Setbacks Best Quotes & Sayings

But an idea had presented itself to him, knocking at his brain like a nighttime traveler, and instead of shutting the door in its face, Browles built it a fire, he drew a chair for it up to the hearth and spent half a decade trying to decipher and then convey what it struggled to tell him. He was patient and industrious and quietly determined. Buffeted by setbacks and rejection and his own limitations, he persevered. — Julie Schumacher

Be a complex person. The more ways you define yourself, the less vulnerable you are to setbacks in any area. If you're only a writer, and your book doesn't sell, you're sunk. But if you're a writer and researcher and a teacher and a wife and mother and gardener and volunteer EMT and singer in the choir, it's easier to bounce back from disappointments. The more sources of joy and pleasure in your life, the better. — Anonymous

We are not imprisoned by circumstances, setbacks, mistakes or staggering defeats, we are freed by our choices. — James C. Collins

That's what building a body of work is all about. It's about the daily labor, the many individual acts, the choices large and small that add up over time, over a lifetime to a lasting legacy. It's about not being satisfied with the latest achievement, the latest gold star, because the one thing I know about a body of work is that it's never finished. It's cumulative. It deepens and expands with each day you give your best. You may have setbacks and you may have failures, but you're not done. — Barack Obama

You would think that this would be whether the entrepreneur's idea is actually a good one. But finding a good idea is apparently not all that hard. Finding an entrepreneur who can execute a good idea is a different matter entirely. One needs a person who can take an idea from proposal to reality, work the long hours, build a team, handle the pressures and setbacks, manage technical and people problems alike, and stick with the effort for years on end without getting distracted or going insane. Such people are rare and extremely hard to spot. — Atul Gawande

Setbacks are just learning experiences. — Beth Brooke

If everything is smooth sailing right from the beginning, we cannot become people of substance and character. By surmounting paining setbacks and obstacles, we can create a brilliant history of triumph that will shine forever. That is what makes life so exciting and enjoyable. In any field of endeavour, those who overcome hardships and grow as human beings are advancing towards success and victory in life. — Daisaku Ikeda

If I want to be the best, I have to take risks others would avoid, always optimizing the learning potential of the moment and turning adversity to my advantage. That said, there are times when the body needs to heal, but those are ripe opportunities to deepen the mental, technical, internal side of my game. When aiming for the top, your path requires an engaged, searching mind. You have to make obstacles spur you to creative new angles in the learning process. Let setbacks deepen your resolve. You should always come off an injury or a loss better than when you went down. — Josh Waitzkin

Exceptional people convert life's setbacks into future successes, — Carol S. Dweck

The highest correlation for reaching ninety or hundred years of age in good shape is emotional resilience, the ability to bounce back from life's setbacks. That fits neatly with one of the qualities of healthy energy: flexibility. — Deepak Chopra

It was an interesting dilemma and with all such dilemmas an opportunity might emerge. 'How best to turn this setback into an advantage,' he wondered silently. — Raymond E. Feist

Like evolution itself, there have been rapid advances and crippling setbacks along the way. If the Library of Alexandria had never been burned to the ground it is possible to imagine that we would have built upon the achievements of the ancient Greeks to greater and earlier effect, and therefore it could have been in the time of a Cardano or a Newton or a Pascal that we first put a man on the moon. And we can only wonder where we would be. And at the planets we would have terraformed and colonised by the twenty-first century. Which medical advances we would have made. Maybe if there had been no dark ages, no switching off of the light, we would have found a way never to grow old, to never die. — Matt Haig

My mother told me that everything in life happened for a purpose. She said all things were part of God's plan, even the most disheartening setbacks, and in the end, everything worked out for the best. — Ronald Reagan

I've wanted to win at everything, every day, since I was a kid. And time doesn't change a person, it just helps you get a handle on who you are. Even at age 41, I still hate losing
I'm just more gracious about it. I'm also aware that setbacks have an upside; they fuel new dreams. — Dara Torres

Great leaders inspire. They maintain a hopeful attitude, even in the face of discouraging setbacks, constant criticism and abundant opposition. People don't follow discouraged leaders. They follow those who persist with hope. — Rick Warren

When surrounded by the ashes of all that I once cherished, despite my best efforts I can find no room to be thankful. But standing there amidst endless ash I must remember that although the ashes surround me, God surrounds the ashes. And once that realization settles upon me, I am what I thought I could never be ... I am thankful for ashes. — Craig D. Lounsbrough

Why doesn't constant trampling defeat the dandelion? The key to its strength is its long and sturdy root, which extends deep into the earth. The same priciple applies to people. The true victors in life are those who, enduring repeated challenges and setbacks, have sent the roots of their being to such a depth that nothing can shake them. — Daisaku Ikeda

