”

— Shawn Achor

Also featured in: Leadership Quotes

46. “Difficulties are just things to overcome, after all.”

— Ernest Shackleton

Also featured in: Resilience Quotes, Problem-Solving Quotes, Survival Quotes, Adventure Quotes

47. “The real glory is being knocked to your knees and then coming back. That's real glory. Thats the essence of it.”

— Vince Lombardi

Also featured in: Quotes About Strength, Coaching Quotes, Recovery Quotes

48. “A happy life consists not in the absence, but in the mastery of hardships.”

— Helen Keller

Also featured in: Life is Hard Quotes

49. “Tough times are inevitable in life and in business. But how you compose yourself during those times defines your spirit and will define your future.”

— Richard Branson

Also featured in: Life is Hard Quotes, Professional Growth Quotes, Resilience Quotes

50. “Even if things don’t unfold the way you expected, don’t be disheartened or give up. One who continues to advance will win in the end.”

— Daisaku Ikeda

Also featured in: Giving Up Quotes, Victory Quotes, Graduation Quotes, Different Quotes