Quotes & Sayings About Survival And Strength

Recurrent invasions racked the city of Theodora in the centuries of its history; no sooner was one enemy routed than another gained strength and threatened the survival of the inhabitants. When the sky was cleared of condors, they had to face the propagation of serpents; the spiders' extermination allowed the flies to multiply into a black swarm; the victory over the termites left the city at the mercy of the woodworms. One by one the species incompatible to the city had to succumb and were extinguished. By dint of ripping away scales and carapaces, tearing off elytra and feathers, the people gave Theodora the exclusive image of human city that still distinguishes it. — Italo Calvino

We are slaves, deprived of every right, exposed to every insult, condemned to certain death, but we still possess one power, and we must defend it with all our strength for it is the last - the power to refuse our consent. So we must certainly wash our faces without soap in dirty water and dry ourselves on our jackets. We must polish our shoes, not because the regulation states it, but for dignity and propriety. We must walk erect, without dragging our feet, not in homage to Prussian discipline but to remain alive, not to begin to die. — Primo Levi

What if I was truly my brother's keeper? And what if I really loved my neighbor? And what if it really wasn't about me but about we - where would we be? The possibilities should blow your mind. But since it's not — Bobby F. Kimbrough Jr.

As men and women we need to occupy our space as Kings and Queens; move into our new reality. It only requires mindset. — Bobby F. Kimbrough Jr.

Grief is like the ocean; it comes on waves ebbing and flowing. Sometimes the water is calm, and sometimes it is overwhelming. All we can do is learn to swim. — Vicki Harrison

As I travel around the country, I'm finding a common denominator - people are hurting and going through regardless of race and creed. The common denominators are people HURTING people. The cure also has a common denominator - people start HELPING people. — Bobby F. Kimbrough Jr.

And when hope returns to us, it will be with a passion and power to match every ounce of this crushing despair and pain, every fiery shred of determination that carried us when hope failed. It will claim us with a courage that will make the goddess herself quake and doubt herself. — Rachel L. Schade

Are you able to proclaim that you have been through some things and you survived it? You are a survivor. And if you are a survivor you are not a victim. You have to change the language that you give to yourself and then you have to change the conversation that you give to others. — Bobby F. Kimbrough Jr.

There are places and spaces you will never see or know, unless you move NOW!! — Bobby F. Kimbrough Jr.

This storm we are in concerns me greatly. Even in the midst of the storm I know the Son shines from behind the clouds and will eventually break through completely. There is hope. Let's impact this change together. — Bobby F. Kimbrough Jr.

My thoughts produce emotions which produces action; thus, the action is the outcome of the thought. Show me a man's actions and I can tell you of his thoughts. What are your thoughts? — Bobby F. Kimbrough Jr.

Who wants to die? Everything struggles to live. Look at that tree growing up there out of that grating. It gets no sun, and water only when it rains. It's growing out of sour earth. And it's strong because its hard struggle to live is making it strong. My children will be strong that way. — Betty Smith

Women are far more likely to follow orders to evacuate, especially women with children. At the same time, women were much more likely to die during the South Asian tsunami. In some villages it was 3 to 1. And that was party because of the average strength it takes to hold onto something. Also it was cultural; women were less likely to know how to swim, as were children. So much of this is based on how we develop our own survival skills before something goes wrong: Even if nothing goes wrong, it might be good to know how to swim. — Amanda Ripley

He leaned down and cupped her face in his hand. "Every one of the men on my team has scars. And you know what those scars are?" Heaving a shaky breath, she shook her head. "They're proof of survival. They're badges of honor. They're marks of strength." Shane swallowed hard. "You don't have to show me, Crystal. But you do need to know there's nothing on your body I won't love and respect. Because it's you." The words reached into her chest and soothed her heart. — Laura Kaye

Richard looked up at the beautiful, big pines spreading over them, illuminated in the firelight. A spark of understanding lit in his mind. He saw the branches stretched out with murderous intent in a years-long struggle to reach the sunlight and dispatch its neighbors with its shade. Success would give space for its offspring, many of which would also shrivel in the shade of the parent. Several close neighbors of the big pine were withered and weak, victims all. It was true. The design of nature was success by murder. — Terry Goodkind

Right now, in my mind, this is nothing but grip strength and focus. — Joe Teti

The pressures of life and influence of society have caused many to become something and someone they are not. Remove the layers. Dig through the dust and debris. Find the genuine jewel - YOU. — Bobby F. Kimbrough Jr.

