A man, as a general rule, owes very little to what he is born with, a man is what he makes himself. Alexander Graham Bell
Nobody is stronger, nobody is weaker than someone who came back. There is nothing you can do to such a person because whatever you could do is less than what has already been done to him. We have already paid the price. Elie Wiesel
In spite of everything that was done to me and my race, in spite of the adversity and the bitter moments, again we rise. Maya Angelou
In a mad world, only the mad are sane. Akiro Kurosawa
Peace is the one condition of survival in this nuclear age. Adlai Stevenson
All I'm trying to do is not join my ancestral spirits just yet. Joshua Nkomo
Hunger, love, pain, fear are some of those inner forces which rule the individual's instinct for self preservation. Albert Einstein
If you live among wolves you have to act like a wolf. Nikita Khrushchev
To survive it is often necessary to fight and to fight you have to dirty yourself. George Orwell
Once one determines that he or she has a mission in life, that's it's not going to be accomplished without a great deal of pain, and that the rewards in the end may not outweigh the pain --if you recognize historically that always happens, then when it comes, you survive it. Richard M. Nixon
Man can live about forty days without food, about three days without water, about eight minutes without air, but only for one second without hope. Charles Darwin
Survival is nothing more than recovery. Dianne Feinstein
The ability to delude yourself may be an important survival tool. Jane Wagner
Through humor, you can soften some of the worst blows that life delivers. And once you find laughter, no matter how painful your situation might be, you can survive it. Bill Cosby
In a world where change is inevitable and continuous, the need to achieve that change without violence is essential for survival. Andrew Young
For Harmony. A chance at life. To fight on other days. Janet Morris
The consciousness of being deemed dead, is next to the presumable unpleasantness of being so in reality. One feels like his own ghost unlawfully tenanting a defunct carcass. Herman Melville
Nature's stern discipline enjoins mutual help at least as often as warfare. The fittest may also be the gentlest. Theodosius Dobzhansky
The faster you can signal for rescue, the faster you get out of that situation. Joseph Teti
You don't know if you're going to be rescued in a day or a month; gotta prepare for the long haul; gotta make the place your home. Matt Graham
The man who goes afoot, prepared to camp anywhere and in any weather, is the most independent fellow on earth. Horace Kephart
Perhaps catastrophe is the natural human environment, and even though we spend a good deal of energy trying to get away from it, we are programmed for survival amid catastrophe. Germaine Greer
Tis the last rose of summer Left blooming alone; All her lovely companions Are faded and gone. Thomas More
Every day I run scared. That's the only way I can stay ahead. John H. Johnson
The condition of man... is a condition of war of everyone against everyone. Thomas Hobbes
And while the law of competition may be sometimes hard for the individual, it is best for the race, because it ensures the survival of the fittest in every department. Andrew Carnegie
It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but rather the one most adaptable to change. Clarence Darrow
Resilience is the maintenance of high levels of positive affect and well-being in the face of adversity. It is not that resilient individuals never experience negative affect, but rather that the negative affect does not persist. Richard J. Davidson
Self-preservation is the first principle of our nature. Alexander Hamilton
In truth, we exist and survive, not because of the ego, but in spite of it. David R. Hawkins
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45 Survival quotes that will bring toughness out in you. Here are the best survival quotes to read from famous people that will inspire you positively, and will push you to the limits that will help you keep going. Difficult times are unavoidable, for you to survive those times, you have to be smart, determined, and courageous to come up with a solution or strategy to overcome those hardships. May these quotes on survival help you acquire the knowledge you need for those times in your life, to serve as an inspiration that will make you endure tough situations to survive. Share these quotes about survival with your friends, family, and loved ones to inspire them as well.