The skills you acquire can always be effectively redeployed. You will look back on setbacks and be grateful for the catalyst that came not a moment too soon. — Tom Freston

Setbacks, on the other hand, just make us feel weak and stupid: I should have conquered this by now. I happened on a question not long ago that oerfectly expresses this mentality: How many times must I prove myself an idiot? — Beth Moore

If you are on God's side, then God is on your side. God will fight for you as you fight for Him. And you can live with holy confidence, knowing that when God is contending for your cause, your cause is destined to succeed. This doesn't mean there won't be setbacks and sacrifices along the way; it just means the war has already been won. — Mark Batterson

When we put setbacks into two buckets - the "business as usual" bucket and the "holy cow" bucket - and use a different mindset for each, we are signing up for trouble. — Ed Catmull

And God tries to gently drive the words of Caussade from the knowing of my head to the bleeding of the heart: You would be very ashamed if you knew what the experiences you call setbacks, upheavals, pointless disturbances, and tedious annoyances really are. You would realize that your complaints about them are nothing more nor less than blasphemies - though that never occurs to you. Nothing happens to you except by the will of God, and yet [God's] beloved children curse it because they do not know it for what it is.1 A — Ann Voskamp

You would not have the wisdom and knowledge you now possess were it not for the setbacks you have faced, the mistakes you have made and the suffering you have endured. — Robin Sharma

To achieve in sports you first have to have a dream, and then you must act on that dream. The best athletes are those who truly enjoy what they are doing and display a tremendous amount of work ethic. They continue to persevere in spite of setbacks and never lose sight of their ultimate goal. — Dianne Holum

Steady progress toward seemingly impossible goals will win the day. Setbacks are temporary. Naysayers are best ignored. — Brad Stone

If you're going to do anything great in life, there will be opposition, setbacks, delays and critics. When you have big dreams, you're going to have big challenges. — Joel Osteen

The ruling quality of leaders adaptive capacity, is what allows true leaders to make the nimble decisions that bring success. Adaptive capacity is also what allows some people to transcend the setbacks and losses that come with age and to reinvent themselves again and again. — Warren G

A great teacher once taught me that you've got to have faith that everything happens for the best. I have had many setbacks in my career and every setback has led me that much further into my truth. — Suze Orman

Each year the winning team of the Super Bowl loses some ground (yardage) throughout the game. Yet they always keep their minds fixed on the goal, push through the opposition, and, as a result, advance to victory in the end. — Lisa Morrone

We also know that there is a mindset that helps people cope well with setbacks, points them to good strategies, and leads them to act in their best interest. — Carol S. Dweck

1. I believe in myself.
2. My self-talk will always be positive.
3. I will come to compete every day.
4. I will not surrender.
5. I will not turn against myself during tough times.
6. I cannot choose what is happening around me, but I can (and will) choose how I respond.
7. I will use setbacks as learning opportunities.
8. I will focus on my strengths and contain my weaknesses.
9. I understand that my role as a team member is to help my teammates win.
10. I will not come in second best to myself.
There's a choice you make in everything you do. And you must always keep in mind The choice you make makes you! — Bill Beswick

Because even if we were struggling, we had goals. It didn't matter that we weren't there yet. What mattered is that we both experienced setbacks, and full-blown failures, but we got up, brushed ourselves off, and kept going-and were making the best of it. — Jamie McGuire

Genius involves figuring out who you are, and owning yourself. It's about amplifying your best traits and compensating for the rest. Geniuses grab life by the horns, and persevere amidst setbacks. They take control of their lives, instead of waiting for others to open up doors. In this very important sense, greatness in completely, utterly, made. — Scott Barry Kaufman

You will find that every successful entrepreneur has suffered many setbacks. These entrepreneurs just forget to mention these when they are doing interviews with the 'Wall Street Journal' or Bloomberg TV. — Vivek Wadhwa

Optimism boosts your energy and focuses your sights on reaching your goals, rather than wallowing in your setbacks. — Denis Waitley

Life is full of all sorts of setbacks and twists and turns and disappointments. The character of this team will be how well you will come back from this letdown, this defeat. You could still be a great team and you can still accomplish great things as football players but it's going to take a real resolve to do it." -Coach Ladouceur — Neil Hayes

New things always have to experience difficulties and setbacks as they grow. It is sheer fantasy to imagine that the cause of socialism is all plain sailing and easy success, without difficulties and setbacks or the exertion of tremendous efforts. — Mao Zedong