If you read stories, you will learn the valuable lessons of life situations, survival and build strength. — Lailah Gifty Akita

Going against the storm requires strength, energy and a will to succeed. — Mitta Xinindlu

You know," Marion said, "I met a woman once when I was a teenager. I knew she had gone through a lot but she was so strong, so compassionate. I asked her how she could be the way she was, and you know what she told me?"
Hadley shook her head.
"She said, 'You can be broken, or broken open. That choice is yours. — Erica Bauermeister

The story of survival is a nice metaphor for our experience making this movie, finding your inner strength and powering through and getting to the endpoint alive. — Katie Aselton

You are on the floor crying,
and you have been on the floor crying
for days.
And that is you being brave.
That is you getting through it
as best you know how.
No one else can decide
What your tough looks like. — Clementine Von Radics

As he journeyed alone toward the monster that is death, we could do nothing to help him, nor the others still alive; all the words of strength on our lips melted away, our love not great enough to bind them to life, and our hope not enough to will them to live. — Alfred Nestor

In times of crisis, people reach for meaning. Meaning is strength. Our survival may depend on our seeking and finding it. — Viktor E. Frankl

She was alone and destitute in a world of pointless carnage. By an eight-hundred-year-old Sepahrdic tradition she ad been since the age of twelve and a half "bogeret l'reshut nafsha"
an adult wit authority over her own soul. The Torah taught, Choose life. And so, rather than die of pride, Sofia Mendes sold what she had to sell, and she survived. — Mary Doria Russell

You can survive any situation with strength of spirit and soul. — Lailah Gifty Akita

Life is ever reaching for strength, vitality, survival and the fulfillment of perpetuating its inherent message of continuance. — Bryant McGill

There are problems and conditions of this world that man nor woman can solve; it requires His grace and mercy. — Bobby F. Kimbrough Jr.

While sitting in the darkness in complete silence, I never realized how much there was to see and hear. There is sight and sound in darkness and silence. Learn to look and listen. — Bobby F. Kimbrough Jr.

To run with the wolf was to run in the shadows, the dark ray of life, survival and instinct. A fierceness that was both proud and lonely, a tearing, a howling, a hunger and thirst. Blessed are they who hunger and thirst. A strength that would die fighting, kicking, screaming, that wouldn't stop until the last breath had been wrung from its body. The will to take one's place in the world. To say 'I am here.' To say 'I am. — O.R. Melling

He held his head, and he cried for them, and he did not melt into the sea but sat, aching, in the glowing moonlight-for in the end our bodies know only how to carry on surviving.
That is our strength, and our tragedy. — Nick Lake

The yard consisted of grass and a Russian Olive tree, which was about the only kind of tree able to survive on the high prairies. Its thin, grey leaves made it look as though it were on the verge of dying, thereby fooling the elements and the bad weather into thinking that they didn't have to bother with something so spindly and bent, something so obviously on its last legs. — Thomas King

Welcome to the apocalypse. Where make-do is a motto and life seems wrong, out-of-place. Where the weak become strong because they have no other choice. — Caroline George

Strength of will - is essential to your survival and success. The competitor who won't go away, who won't stay down, has one of the most formidable competitive advantages of all. In evaluating people, I prize ego. It often translates into a fierce desire to do their best and an inner confidence that stands them in good stead when things really get rough. Psychologists suggest that there is a strong link between ego and competitiveness. All the great performers I've ever coached had ego to spare. — Bill Walsh

From the dream to mainstream...Do whatever is necessary to make your dream a reality. To get others to invest in you and your dreams you must be willing to invest in yourself. — Bobby F. Kimbrough Jr.

In the end, He's the only reason that I made it. Sometimes that's the only thing we have. Whether you call it God, or hope, or faith -whatever word you use- the fact is, I couldn't have survived if I hadn't believed in something. It was the one part of me that neither Warren nor Allen could touch, and no matter what happens, as long as I have that, I've won. — Elissa Wall

All human beings desire to be in a better space and a better place. We all want a peaceful and prosperous life for ourselves and our families. When you don't manage your emotions in high stress, high-pressure situations, you get the opposite of what you want. The domino affect impacts how you live, eat and provide for your family. Is it worth it? Never. Control your emotions. Manage your choices. Your life is depending on it. — Bobby F. Kimbrough Jr.

