5 Hemingway Quotes to Get You Through Adversity
Life is filled with adversity, but we can choose to find the good in every situation
We’re experiencing a lot right now: the tragedy in Lebanon, the polarity of the nation, Covid hitting back, leaving us unprepared for the consequences of our actions.
It’s a trying time.
Yet through adversity, we can grow into stronger versions of ourselves; better human beings for the betterment of the world and everyone in it.
Ernest Hemingway understood this, and he left his wisdom for surviving troubled times in a plethora of quotes from his acclaimed novels, essays, and interviews.
Here are 5 of my favorites:
№1: ”The first and final thing you have to do in this world is to last it and not be smashed by it.”
Despite his untimely end, Ernest Hemingway was a man of principle. His perspective was based on the notion that life is pain; yet through pain comes the ability to overcome — to live.
In life, there will always be times when things occur that deviate from our plans: situations change, circumstances are altered, and people act disproportionately to the way we want them to.
It’s a fact of life: things happen contrary to our beliefs.
Yet what we must understand is that these things do not happen without reason. And the reason is this: so that we may face the challenges set out before us, and enact our ability to choose, in the moment, that there is a positive in the negative.
We can choose to see the bright side of any situation.
Hemingway knew this; he sought it out, regaled it in his novels and essays, and lived it through his many exploits in war, hunting, and love. He knew that life is a series of painful experiences you must overcome to live well.
But to do so, you have to be able to see the positive in the negative, the light in the dark, the strength in adversity; it’s there.
You just have to take it.
№2: ”A [person] lives correctly following the ideals of honor, courage and endurance; for the world is sometimes chaotic, often stressful, and always painful.”
Nelson Mandela served 27 years in prison for his resistance to the heinous South African apartheid regime of the twentieth century, and is widely considered as a national hero to the people of South Africa; deemed Madiba, or “Father of the Nation.”
During his imprisonment, Mandela was afforded only an 8x7 cell, a straw mat, a bucket for a toilet, and once every six months, a letter and/or visitor, which were both highly censored. The vicious treatment was meant to break Mandela, isolating him from the comforts of stability, safety, and any ties to the outside world.
Although he was denied these basic human rights, Mandela became a global figure of dignity, honor, and respect; and he did so by holding “his head higher than other prisoners, [encouraging] them when times got tough, and always [retaining] his sense of self-assurance,” during his imprisonment.
According to Neville Alexander, explained on Frontline, “He [Mandela] always made the point, if they say you must run, insist on walking. If they say you must walk fast, insist on walking slowly. That was the whole point. We are going to set the terms.”
Mandela’s story shows that, even in the most dire of times, people have the capacity to live with courage and endurance in the face of adversity; and that, despite the circumstances, you have the opportunity to live well — even if denied all means to do so.
So live well. Face adversity head on and live with honor, courage, and endurance; for the world is sometimes chaotic, often stressful, and always painful.
№3 : “It is good to have an end to journey towards; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.”
Sometimes the smallest step towards adversity can be the difference between a life worth living and a life not worth the effort.
Take a look at Frodo from the Lord of the Rings trilogy; his journey, albeit fictional, is one that has inspired millions of people around the world, and has attributed to the rise of fiction as a primary means by which we consume entertainment.
And it’s because of the journey.
Along the way, Frodo discovers who he truly is outside of his bubble — the comfortable norm of the Shire — forcing him to face his fears, question everything he thought he knew, and find the strength to believe in himself above all else; taking down the almighty Sauron as a result.
If someone as small and seemingly insignificant as hobbit can save the world from an all-knowing deity such as Sauron, why can’t we we face the comparatively trivial challenges set upon us in our daily lives?
For the most part, no one’s asking us to save the world, right?
Even if they are, Frodo’s journey shows us that adversity can be overcome; it just takes a step in the right direction to get the ball rolling, and along the way, you’ll find the strength to overcome adversity and grow into a stronger version of yourself.
It just takes a step.
Because, sometimes, the smallest person — the smallest step — can make the biggest difference.
№4: “Now is no time to think of what you do not have. Think of what you can do with what there is.”
In the time of Covid, it’s easy to get wrapped up in what we’re not allowed to do: go places without a mask, gather in groups of more than ten, eat inside restaurants, go to the gym, the movies, etc.
So it can be easy to say we aren’t as free as we would like to be.
Many of us don’t have social lives, jobs, or the certainty that any of this will end any time soon — that we’ll get back to the place of normalcy that we enjoyed pre-Covid.
But in our haste to condemn our current situation, we’re forgetting the one thing we do have: time.
We have time to think, to pause and reflect on our current situation and how we can, not just deal with it, but thrive within it.
Because, like any situation, there is a bright side to all of this. And it’s that we have time, now. Time to learn a new skill, read a new book, pick up a hobby, or even, learn to be alone.
Within all adversity lies a silver lining: something we can take away from the situation that will enhance our life in a positive way.
For me, this means reinventing myself: developing a disciplined learning habit, reading more, writing more, earning more money through freelancing and other online streams of income, and moving to a new state where I’m learning to be more independent.
For the rest of you, this can be anything you want; you’re free to do just about anything when it comes to personal growth, now that we’re all forced to stay home and re-evaluate our lives.
It’s challenging, yes. But what else are you going to do? Mope around the house pretending like the world isn’t fair, like we’re not all going through the same trials, like it’s not worth it?
But it is.
You just have to see that strength comes from adversity, and through it, you become a better person.
It just takes time; something we have in abundance.
So why not use it?
№5: “The world breaks everyone, and afterward, some are strong at the broken places.”
Like I said, within adversity lies a silver lining: something we can take away from the challenge to make us stronger people.
The pandemic we find ourselves in is much the same; although we may not have the same freedoms or opportunities we once had, there are still ways to become the best versions of ourselves.
But you have to differentiate between the things you can change and what you cannot:
You cannot change, no matter how hard you try, the current state of the nation, the surge in Covid cases, or the atrocities occurring all over the world.
What you can change is yourself.
So appreciate what you do have: time. And allow yourself to face the adversity of the day with honor, courage, and endurance; for we are all in this together.