I've had lots of setbacks. mainly injuries and undergoing surgery, but I just have to knuckle down and get on with it. — Jessica-Jane Applegate

I've had a few setbacks in my life, but I never gave up. — Harry S. Truman

You would be very ashamed if you knew what the experiences you call setbacks, upheavals, pointless disturbances, and tedious annoyances really are. You would realize that your complaints about them are nothing more nor less than blasphemies - though that never occurs to you. Nothing happens to you except by the will of God, and yet [God's] beloved children curse it because they do not know it for what it is. — Jean-Pierre De Caussade

My mum used to say to me, 'Spit on yer 'ands and take a fresh 'old.' Keep going even if you have setbacks. — Lesley Garrett

In the long run, it's impossible to make progress without sometimes having setbacks, although people who get lucky on their first attempt sometimes forget this. — Henry Spencer

I'm really glad that I made a lot of mistakes, poorly chose my friends throughout my twenties, and didn't have a rocket trajectory that set me on one path without making any mistakes or having any setbacks. The older I get, the more I realize that it's all of these failed, horrible things from my past, and the stories that they generated, that are the things I will draw on for the rest of my life. — Chuck Palahniuk

The word 'Dream' grips the core of my heart, it contains five powerful letters which are full of boundless meanings that can take you to another level of life:
.D-'Drive' (to your future, to your purpose and to your destiny).
.R-'Rejuvenate' ( your innerability to dream endlessly).
.E-'Elevate' (you before great men).
.A-'Accumulate' (strength to grow stronger in the midst of setbacks and hurdles).
.M-'Make' (a room for you and makes you the person you were born to be). This is what your dream can do for you, keep dreaming and never cease to dream no matter what. — Euginia Herlihy

It would be wonderful if we could avoid the setbacks with timely exits, but nobody has figured out how to predict them. — Peter Lynch

Women, who enjoyed a high social status and levels of education under Saddam, saw terrible setbacks as Iraq fell into civil war. As a result of the sectarian violence from 2005-2007, women retreated to their homes and fell from public view. — Richard Engel

Pain has an odd way of expressing itself in the acts of business. No matter how many setbacks a leader might experience, there always seems to be a new opaque watermark of endurance testing, invisibly triggered for erratic combustion in each compounding decision. Every CEO in the world knows this, yet few have the good sense to walk away from the table when their cards are hot. Why win in Act Two when a comeback in Act Three gives you a longer biography? Ego is not so much about immortality as it is about demonstrating stately resistance to nightmarish attacks in public forums. Any good smack to the head is a continuity wake up call, or at least another invitation to be interviewed by Charlie Rose. — Ken Goldstein

Happiness can't be reduced to a few agreeable sensations. Rather, it is a way of being and of experiencing the world - a profound fulfillment that suffuses every moment and endures despite inevitable setbacks. — Matthieu Ricard

I was raised to believe that God has a plan for everyone and that seemingly random twists of fate are all a part of His plan. My mother - a small woman with auburn hair and a sense of optimism that ran as deep as the cosmos - told me that everything in life happened for a purpose. She said all things were part of God's Plan, even the most disheartening setbacks, and in the end, everything worked out for the best. If something went wrong, she said, you didn't let it get you down: You stepped away from it, stepped over it, and moved on. Later on, she added, something good will happen and you'll find yourself thinking - If I hadn't had that problem back then, then this better thing that did happen wouldn't have happened to me. — Ronald Reagan

Life is a series of obstacles and setbacks; living is overcoming them. — Dean Karnazes

The circumstances and events that we see as setbacks are oftentimes the very things that launch us into periods of intense spiritual growth — Charles Stanley

I would like the film to make people think about the place of women in the world - the advances and setbacks that they have experienced these past years in terms of their freedom. — Catherine Corsini

Happiness is dealing with setbacks with more grace, understanding and acceptance — Arianna Huffington

Every adult life could be said to be defined by two great love stories. The first - the story of our quest for sexual love - is well known and well charted, its vagaries form the staple of music and literature, it is socially accepted and celebrated. The second - the story of our quest for love from the world - is a more secret and shameful tale. If mentioned, it tends to be in caustic, mocking terms, as something of interest chiefly to envious or deficient souls, or else the drive for status is interpreted in an economic sense alone. And yet this second love story is no less intense than the first, it is no less complicated, important or universal, and its setbacks are no less painful. There is heartbreak here too. — Alain De Botton

On the road to nowhere there are many people who lack the vision to get you anywhere. — Johnnie Dent Jr.

You have to keep pushing toward those dreams no matter what setbacks happen. — Anthony Hamilton