And Adam ruled, for he was the King. Until the day his will to be King deserted him. Then he died, food for a stronger. And the strongest was always the King, not by strength alone, but King by cunning and luck and strength together. Among the rats. — James Clavell

The atmosphere sets the tone for what is to take place in that space at that time. Your attitude impacts the atmosphere. How is your current attitude affecting the atmosphere and your desired outcome? — Bobby F. Kimbrough Jr.

It is quite clear that as long as the nations of the world spend most of their energy, money, and emotional strength in quarreling with words and weapons, a true offensive against the common problems that threaten human survival is not very likely. A world government that can channel human efforts in the direction of the great solutions seems desirable, even essential. Naturally, such a world government should be a federal one, with regional and local autonomy safeguarded and with cultural diversity promoted. — Isaac Asimov

While looking down memory lane, I realized that I have had an unusual and extraordinary life at times. Then it dawned on me, maybe it's because I'm supposed to help unusual and extraordinary lives. — Bobby F. Kimbrough Jr.

You need your strength and you need as much support from family, friends, and loved ones as you can get. — Michael Korda

We see cancer patients battling death as valiant, and we think that if they try hard enough, they'll beat it. In truth, cancer is an equal-opportunity killer and is impervious to moral virtues and emotional strength. No amount of courage increases a patient's likelihood of survival. For every courageous patient who survives, there is another courageous patient who does not. Of course you'd never know that from popular media, where patients wage battle against cancer and win, and where almost everyone survives CPR and looks remarkably good hooked up to a breathing machine. — Bloomsbury Publishing

To survive in the race of life, you must have the strength and agility to stand the test of time". — Abdulazeez Henry Musa

He was a killer, a thing that preyed, living on the things that lived, unaided, alone, by virtue of his own strength and prowess, surviving triumphantly in a hostile environment where only the strong survive. — Jack London

Only a few will LEAD; the rest will follow. Who is leading you and what are they leading you to? — Bobby F. Kimbrough Jr.

There are no rules.
Love.
Survival.
Truth.
Freedom.
I write my words. I savor them. They have taste and strength and memory and rhythm.
Outside my window, I see the morning star. And I watch it until it winks out in the light of dawn. — Katherine Longshore

As the earth dies your spirit will bloom; as the world fades your soul will rise and glisten. Amongst the dehydrated crevices of a desert earth you will stumble upon your diamonds; in between the dry skulls and cracked bones you will find your sapphires. — C. JoyBell C.

Ever wanted more. After all, women weren't equal to men. They were better. Certainly not in strength or their skill in killing things, but when it came to propagation women absolutely trounced men. Men could bring some chips to the party, but that shindig was always going down in the belly of a woman. And considering that the hardest part of gathering food now was finding a parking spot, strength and killing things were significantly less high on the list of key survival traits. — Matt K. Turner

My grandfather often felt frustrated or baffled by my grandmother's illness, but when it came to the origins of the Skinless Horse he thought he understood. The Skinless Horse was a creature sworn to pursue my grandmother no matter where she went on the face of the globe, whispering to her in the foulest terms of her crimes and the blackness of her soul. There was a voice like that in everyone's head, he figured; in my grandmother's case it was just a matter of degree. You could almost see the Skinless Horse as a clever adapation, a strategy for survival evolved by a proven survivor. If you kept the voice inside your head, the way most people did, there could really be only one way to silence it. He admired the defiance, the refusal to surrender, involuntary but implicit in the act of moving that reproachful whisperer to a shadowy corner of a room, an iron furnace in a cellar, the branches of a grand old tree. — Michael Chabon

Knowledge is power, community is strength and positive attitude is everything — Lance Armstrong

These are NOT times for dramatization and talking, but meditation and praying. — Bobby F. Kimbrough Jr.

In this life you will have some trials and tribulations. You cannot allow what happens to you to dictate who and what you become. Make a decision to do better and be better. — Bobby F. Kimbrough Jr.

