As someone who’s chronically ill, a good quote – be it inspirational, sad, funny, even morbid (maybe especially morbid!) – can inspire me to carry on for another day. Words are magical. String them in a sequence, and they can generate so much hope. Rearrange them again, and they can serve to inspire, then stir up fury, before instilling calm once more. I have put together some chronic illness quotes on this page, in hope that it helps you through your day.
I personally believe that the best way to deal with chronic pain is through acceptance of our emotions, circumstances, limitations and strengths. I admit that this isn’t easy to do, and I still struggle with it. I’ve arranged the chronic illness quotes below into categories that I feel suits them best to make for easy viewing. I’d also like to emphasise the importance of perspective; some quotes help me today, but not tomorrow. So take only what you need today.
It is also my hope that this chronic illness quotes page becomes a community hub. If you have a good quote that you’d like to share, be it from a book, movie, or even your own, please click on ‘Contribute a Quote’ button below. I plan on updating this page with more chronic illness quotes every now and then, so do come back to browse if you enjoy a good quote. Don’t forget to pin your favourite quotes here to share and refer to as well. Thank you and happy browsing!
*Disclaimer: This page is meant for educational purposes. I am not a doctor, and nothing in this article should be substituted for medical advice. Please consult your own doctor before changing or adding any new treatment protocols. This page may also contain affiliate links. It will cost you nothing to click on them. I will get a small referral fee from purchases you make, which helps with the maintenance of this blog. Read our Privacy Policy page for more information. Thank you!
New Quotes Added: 15 March 2025
Table of Contents
Quotes on Healing & Coping with Chronic Pain
“Healing involves discomfort. But so is refusing to heal. And over time, refusing to heal is always more painful.” – Resmaa Menakem
“You will get through this. You don’t really have a choice.” – Art of Poets
“Nobody realises that some people expend tremendous energy merely to be normal.” – Albert Camus
“Sometimes nourishing yourself means subtracting, not adding.” – Sheryl Chan, A Chronic Voice (Read the post here.)
Inspirational Quotes for the Chronically Ill
“When it is obvious that the goals cannot be reached, don’t adjust the goals, adjust the action steps.” – Confucius
“Start by doing what is necessary, then what is possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” – Francis of Assisi
“And now you don’t have to be perfect, you can be good.” – John Steinback
“The best place to succeed is where you are with what you have.” – Charles Schwab
“Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” – John Wooden
“There are victories of the soul and spirit. Sometimes, even if you lose, you win.” – Eliezer Wiesel
“I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something I can do.” – Edward Everett Hale
“Real generosity toward the future lies in giving all to the present.” – Albert Camus
“Things work out best for those who make the best of how things work out.” – John Wooden
“When you reach the end of your rope, tie a knot in it and hang on.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt
“There are plenty of difficult obstacles in your path. Don’t allow yourself to become one of them.” – Ralph Marston
“I’m not afraid of storms, for I’m learning how to sail my ship.” – Louisa May Alcott
Thank you to @serenebutterfly of brainlesionandme.com for the contribution!
“Everyone is gifted – but some people never open their package!” – Wolfgang Riebe
“Don’t believe everything you think.” – Robert Fulghum
“Courage isn’t having the strength to go on – it is going on when you don’t have strength.” – Napoleon Bonaparte
“It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.” – Lou Holtz
“You cannot see your reflection in boiling water. Similarly, you can’t see the truth in a state of anger. When the waters calm, clarity comes.” – Unknown
“We are like books. Most people only see our cover, the minority read only the introduction, many people believe the critics. Few will know our content.” – Emile Zola
“Remember that sometimes not getting what you want is a wonderful stroke of luck.” – Dalai Lama
Quotes on Time & Patience
“Patience is also a form of action.” – Auguste Rodin
“Breathe. What else in life could be more important than that?” – Sheryl Chan, A Chronic Voice (Read the full poem here.)
“Time is a created thing. To say ‘I don’t have time,’ is like saying, ‘I don’t want to.” – Unknown (Various sources attributed)
“If we take care of the moments, the years will take care of themselves.” – Maria Edgeworth
“You should sit in meditation for 20 minutes every day- unless you are too busy. Then you should sit for an hour.” – Zen Proverb
Quotes on Joy & Happiness
“Stop looking for happiness in the same place you lost it.” – Anonymous
“Our idea of happiness is our main obstacle to happiness.” – Thich Nhat Hanh
Quotes on Empathy & Kindness
“The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the greatest intention.” – Kahlil Gibran
“When people allow you to know about their pain and talk about it, take your shoes off. It’s a holy place. Be humble, be kind when someone shows you vulnerability.” – Amani Albair
“Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.” – Dalai Lama
Affirmations & Self-Love Chronic Illness Quotes
“Don’t set sail on someone else’s star.” – African Proverb
“Character is what you know you are, not what others think you have.” – Marva Collins
“The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don’t have any.” – Alice Walker
“There is only one me amongst the billions of us on this planet, and we are all worth something in that regard.” – Sheryl Chan, A Chronic Voice (Read the post here.)
