Quotes & Sayings About Setbacks

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

During our lives ... we experience so many setbacks, and fight such a hand-to-hand battle with failure, head down in the rain, just trying to stay upright and to have a little hope. — Lance Armstrong

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

Most business mistakes are irreversible setbacks, but you get another chance. There are two things in life that you don't get another chance at - marrying the wrong person and what you do with your children. — Warren Buffett

We are succeeding in Iraq. It's a tough struggle with setbacks, but we are succeeding. — Iyad Allawi

Writing a novel is like having a terrible illness. Every time you feel as if you are recovering, you have to start a new chapter, get over the setbacks endured by your heroine (you feel her pain) and set her up for more suffering. Conflict is the oil of fiction and in a romance, someone always needs a cuddle. — Chloe Thurlow

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

Sometimes small setbacks are just blessings in disguise. They enhance your determination and whole-hearted dedication to achieving your goals. — Robert Cheeke

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

Out of love and desire to protect our children's self-esteem, we have bulldozed every uncomfortable bump and obstacle out of the way, clearing the manicured path we hoped would lead to success and happiness. Unfortunately, in doing so we have deprived our children of the most important lessons of childhood. The setbacks, mistakes, miscalculations, and failures we have shoved out of our children's way are the very experiences that teach them how to be resourceful, persistent, innovative and resilient citizens of this world. — Jessica Lahey

Some people go through the heavy stuff. They fight in wars. They're in jail. They start a business and it gets shut down by gangsters. They end up hustling their ass in a foreign country. It's one long list of setbacks and humiliations. But it doesn't touch them, not really. They're having an adventure. It's like: What's next? And then there's other people who are just trying to live quietly, they stay out of trouble, they're maybe ten years old, or fourteen, and one Friday morning at 9:35 something happens to them, something private, something that breaks their heart. Forever. — Michel Faber

I will not be distracted by noise, chatter, or setbacks. Patience, commitment, grace, and purpose will guide me. — Louise L. Hay

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

True heroes and ideas never fall in the final sense of the word. They can only encounter temporary setbacks in their difficult journey to progress and success, — Janvier Chouteu-Chando

Disappointment is a natural part of the schedule if you plan on winning. — Johnnie Dent Jr.

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

I don't like to lose-at anything ... Yet I've grown most not from victories, but setbacks. If winning is God's reward, then losing is how he teaches us. — Serena Williams

O, the lessons here for us! Name your discouraging setback - personal, political, scholarly, ecclesiastical, cultural, global. Dare any Christian say that God is not in this for the good of his people and the glory of his name? Not if our God is the God of Ezra! Do you think these setbacks are not without some great purpose of righteousness bigger and more stunning than any of us can imagine? — John Piper

My story - the story of the son of Jainulabdeen, who lived for over a hundred years on Mosque Street in Rameswaram island and died there; the story of a lad who sold newspapers to help his brother; the story of a pupil reared by Sivasubramania Iyer and Iyadurai Solomon; the story of a student taught by teachers like Pandalai; the story of an engineer spotted by MGK Menon and groomed by the legendary Prof. Sarabhai; the story of a scientist tested by failures and setbacks; the story of a leader supported by a large team of brilliant and dedicated professionals. This story will end with me, for I have no belongings in the worldly sense. I have acquired nothing, built nothing, possess nothing - no family, sons, daughters. — A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

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

A person who cannot handle setbacks will never handle victories either. — Orrin Woodward

'Habits & Contradictions' is the prequel to 'Setbacks.' I had all these titles already in my head before I even dropped 'em. Like 'Setbacks,' I knew that was gone be the first one; I knew 'Habits & Contradictions.' I knew 'Oxymoron.' I got two more albums that I already have the title to it, and I know how I'ma play the theme off of it. — Schoolboy Q

We all have our duties here. We all suffer. We all endure our setbacks for the greater good of mankind. — Markus Zusak

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

Difficult missions will bring difficult challenges which may sometimes produce temporary setbacks. The test of a human being is in accepting the failure and going on trying until he or she succeeds. Managing failure is the essence of leadership. — A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

Holden thought he had probably been a very good scientist. Thrilled by small victories, undeterred by setbacks. — James S.A. Corey