1. Survival can be summed up in three words - never give up. That's the heart of it really. Just keep trying. - Bear Grylls
3. Fear is a part of life. It's a warning mechanism. That's all. It tells you when there's danger around. Its job is to help you survive. Not cripple you into being unable to do it. - Jim Butcher
4. The weak fall, but the strong will remain and never go under. - Anne Frank
5. At this crucial time in our lives, when everything is so desperate, when every day is a matter of survival, I don't think you can help but be involved. - Nina Simone
6. It is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change. - Leon C. Megginson
7. You have to seed internal disruptors. You need sources of internal disruption. They don't guarantee your survival, but you have got to try. - Anand Mahindra
8. Life comes from physical survival; but the good life comes from what we care about. - Rollo May
9. In a world where change is inevitable and continuous, the need to achieve that change without violence is essential for survival. - Andrew Young
10. If you live among wolves you have to act like a wolf. - Nikita Khrushchev
11. To have endured horrors, to have seen the worst of humanity and have your life made unrecognizable by it, to come out of all that honorable and brave, that was magical. - Ransom Riggs
12. Survivors aren't always the strongest; sometimes they're the smartest, but more often simply the luckiest. - Carrie Ryan
13. One thing you have to realize from now on is that it doesn't matter if this is a dream or not. Survival depends on what you do, not what you think. - Rebecca McKinsey
14. A scar does not form on the dying. A scar means, I survived. - Chris Cleave
15. Survival is the celebration of choosing life over death. We know we're going to die. We all die. But survival is saying: perhaps not today. In that sense, survivors don't defeat death, they come to terms with it. - Laurence Gonzales
16. I fight on emotions. When I don't fight on emotions, I don't fight well. I fight on emotion, because I'm in for survival. - Tito Ortiz
17. When you're in survival mode, you numb yourself. - Clemantine Wamariya
18. Survival requires us to leave our prejudices at home. It's about doing whatever it takes, and ultimately those with the biggest heart will win. - Bear Grylls
19. Credibility is a basic survival tool. - Rebecca Solnit
20. To survive it is often necessary to fight and to fight you have to dirty yourself. - George Orwell
21. They tried to bury us. They didn't know we were seeds. - Dinos Christianopoulos
22. Knowledge is power, community is strength and positive attitude is everything. - Lance Armstrong
23. Most of us can hide our greatest hurts and longings. It's how we survive each day. We pretend the pain isn't there, that we are made of scars instead of wounds. - Leigh Bardugo
24. We need to be fit and ready for anything that might come our way. - Aaron B. Powell
25. I've come to learn from my own experiences and those around me that it's not about survival of the fittest but about who can adapt the best to change. - Natalya Neidhart
26. There's nothing wrong with struggle. Anytime I look back at a difficult phase of my life and see what grew out of it, the creative survival tactics, I think that the good is way better than the bad. - Esperanza Spalding
27. Survival is not about being fearless. It's about making a decision, getting on and doing it. - Bear Grylls
Fear is always there; it's a survival instinct. You just need to know how to manage it. - Jimmy Chin
29. Connections with other people affect not only the quality of our lives but also our survival. - Dean Ornish
30. Sustainability is the key to our survival on this planet and will also determine success on all levels. - Shari Arison
31. Through humor, you can soften some of the worst blows that life delivers. And once you find laughter, no matter how painful your situation might be, you can survive it. - Bill Cosby
32. But part of surviving is being able to move on. - Alexandra Bracken
33. Scars are not signs of weakness, they are signs of survival and endurance. - Rodney A. Winters
34. Bad things happen. And the human brain is especially adept at making sure that we keep track of these events. This is an adaptive mechanism important for survival. - David Perlmutter
35. Fears, insecurities, and the need to please can rule our lives. Our society is economically and socially set up for us to live under these pressures in order to maintain its control and survival. - Tara Stiles
36. In our struggle to restrain the violence and contain the damage, we tend to forget that the human capacity for aggression is more than a monstrous defect, that it is also a crucial survival tool. - Katherine Dunn
37. Survival is not just a physical thing. It's a constant mental affair. So, I kind of really draw a lot of power from that word. - Parvathy
38. The ability to delude yourself may be an important survival tool. - Jane Wagner
39. The human being is very resourceful. When you fight for survival, you don't think much; you just do. If you think too much, you sink. - Frank Lowy
40. The man who goes afoot, prepared to camp anywhere and in any weather, is the most independent fellow on earth. - Horace Kephart
41. The key to the survival of liberty in the modern world is the embrace of multiple identities. - Timothy Garton Ash
42. Survival starts by paying attention to what is close at hand and immediate. To look out with idle hope is tantamount to dreaming one's life away. - Yann Martel
43. In the game of life, less diversity means fewer options for change. Wild or domesticated, panda or pea, adaptation is the requirement for survival. - Cary Fowler
44. You have to have an attitude that nothing's gonna stop me. - Melissa De Sousa
45. The ability to sympathize with those around us seems crucial to our survival, and it's connected to the mirroring functions of the brain. - Jay Parini
SURVIVAL QUOTES
quotations about survival
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
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
A scar does not form on the dying. A scar means, I survived.
CHRIS CLEAVE
Little Bee
On a long enough timeline, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero.
CHUCK PALAHNIUK
Fight Club
I told her once I wasn't good at anything. She told me survival is a talent.