“My body is a bloody mess, but I love it just the same.” – Sheryl Chan, A Chronic Voice
“Certain things lose their power the moment you accept them to be true, because they can no longer prey on your thoughts. Take your self-confidence back.” – Sheryl Chan, A Chronic Voice (Read the post here.)
“My vulnerability may symbolise weakness, yet becomes a strength when used like a knife. I don’t have to put the broken pieces back together, because what would I cut and mark with, then?” – Sheryl Chan, A Chronic Voice (Read the post here.)
“The only thing that was ever wrong with me was my belief that there was something wrong with me.” – Glennon Doyle
“Be you, love you. All ways, always.” – Alexandra Elle
“A bird sitting on a tree is never afraid of the branch breaking, because its trust is not on the branch but on its own wings.” – Charlie Wardle
“Most people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten years.” – Known as “Gates’ Law”; original author unknown
“When you give up, there is a sense of despair and lost hope. There is nothing else to look forward to in life. Self-acceptance on the other hand is empowering.” – Sheryl Chan, A Chronic Voice (Read the post here.)
“You can only lose something that you have, but you cannot lose something that you are.” – Eckhark Tolle
“Remember no one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
“Your story is what you have, what you will always have. It is something to own.” – Michelle Obama
“Sometimes when you lose your way, you find yourself.” – Mandy Hale
“You have been criticising yourself for years and it hasn’t worked. Try approving of yourself and see what happens.” – Louise Hay
“We are all ordinary. We are all boring. We are all spectacular. We are all shy. We are all bold. We are all heroes. We are all helpless. It just depends on the day.” – Brad Meltzer
“Your scars are a warning to all future monsters, of the hell you have survived before them, every demon you vanquished, and every battle you won.” – Nikita Gill
“There is nothing wrong with being fragile, my dear. A fragile thing like you has the power to cut someone in two.” – Eloise Night
“No one can heal you the way you can heal yourself, and that’s one of your greatest superpowers.” – Spiritual League?
“What other people think of me is none of my business.” – Wayne Dyer
“You cannot be anything you want to be – but you can be a lot more of who you already are.” – Tom Rath, Strengths Finder
“Capability is to pursue life, but sometimes that means focusing inwards and not pushing outwards.” – Sheryl Chan, A Chronic Voice. (Read the post here.)
“Self-compassion is an extension of acceptance, where we give ourselves the permission we need to heal.” – Sheryl Chan, A Chronic Voice
“Be careful how you are talking to yourself, because you are listening.” – Lisa Hayes
“Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it’s thinking of yourself less.” – Rick Warren
“I’ll never harden my heart, but I’ve toughened the muscles around it.” – Dolly Parton
Productivity & Motivational Quotes
“If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten.” – Anonymous
“The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.” – Stephen Covey
“Done is better than perfect.” – Sheryl Sandberg
“Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.” – William James
“Don’t be pushed by your problems, be led by your dreams.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Don’t be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.” – John D. Rockefeller
“If you want something you’ve never had, you must be willing to do something you’ve never done.” – Thomas Jefferson
“Face your fears voluntarily: that’s the cure.” – Jordan Peterson
“The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried.” – Stephen McCranie
Quotes on Life & Hope
“In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.” – Robert Frost
“The meaning of life differs from man to man, and from moment to moment.” – Viktor Frankl
“Clay is fashioned into vessels; but it is on their empty hollowness that their use depends.” – Lao Tzu
“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” – Annie Dillard
‘”To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.” – Oscar Wilde
“If life were predictable it would cease to be life, and be without flavour.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
“Every next level of your life will demand a different you.” – Leonardo Di Caprio (Read the post here for more insight.)
“Think of giving not as a duty but as a privilege.” – John D. Rockefeller Jr.
“Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it. My optimism, then, does not rest on the absence of evil, but on a glad belief in the preponderance of good and a willing effort always to cooperate with the good, that it may prevail.” ― Helen Keller
“Maybe life isn’t about avoiding the bruises. Maybe it’s about collecting the scars to prove that we showed up for it.” — Hannah Brencher
“Don’t let yesterday take up too much of today.” – Will Rogers
“Let the waves carry you where the light can not.” – Mohit Kaushik Yenugwar
“Live to the point of tears.” – Albert Camus
“Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content.” – Helen Keller
“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.
