Quotes About Resilience

Sometimes you receive a knock in action: it may be your death-wound or just a scratch

He remembered his own wedding-day and the desperate feeling of being caught on a leeshore in a gale of wind, unable to claw off, tide setting hard against him, anchors coming home.

Well, my lord, the one was something that dropped on my head - a piece of mortar-shell, I imagine; but luckily I was in the water at the time, so it did little damage, only tearing off a handsbreadth of scalp. The other was a sword-thrust I did not notice at the moment, but it seems it nicked some vessel, and most of my blood ran out before I was aware. Dr Maturin said he did not suppose there was more than three ounces left, and that mostly in my toes.

Do you mean to fight with her?' 'I mean to sink, take, burn or destroy her,' said Jack, a smile flashing across his face.

A people that has had its ancient laws and customs taken from it, whose language and history count for nothing, and whose temples have been sacked and thrown down is apt to be morose

The grief and anxiety did not die away, but of necessity they receded.

Bless you, Jack, an inch of steel in the right place will do wonders. Man is a pitiably frail machine

Human beings, you see, fall apart all the time. In many different ways. That is the central theme. There is no need to disguise it.

Sometimes when our backs are up against the wall, we can surprise ourselves with what we are truly capable of. We can push off those walls and discover something deep within ourselves. We just have to make sure we do not create walls within ourselves, or between us and other people. Walls are for scaling. Or for knocking down and crumbling.

The military prizes reliability and durability over accuracy.

Patrick Sweeney

Life doesn't end on the kitchen floor while there is the will to dance.

It was Sunday, and Mumma had gone next door with Lena and the little ones. Under the pepper tree in the yard Pa was sorting, counting, the empty bottles he would sell back: the bottles going clink clink as Pa stuck them in the sack. The fowls were fluffing in the dust and sun: that crook-neck white pullet Mumma said she would hit on the head if only she had the courage to; but she hadn't.

Feet, what do I need you for when I have wings to fly? —FRIDA KAHLO

Those of us who refuse to risk and grow get swallowed up by life.

The times make those who live in them

Life is brutal, and so are facts.

Each Whining Thing (1929) When stripèd snakes shall creep upon us And the nervous screams of birds Make silent all the fountains and the orchards and when these Have caught upon the wing each wing That flutters from the sky Then shall I and then shall I Rip out the smiles from garden walks Transform the minnows into hawks Tarantulas and bees Then shall I and then shall I Unmake each whining thing.

Only one thing remained reachable, close and secure amid all losses: language. Yes, language. In spite of everything, it remained secure against loss.

Only one thing remained reachable, close and secure amid all losses: language. Yes, language. In spite of everything, it remained secure against loss. But it had to go through its own lack of answers, through terrifying silence, through the thousand darknesses of murderous speech. It went through. It gave me no words for what was happening, but went through it. Went through and could resurface, 'enriched' by it all.

Left, Right. Steady effort. This is familiar. Most accomplishment is like this . . . Not the result of decisive actions, or moments of truth. No, persistence is the source of the best of what we do, of real change. Even, single-minded persistence.

Life always finds a way

Il est facile de se tourner vers Dieu quand le reste n'est plus là.

if your training isn't gradually lessening the pain in your life, you're doing something wrong.