I'm saddened by the loss of Black Diamonds that we bury by the thousands every year never knowing the brilliance they possess. I call you my brother
and we embrace with such sincerity while our mother's tears saturate the grounds where our diamonds lay at rest. My question to you, is this innate or hate? We are greater than the current narrative. We must allow the diamonds to shine. May they shine from above. — Bobby F. Kimbrough Jr.

The law of evolution is that the strongest survives!' 'Yes, and the strongest, in the existence of any social species, are those who are most social. In human terms, most ethical ... There is no strength to be gained from hurting one another. Only weakness. — Ursula K. Le Guin

She felt sorry for the female who had been driven to such traits. Who had kept herself apart from all emotions. The female had been born under a curse. The female had done evil and had evil done unto her. The female hardened herself, her mind and her emotions becoming steel. The female had been wrong about that locking down, that self containment. It was not a case of strength, as she always told herself. It was strictly survival ... — J.R. Ward

We don't even know how strong we are until we are forced to bring that hidden strength forward. In times of tragedy, of war, of necessity, people do amazing things. The human capacity for survival and renewal is awesome. — Isabel Allende

She would never be caught unprepared again, she swore to herself. She would never trust. Never love. Never put faith in other human beings again. She would learn all she could of the shape and substance of the world, and she would find a way to survive in it. — David Anthony Durham

The world doesn't change because the sun sets and rises. We can either adapt to survive our circumstance or we can change it. And I know we can't control fate, but I'm sure not going to spend whatever time I have left sitting around and waiting for my life to get better. — Caroline George

The conflict is mainly between the two major linguistic groups, the Sinhalese and the Tamils. The two races are locked, as it were, in a mortal combat, the Sinhalese majority fighting for perpetual domination over the Tamils with the ultimate object of an extinction of the Tamils as a distinct entity and the Tamils struggling for sheer survival.

The combat is an unequal one, for the Sinhalese with their numerical superiority are in possession of all political power and the exclusive control of Government. The Tamils have only the justice of their cause to give them the necessary strength to sustain the struggle — V. Navaratnam

While watching the current state of America, I have concluded we should welcome the truth no matter how it arrives and justice no matter who or what it affects. When we don't, we become a vessel of mendacity and hypocrisy. — Bobby F. Kimbrough Jr.

The goblins of the city may hold committees to divide a single potato, but the strong and the cruel still sit on the hill, and drink vodka, and wear black furs, and slurp borscht by the pail, like blood. Children may wear through their socks marching in righteous parades, but Papa never misses his wine with supper. Therefore, it is better to be strong and cruel than to be fair. At least, one eats better that way. And morality is more dependent on the state of one's stomach than of one's nation. — Catherynne M Valente

I know it is difficult to believe in your own courage or fortitude when everything inside of you feels weak and shattered. But do not believe what you feel. You will not be easily broken. — Rachel L. Schade

Winners see the victory before the contest begins and before they cross the finish line. Get yourself ready. SEE THE VICTORY. — Bobby F. Kimbrough Jr.

When desire meets desire, the stronger one survives. Fulfill your desires! The predator will eat the prey. Our world is a cruel and dirty place ... but that's what makes it so beautiful! Hell is the true paradise! — Naoyuki Ochiai

For the last few days I have been stuck on the power of the touch. I would like to ask a favor - that we touch and agree mentally and spiritually. Going forward, let us take on the mindset of Kings and Queens and govern every thing in our space as such. Expect greatness. Anything less is unacceptable. — Bobby F. Kimbrough Jr.

Temper us in fire, and we grow stronger. When we suffer, we survive. — Cassandra Clare

From everything that I've read, people before the collapse were what I would politely call "weak". I'm sure they were nice enough, smart enough, and probably thought they had everything under control, but it doesn't take much to shatter your world. Luk and I had been training for this our entire lives, preparing to enter a world of harsh realities and it's nearly been the end us both multiple times. Back in the day, when chaos reigned, it was kill or be killed, there was little middle ground. The weak definitely did not inherit the Earth. Strength is survival.

Sojourn Book III - The Beastlands — B.D. Messick

When you make yourself a better you, you inevitably make a better life for your family. That's the thing I'll always embrace and you should too. Better yourself. Enjoy your life. — Bobby F. Kimbrough Jr.