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

Once we're able to see this world as an illusion and a phantasm, then we can see everything that happens to us as a dream, as something that pretended to exist while we were sleeping. And we will become subtly and profoundly indifferent towards all of life's setbacks and calamities. Those who die turned a corner, which is why we've stopped seeing them; those who suffer pass before us like a nightmare, if we feel, or like an unpleasant daydream, if we think. And even our own suffering won't be more than this nothingness. — Fernando Pessoa

Setbacks are common enemies of both achievers and people whose dream cut short. The difference is that the former persist against continual setbacks while the latter quit. — Assegid Habtewold

Those who approach their jobs and careers with enthusiasm always find plenty of opportunities, while those who complain about no one ever giving them a chance are merely observers of life. When you are determined that you will not allow others to determine your future for you, when you refuse to allow temporary setbacks to defeat you, you are destined for great success. The opportunities will always be there for you. — Napoleon Hill

Anyone who has actually had to take responsibility for consequences by running any kind of enterprise whether economic or academic, or even just managing a sports team is likely at some point to be chastened by either the setbacks brought on by his own mistakes or by seeing his successes followed by negative consequences that he never anticipated. — Thomas Sowell

I contend that not only can you laugh at adversity, but it is essential to do so if you are to deal with setbacks without defeat. — Allen Klein

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

All the trials and tribulations have paid off. In life, you have setbacks ... When you're in your valley, that's when you're tested the most -not when you're at your peak. — Rashad Evans

True heroes don't fall. They only encounter temporary setbacks as they forge ahead towards progress. — Janvier Chouteu-Chando

You discover the goal of existence by living it. The present is the only time when you can evolve, experience the divine, expand your awareness, or reach enlightenment. But this cannot be a haphazard journey that falters and wanders off the path. It's easy for that to happen when a crisis develops. Sudden losses and setbacks shake everyone up; those who keep moving forward are buoyed by knowing that their path cannot be destroyed, only interrupted. — Deepak Chopra

Our ability to respond positively to setbacks, fuels our creativity and lays the foundation for future successes. — Stacy Allison

God is a good God, and He gives good things to his children. No matter who has denigrated you or how much pain you've experienced in life, no matter how many setbacks you have suffered, you cannot allow yourself to accept that as the way life is supposed to be. No, God has better things in store for you. You must reprogram your mind with God's word; change that negative, defeated self-image, and start seeing yourself as winning, coming out on top. Start seeing that marriage as restored. See your business as flourishing. See your children as enjoying the good things of God. You must see it through your eyes of faith, and then it will begin to happen. — Joel Osteen

Whatever setbacks he had faced in his life, he said, however daunting or dispiriting the unfolding of events, he always knew that he would make it through, as long as when he woke in the morning he was looking forward to his first cup of coffee. Only decades later would I realize that he had been giving me a piece of advice. — Amor Towles

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

All of us at one point end face up in a ditch, but only a few will choose to look up at the stars and dream. — Shannon L. Alder

The backlash against women's rights would be just one of several powerful forces creating a harsh and painful climate for women at work. Reagonomics, the recession, and the expansion of a minimum-wage service economy also helped, in no small measure, to slow and even undermine women's momentum in the job market. But the backlash did more than impede women's opportunities for employment, promotions, and better pay. Its spokesmen kept the news of many of these setbacks from women. Not only did the backlash do grievous damage to working women C it did on the sly. — Susan Faludi

Yoga is the rule book for playing the game of Life, but in this game no one needs to lose. It is tough, and you need to train hard. It requires the willingness to think for yourself, to observe and correct, and to surmount occasional setbacks. It demands honesty, sustained application, and above all love in your heart. — B.K.S. Iyengar

Success is about more than simple resilience. It's about using that downward momentum to propel ourselves in the opposite direction. It's about capitalizing on setbacks and adversity to become even happier, even more motivated, and even more successful. It's not falling down, it's falling up. — Shawn Achor

Everyone has setbacks. I'm no different. I happen to have no legs. That's pretty much the fact. — Oscar Pistorius

There have been setbacks, illnesses and other obstacles, so inevitably I've had disappointments. But once you realise that things can't always go your own way, you're on the right track to being able to handle your own life. — Diana Quick

