As a Dietitian living with chronic illness, and who specializes in helping those who have them, I am all too familiar with the physical, mental, and emotional ups and downs that happen while managing them. That’s why in honor of National Chronic Disease Awareness Month this July, I have compiled 53 quotes that can be useful in the chronic illness journey. I hope they comfort you, and remind you of your strength and resilience while on your health journey.
The term chronic disease refers to both communicable and non-communicable diseases that usually lack a cure, are of a long duration, and that have a specific diagnosis.
Chronic illness refers to the lived experience of a chronic disease, syndrome, condition, or disorder, whether non-communicable or communicable. They may or may not have an exact diagnosis, or clearly defined signs or symptoms. It includes the mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual effects of having a long-term, often non-curable, illness.
Chronic illness is a sign of your body’s strength & resilience, not of its brokenness
Chronic illness is our body’s way of adapting, and adjusting to the sometimes extreme circumstances it has to endure. It’s your body’s ultimate display of resourcefulness and survival.
Chronic illness doesn’t define who we are, it reveals it
Chronic illness reveals the real nature of things. It allows us to deeply connect to ourselves. Chronic illness clears away who we think we are, and lets us to get to know who we really are.
Surrendering to the chronic illness warrior within
Within each person living with chronic illness, is a fierce and unstoppable warrior. It truly takes a hero’s heart to be there for ourselves each day with everything that chronic illness can throw at us. If you have a chronic illness, shower yourself with love, and gratitude for who you are, and for showing up for yourself and others daily.
53 helpful quotes when managing chronic illness
Living with chronic medical conditions come with their own cocktail of new or worsening emotional states. From the stages of grief, to feeling disconnected to those around us, and to who we were before we developed the illness. There can be feelings of frustration, loneliness, despair, and unfairness of why this is happening to us, or what could we have done differently to avoid it.
That’s why I love uplifting and therapeutic quotes. They are powerful tools for healing, and for bettering our attitude, and mental health. Remember, you are not alone in your health journey.
Person realizing the light at the end of the tunnel
Quotes for chronic illness empowerment
1. “You were given this life because you are strong enough to live it.” -Unknown
2. “Start by doing what’s necessary; then do what’s possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” -Francis of Assisi
3. “Never let the things you cannot do prevent you from doing the things you can.” -John Wooden
4. “Resting is not laziness, it’s medicine!” -Glenn Schweitzer
5. “What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the master calls a butterfly.” -Richard Bach
6. “Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.” -Kahlil Gibran
7. “We are stronger in the places we have been broken.” -Ernest Hemingway
8. “Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go; they merely determine where you can start.” -Nido Qubein
9. “Sometimes the smallest step in the right directions ends up being the biggest step of your life. Tip toe if you must, but take a step.” -Naeem Callaway
10. “Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, quietly building new structures.” -John F. Kennedy
11. “Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work; you don’t give up.” -Anne Lamott
12. “Every step forward, no matter how small, is a victory over the struggle.” – Unknown
13. “It always seems impossible until it’s done.” -Nelson Mandela
14. “The human spirit is stronger than anything that can happen to it.” -C.C. Scott
15. “What hurts you, blesses you. Darkness is your candle.” -Rumi
16. “I fight for my health every day in ways that most people don’t understand. I’m not lazy. I’m a warrior!” -Unknown
18. “The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones.” -Confucius
19. “If you can’t fly then run. If you can’t run then walk. If you can’t walk then crawl. But, whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.” -Martin Luther King Jr.