“Life is like a piano; the white keys represent happiness and the black show sadness. But as you go through life’s journey, remember that the black keys also create music.” – Ehssan
“To be a human being among people and to remain one forever, no matter in what circumstances, not to grow despondent and not to lose heart – that’s what life is all about, that’s its task.” – Fyodor Dostoyevsky
“People speak of hope as if it is this delicate, ephemeral thing made of whispers and spider’s webs. It’s not. Hope has dirt on her face, blood on her knuckles, the grit of the cobblestones in her hair, and just spat out a tooth as she rises for another go.” – Matthew (CrowsFault)
“It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all, in which case you have failed by default.” – J. K. Rowling
“They tried to bury us, but they didn’t know we were seeds.” – Dinos Christianopoulos
Quotes on Change & Adaptability
“When we give ourselves permission to fail, we, at the same time, give ourselves permission to excel.” – Eloise Ristad
“The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” ~ Confucius
“The secret of change is to focus all of your energy not on fighting the old, but on building the new.” – Socrates
“If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.” -Maya Angelou
“Impossible is merely possibility waiting to be solved. If we know it’s impossible, then we do not know enough.” – Sheryl Chan, A Chronic Voice
“If it costs you your peace, it’s too expensive.” – Nassim Nicholas Taleb
“Just take any step, whether small or large. And then another and repeat day after day. It may take months, maybe years, but the path to success will become clear.” – Aaron Ross
“To get better this year, means getting better today.” – Sheryl Chan, A Chronic Voice (Read the post here.)
“You won’t find the same person twice, not even in the same person.” – Mahmoud Darwish
“The goal is not to change who you are but to become more of who you are at your best.” – Sally Hogshead
“A wise man once said: “Don’t be afraid to start over again. This time, you’re not starting from scratch. You’re starting from experience.” – Anonymous
“Where your fear is, there your task is.” – Carl Jung
“It is not the most intellectual of the species that survives; it is not the strongest that survives; but the species that survives is the one that is able to adapt to and to adjust best to the changing environment in which it finds itself.” – Charles Darwin
“If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.” – Dalai Lama
“Big things are built one brick at a time. Victories are achieved one choice at a time. A life well lived is chosen one day at a time.” – Lysa TerKeurst
Funny Chronic Illness Quotes
“Even if you’re on the right track, you’ll get run over if you just sit there.” – Will Rogers
“People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing – that’s why we recommend it daily.” – Zig Ziglar
“Life gave me so many lemons I don’t know what to do with all the spares. Would you like one?” – Sheryl Chan, A Chronic Voice
“If at first you don’t succeed, have some cake.” “I see. Does it work?” “Every time.” ― Charlie Mackesy, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
“Laughter is the best medicine. Crying is the affordable generic brand.” – Marianne Williamson
“There cannot be a stressful crisis next week. My schedule is already full.” – Henry Kissinger
“I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several days attack me at once.” – Jennifer Yane
“I love sleep. My life has the tendency to fall apart when I’m awake, you know?” – Ernest Hemingway
“This too shall pass. It may pass like a kidney stone, but it will pass.” – Unknown
Quotes on Grief, Loss & Sorrow
“Grief, like chronic pain, comes and goes. It is the ocean, and I am the shore. I will be broken, but there I remain.” – Sheryl Chan, A Chronic Voice (Read the post here.)
“For of all sad words of tongue or pen, the saddest are these: ‘It might have been.’” – John Greenleaf Whittier
“We think that death is an absence, when in fact it’s a secret presence.” – Valérie Perrin
“When it comes, it comes. When it goes, it goes. But sit with it, and you’ll be okay.” – Sheryl Chan, A Chronic Voice (Read the post here.)
“It wasn’t my day. My week. My month. My year. My life. God damn it.” – Charles Bukowski
Quotes on Friendships & Relationships
“Be your own best friend. Never ever, put yourself down.” – Paulo Coelho
“Don’t walk in front of me, I may not follow. Don’t walk behind me, I may not lead. Walk beside me and be my friend.” Albert Camus
“I no doubt deserved my enemies, but I don’t believe I deserved my friends.” – Walt Whitman
“Never explain – your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyway.” – Elbert Hubbard
“Not everyone is going to love you. Most people don’t even love themselves.” Unknown
Quotes from Poems, Books & Stories
“You are human being.
So called for a reason.
Not human doing.
Just you being
Is wonder enough to make heaven fall still.
You are miracle.” – Thuli Zuma
“Instead of asking yourself,
‘What can I know?’
ask yourself,
‘What, at this moment, am I meant to know?’” – W. H. Auden
“What is the bravest thing you’ve ever said?”, asked the boy.
“Help”, said the horse. “Asking for help isn’t giving up. It’s refusing to give up.” ― Charlie Mackesy, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse
“Were all stars to disappear or die,
I should learn to look at an empty sky
And feel its total dark sublime,
Though this might take me a little time.”
― W.H. Auden
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