SUSANNA KAYSEN
Girl, Interrupted
Every survival kit should include a sense of humor.
E. C. MCKENZIE
14,000 Quips and Quotes: For Speakers, Writers, Editors, Preachers and Teachers
I'll never be an angel
I'll never be a saint, it's true
I'm too busy surviving
MADONNA
"Survival"
Survivors can't always choose their methods.
PATRICIA BRIGGS
Dragon Blood
Preparation is what we have left when the plan falls apart. Acquiring the skills necessary for survival is a part of this preparation. However, it takes much more than the knowledge and skills to build shelters, find food, make fires and travel without the aid of standard navigational devices to live successfully through a survival or evasion situation. Some people with little or no survival training have managed to survive life-threatening circumstances. Some people with survival training have not used their skills and have died. A key ingredient in any survival situation is the mental attitude of the people involved. Having survival skills and proper preparation are important. Having the will to survive is essential.
U. S. ARMY CORPS, NAVY, AND AIR FORCE
U.S. Military Pocket Survival Guide: Plus Evasion & Recovery
Survival is the ability to swim in strange water.
FRANK HERBERT
Dune
There are as many ways to survive as there are survivors.
AMANDA ROBB
Good Housekeeping, April 2009
Survival is a dying art.
BARRY DAVIES
Survival Is a Dying Art
Live on, survive, for the earth gives forth wonders. It may swallow your heart, but the wonders keep on coming. You stand before them bareheaded, shriven. What is expected of you is attention.
SALMAN RUSHDIE
The Ground Beneath Her Feet
The problem with survival of the fittest is the corpse at your feet.
WATERDOWN
"Corporate Identity"
Whatever gets you through the night.
It's alright. It's alright.
JOHN LENNON
Whatever Gets You Through the Night
The duty of the survivor is to bear testimony to what happened ... You have to warn people that these things can happen, that evil can be unleashed. Race hatred, violence, idolatries--they still flourish.
ELIE WIESEL
"Will Hatred Ever End?", The Watchtower, June 15, 1995
If needs are not fundamentally different from wants, however, then the contention that flourishing is a matter of wants and survival is a matter of needs collapses.
TARA SMITH
Viable Values
I survived, but my friends didn't. It wasn't until days later that a sense of dread and guilt set in. Was it my fault? Could I have saved Juan and Drew? And what of my place as a survivor? There I stood, uninjured, but broken. I had no outward sign of suffering -- I didn't walk with a limp or need physical therapy. But somehow, I was still hurting. I kept asking myself: as a physically unscarred survivor, did I even deserve a voice at all?
BRANDON J. WOLF
"Pulse victim: How I learned the meaning of survival", CNN, June 11, 2022
You finally reached the shore, survived the storm
Now you're bare and cold, the sea was warm
METALLICA
"Poor Twisted Me"
Survival often feels like an indignity.
GUILLERMO DEL TORO & CHUCK HOGAN
The Fall
Only the strong survive
You better wake up from that fantasy
I think it's time that you opened your eyes
Don't be afraid to see what you might see
THE TUBES
"Only the Strong Survive"
What does survival mean to you?
At its simplest, Merriam-Webster defines “survival” as ‘the act of living or continuing longer than another person or thing’. Basic survival centers around maintaining three fundamental factors: food, water, and shelter.
But often, survival is a deep-rooted and complex concept fueled by physical and mental strength. Through the power of survival, many have trudged through dark times and found their light at the end of the tunnel. In this collection of inspiring quotes, we have captured experiences from survival instructors, motivational speakers, celebrities, and more.
Check out the survival quotes listed below for your daily dose of motivation.
Inspirational survival quotes
“Survivors aren’t always the strongest; sometimes they’re the smartest, but more often simply the luckiest.” – Carrie Ryan
“Survival can be summed up in three words, never give up. That’s the heart of it really. Just keep trying.” – Bear Grylls
Survival quotes about business
“And while the law of competition may be sometimes hard for the individual, it is best for the race, because it ensures the survival of the fittest in every department.” – Andrew Carnegie
“Adaptability and constant innovation is key to the survival of any company operating in a competitive market.” – Shiv Nadar
“Nobody talks of entrepreneurship as survival, but that’s exactly what it is and what nurtures creative thinking.” – Anita Roddick
“Success seems to be connected with action. Successful people keep moving. They make mistakes, but they don’t quit.” – Conrad Hilton
“The important thing is not being afraid to take a chance. Remember, the greatest failure is to not try. Once you find something you love to do, be the best at doing it.” – Debbi Fields
“The winners in life think constantly in terms of I can, I will, and I am. Losers, on the other hand, concentrate their waking thoughts on what they should have or would have done, or what they can’t do.” – Dennis Waitley
“It takes more than capital to swing business. You’ve got to have the A. I. D. degree to get by — Advertising, Initiative, and Dynamics.” – Ren Mulford Jr.