20. “The wound is the place where the light enters you.” -Rumi
21. “My dear, In the midst of hate, I found there was, within me, an invincible love. In the midst of tears, I found there was, within me, an invincible smile. In the midst of chaos, I found there was, within me, an invincible calm. I realized, through it all, that… In the midst of winter, I found there was, within me, an invincible summer. And that makes me happy. For it says that no matter how hard the world pushes against me, within me, there’s something stronger – something better, pushing right back.” -Albert Camus
Never let the things you cannot do prevent you from doing the things you can
John Wooden
Quotes for chronic illness acceptance & validation
22. “Sometimes the people around you won’t understand your journey. They don’t need to, it’s not for them.” -Joubert Botha
23. “Sometimes you will be in control of your illness and other times you’ll sink into despair, and that’s OK! Freak out, forgive yourself, and try again tomorrow.” -Kelly Hemingway
24. “Courage isn’t only fighting your circumstances; sometimes making peace with your circumstances requires more courage.” -Sonali Dev
25. “Behind every chronic illness is just a person trying to find their way in the world. We want to find love and be loved and be happy just like you. We want to be successful and do something that matters. We’re just dealing with unwanted limitations in our hero’s journey.” -Glenn Schweitzer
26. “People who don’t see you every day have a hard time understanding how on some days – good days – you can run three miles, but can barely walk across the parking lot on other days.” -Jennifer Starzec
27. “When you have an invisible disease, your sickness isn’t your biggest problem. What you end up battling more than anything else, every single day, is other people.” -Heidi Cullinan
28. “People assume you aren’t sick unless they see the sickness on your skin like scars forming a map of all the ways you’re hurting.” -Emm Roy
29. “It is not an easy reality to face but, just as your chronic pain did not develop overnight, neither will the solution to finding relief develop in a day or two.” -Mel Pohl
30. “Often the pain that makes us feel most stuck is not our suffering; it is experiencing distress in the presence of people who expect us to get better faster than we can.” -K.J. Ramsey
31. “The strongest people are not those who show strength in front of us, but those who win battles we known nothing about.” -Unknown
32. “She made broken look beautiful and strong look invincible. She walked with the universe on her shoulders and made it look like a pair of wings.” -Ariana Dancu
33. “I often say now I don’t have any choice whether or not I have Parkinson’s, but surrounding that non-choice is a million other choices that I can make.” -Michael J. Fox
34. “Be patient and tough; someday this pain will be useful to you.” -Ovid
35. “The moment you accept the troubles given to you, the door will open.” -Rumi
People who don’t see you every day have a hard time understanding how on some days – good days – you can run three miles, but can barely walk across the parking lot on other days
Jennifer Starzec
Quotes for difficult days with chronic illness
36. “If opening your eyes, or getting out of bed, or holding a spoon, or combing your hair is the daunting Mount Everest you climb today, that is okay.” -Carmen Ambrosio
37. “When you’re at the end of your rope, tie a knot and hold on.” -Theodore Roosevelt
38. “Opportunities to find deeper powers within ourselves come when life seems most challenging.” -Joseph Campbell
39. “You are so brave and quiet I forget you are suffering.” -Earnest Hemmingway
40. “Rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.” -J.K. Rowling
41. “Hardships often prepare ordinary people for an extraordinary destiny.” -C.S. Lewis
41. “There is hope, even when your brain tells you there isn’t.” -John Green
43. “You don’t have to be positive all the time. It’s perfectly okay to feel sad, angry, annoyed, frustrated, scared and anxious. Having feelings doesn’t make you a negative person. It makes you human.” -Lori Deschene
44. “You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.” -Margaret Thatcher
45. “The strongest people I’ve met have not been given an easier life. They’ve learned to create strength and happiness from dark places.” -Kristen Butler
46. “The reason why people give up so fast is because they tend to look at how far they still have to go, instead of how far they have gotten.” -Unknown
47. “Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” -Dale Carnegie
48. “You can’t calm the storm, so stop trying. What you can do is calm yourself. The storm will pass.” -Timber Hawkeye
49. “Hard times don’t create heroes. It is during the hard times when the ‘hero’ within us is revealed.” -Bob Riley
50. “Courage does not always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, ‘I will try again tomorrow.’” -Mary Anne Radmacher
51. “Do not believe the things you tell yourself when you’re sad and alone.” -Unknown
52. “Pain is a portal to transformation. It does not knock politely.” -Lucy Pearce
53. “Go easy on yourself. Whatever you do today, let it be enough.” -Unknown
Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all
Dale Carnegie
This blog post is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not medical advice. If you or someone you know is experiencing a physical or mental health emergency, please call 911, or visit the nearest emergency room. If you feel like you are struggling with your mental health, please seek care from a licensed mental health professional.