I've always loved strong women, which is lucky for me because once you're over about twenty-five there is no other kind. Women blow my mind. The stuff that routinely gets done to them would make most men curl up and die, but women turn to steel and keep on coming. Any man who claims he's not into strong women is fooling himself mindless; he's into strong women who know how to pout prettily and put on baby voices, and who will end up keeping his balls in her makeup bags. — Tana French

Endurance of life problems, spirit of survival. — Lailah Gifty Akita

Does anything in nature despair except man? An animal with a foot caught in a trap does not seem to despair. It is too busy trying to survive. It is all closed in, to a kind of still, intense waiting. Is this a key? Keep busy with survival. Imitate the trees. Learn to lose in order to recover, and remember that nothing stays the same for long, not even pain, psychic pain. Sit it out. Let it all pass. Let it go. — May Sarton

Years ago this was just a place where I was assigned to work. Today looking at this place represents the opportunity that God allowed me to see the beauty of His works. The difference in then and now - I guess our views are a representative of our growth. Thankful. — Bobby F. Kimbrough Jr.

She looked at me with gentle indignation. She was what we have after sixty million years of the Cenozoic. There were a lot of random starts and dead ends. Those big plated pea-brain lizards didn't make it. Sharks, scorpions and cockroaches, as living fossils, are lasting pretty well. Savagery, venom and guile are good survival quotients. This forked female mammal didn't seem to have enough tools. One night in the swamps would kill her. Yet behind all that fragility was a marvelous toughness. A Junior Allen was less evolved. He was a skull-cracker, two steps away from the cave. They were at the two ends of our bell curve, with all the rest of us lumped in the middle. If the trend is still supposed to be up, she was of the kind we should breed, accepting sensitivity as a strength rather than a weakness. But there is too much Junior Allen seed around. — John D. MacDonald

She has many names and many visages. She has loves and desires. She dares to dream of a future for herself and her people, despite living under the shadow of the gun, the acrid odour of devastation clogging her nostrils. For the most part she is stoic, for the garrison is also her home, her workplace, her field and her playground. Sometimes, she cries out in anguish, but the sound is muted, for there are few who want to hear. Her suffering and courage would be the stuff of legend, if only legend consisted of ordinary women carrying out extraordinary acts, going about the daily business of survival, displaying super-human strength in countering a mighty military juggernaut. — Laxmi Murthy

Life in general was cruel and offered only different types of voids and chaos. The only way to tolerate it, to have any hope of escaping it, I reasoned, was to know my own strength, to defy life by surviving it. — Lucy Grealy

Price and Cost. Sometimes we pay more. Sometimes we pay less. You've got to determine what you are willing to pay for success. — Bobby F. Kimbrough Jr.

I was sitting here staring at the trees in my parents yard and wondering - season after season the trees continue to grow no matter what the weather. I guess they are just grounded and rooted and don't concern themselves with the seasons. When are we going to truly get rooted and grounded so that we continue to grow regardless? — Bobby F. Kimbrough Jr.

A guy who is equipped mentally and educationally doesn't need a confidence check. He is positioned and prepared to GO. Are you? — Bobby F. Kimbrough Jr.

As black people in a white-supremacist culture we have had a psychohistory of learning to utterly hide or repress our vulnerability in order to survive. When this survival strategy links with the overall cultural devaluation of vulnerability it makes sense that so many black folks have wrongly interpreted invulnerability as a sign of emotional strength. Maintaining this survival strategy when we no longer have to fear extreme violence at the hands of racist whites has damaged our emotional and intimate bonds. The inability to be vulnerable means that we are unable to feel. If we cannot feel we cannot truly emotionally connect with one another. We cannot know love. No wonder then that the lovelessness that abounds in our culture is even more intense among African-Americans. — Bell Hooks

But for the overcrowded, for those who have little or nothing except, sometimes, courage and love, hope works differently. Hope is then something to bite on, to put between the teeth. Don't forget this. Be a realist. With hope between the teeth comes the strength to carry on even when fatigue never lets up, comes strength, when necessary, to choose not to shout at the wrong moment, comes the strength above all not to howl. A person, with hope between her or his teeth, is a brother or sister who commands respect. — John Berger