My take on the indigent is that some are there because of temporary setbacks, some by default, and some for lack of an alternative. Some are needy, some are off their meds, some have opted out, some have been ousted from facilities where they might be better served. Many are there for life and not always by personal choice. Alcoholic, addicted, aimless, illiterate, unmotivated, unskilled, or otherwise unable to prosper, they sink to the bottom, and if they're down for any length of time, they lose the capacity to climb back out of the hole into which they've fallen. If there's a remedy, I don't know what it is. From what I've seen of the problem, most solutions perpetuate the status quo. — Sue Grafton

Common sense would suggest that having ability, like being smart, inspires confidence. It does, but only while the going is easy. The deciding factor in life is how you handle setbacks and challenges. People with a growth mindset welcome setbacks with open arms. — Travis Bradberry

Part of abandoning the all-or-nothing mentality is allowing yourself room for setbacks. We are bound to have lapses on the road to health and wellness, but it is critical that we learn how to handle small failures positively so that we can minimize their long-term destructive effects. One setback is one setback - it is not the end of the world, nor is it the end of your journey toward a better you. — Jillian Michaels

Competition got me off the farm and trained me to seek out challenges and to endure setbacks; and in combination with my faith, it sustains me now in my fight with Alzheimer's disease. — Pat Summitt

There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as president. And we know the government can't solve every problem.
But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And, above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation, the only way it's been done in America for 221 years
block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand. — Barack Obama

Our wounds ultimately give us wisdom. Our stumbling blocks inevitably become our stepping stones. And our setbacks lead us to our strengths — Robin Sharma

Leaders must pick causes they won't abandon easily, remain committed despite setbacks, and communicate their big ideas over and over again in every encounter. — Rosabeth Moss Kanter

I have had a lot of setbacks that I have learned from. — Susan Wojcicki

Things such as illnesses, setbacks, delays, discordant people and upheavals are tickets to paradise. — Scott Curran

New things have to experience difficulties and setbacks as they grow. — Mao Zedong

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

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

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

Be Willing to Pay the Price If people knew how hard I had to work to gain my mastery, it wouldn't seem wonderful at all. MICHELANGELO Renaissance sculptor and painter who spent 4 years lying on his back painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel Behind every great achievement is a story of education, training, practice, discipline, and sacrifice. You have to be willing to pay the price. Maybe that price is pursuing one single activity while putting everything else in your life on hold. Maybe it's investing all of your own personal wealth or savings. Maybe it's the willingness to walk away from the safety of your current situation. But though many things are typically required to reach a successful outcome, the willingness to do what's required adds that extra dimension to the mix that helps you persevere in the face of overwhelming challenges, setbacks, pain, and even personal — Jack Canfield

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A positive vision is what keeps us going despite the misfortunes and setbacks that fill our lives. The sole disadvantage is that it stops us to seeing evil. — Andrea Camilleri

I want to live my life to its fullest potential. I want to embrace my own purpose, however large or small it may be. I want to find my own Nehru moments and take positive steps toward becoming the person I am meant to be. The journey will undoubtedly be a winding one, filled with surprises and setbacks as well as gifts. But I'm ready to embrace it fully, wherever it may take me. — Mallika Chopra

The musical culture in the United States has no doubt suffered severe setbacks, especially in funding, since the early 2000's. However, I've been amazed at the resiliency of those involved with contemporary music in this country. I think composers and those dedicated to contemporary music have reacted with tremendous creativity and resourcefulness. — Michael Hersch

Don't let setbacks and disappointments convince you to ever give up and settle for less than you are. Be the great and amazing person, that you were born to be! — Timothy Pina

The market is always making mountains out of molehills and exaggerating ordinary vicissitudes into major setbacks. — Benjamin Graham

To say I have played through four World Cups, two Lions tours, 91 international games and a ridiculous number of injuries and other setbacks gives me an incredibly special feeling of fulfilment. I know myself well enough to know that I will never truly be satisfied. — Jonny Wilkinson

If you employed a strategy that is not conducive to the results you are looking for, then you will not achieve the desired result. You have to understand that it's not you that failed; it's just that you employed the wrong strategy. — Julian Pencilliah

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

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

Let us all remember that it is not our own reputations that are at stake in the missions to which we are called. It is His. The successes and the setbacks are His. It is His rejection, His reception - not ours. These — Neil Cole

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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