“Surviving a failure gives you more self-confidence. Failures are great learning tools.. but they must be kept to a minimum.” – Jeffrey Immelt
“People are definitely a company’s greatest asset. It doesn’t make any difference whether the product is cars or cosmetics. A company is only as good as the people it keeps.” – Mary Kay Ash
Survival quotes about perseverance
“I am someone who always gets up again, even if there are setbacks. I have a survivor instinct. I’m not sure where it comes from, but probably from all the little things that make you into who you are.” – Heidi Klum
“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
“The rules of survival never change, whether you’re in a desert or in an arena.” – Bear Grylls
“The human being is very resourceful. When you fight for survival, you don’t think much; you just do. If you think too much, you sink.” – Frank Lowy
“Self-interest is but the survival of the animal in us. Humanity only begins for man with self-surrender.” – Henri Frederic Amiel
“When you’re placed in a world where survival is the main focus, a lot of that other stuff, like wrongdoings in the past, become obsolete. You have to focus on the here and now.” – Alycia Debnam-Carey
“Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance.” – Samuel Johnson
“Success is no accident. It is hard work, perseverance, learning, studying, sacrifice and most of all, love of what you are doing or learning to do.” – Pele
“By perseverance the snail reached the ark.” – Charles Spurgeon
“Of all that is good, sublimity is supreme. Succeeding is the coming together of all that is beautiful. Furtherance is the agreement of all that is just. Perseverance is the foundation of all actions.” – Lao Tzu
“In the real world, all rests on perseverance.” – Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
“Perseverance is failing 19 times and succeeding the 20th.” – Julie Andrews
Survival quotes about the environment
“The more we exploit nature, The more our options are reduced, until we have only one: to fight for survival.” – Mo Udall
“Sustainability is the key to our survival on this planet and will also determine success on all levels.” – Shari Arison
“It angers me when sustainability gets used as a buzzword. For 90 percent of the world, sustainability is a matter of survival.” – Cameron Sinclair
“Earth is abundant with plentiful resources. Our practice of rationing resources through monetary control is no longer relevant and is counterproductive to our survival.” – Jacque Fresco
“They claim this mother of ours, the Earth, for their own use, and fence their neighbors away from her, and deface her with their buildings and their refuse.” – Sitting Bull
“Raising awareness on the most pressing environmental issues of our time is more important than ever.” – Leonardo DiCaprio
“We are using resources as if we had two planets, not one. There can be no ‘plan B' because there is no ‘planet B.'” – Ban Ki-moon
Survival quotes on what it means to survive
“We need 4 hugs a day for survival. We need 8 hugs a day for maintenance. We need 12 hugs a day for growth.” – Virginia Satir
“Humor is one of the best ingredients of survival.” – Aung San Suu Kyi
“Escapism is survival to me.” – Johnny Depp
“Survival is not about being fearless. It’s about making a decision, getting on and doing it, because I want to see my kids again, or whatever the reason might be.” – Bear Grylls
“Living in a small town, one of the keys to survival was your imagination.” – Nick Nolte
“To cherish what remains of the Earth and to foster its renewal is our only legitimate hope of survival.” – Wendell Berry
“Survival is nothing more than recovery.” – Dianne Feinstein
“In the kind of world we have today, transformation of humanity might well be our only real hope for survival.” – Stanislav Grof
“Survival is a privilege which entails obligations. I am forever asking myself what I can do for those who have not survived.” – Simon Wiesenthal
“Survival, in the cool economics of biology, means simply the persistence of one’s own genes in the generations to follow.” – Lewis Thomas
“In a world where change is inevitable and continuous, the need to achieve that change without violence is essential for survival.” – Andrew Young
What is one thing you believe is integral to your survival?
The above survival quotes discuss two separate themes: preservation and perseverance. Each is integral to survival. Preservation, for example, is a physical act that provides us with the resources needed for basic survival. Perseverance, on the other hand, is a mental state that prepares us for struggles that may come our way.
Write down your definition of survival on a piece of paper. Put it where you will see it often; so you can be reminded what your true goal is, as the day progresses.