Those living with breast cancer already know all too well of the physical and emotional struggle it brings. That is why it is beyond important to provide support through testing, education, and most of all, sharing stories. Breast cancer survivors have often been vocal about their experiences to give hope to others that they can also fight it and have shared plenty of inspiring words along the way. Famed breast cancer survivor Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote these powerful words: “Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.” By both sharing our own stories with breast cancer as well as learning from the testimonies of others who have gone through what we might be going through now, we can begin transforming our experience into a more positive one through feeling like part of a community. Quotes such as these remind us that none of us are ever truly alone and give us strength to heal in ways we never thought imaginable.
It’s important to remember that cancer is a disease, not a death sentence. Faith and positivism can be huge weapons to have in one’s arsenal.
At times, patients may have difficulty keeping their spirits up. That’s when loved ones really need to show how much they care and give strength to keep fighting. The following quotes can help do just that.
Inspirational Cancer Quotes
If children with terminal cancer can find love, joy, beauty and peace in their day – and they do – why don’t we?
Dan Zadra
Your life is your story. Write well. Edit often.
Susan Statham
He who has a why to live can bear almost any how.
Friedrich Nietzsche
The experienced mount climber is not intimidated by a mountain – he is inspired by it. The persistent winner is not discouraged by a problem – he is challenged by it. Mountains are created to be conquered; adversities are designed to be defeated; problems are sent to be solved. It is better to master one mountain than a thousand foothills.
William Arthur Ward
Life is mostly froth and bubble, but two things stand like stone: friendship in another’s trials and courage in your own.
Princess Diana
When you have exhausted all possibilities, remember this: You haven’t.
Thomas Edison
My relationship with my body has changed. I used to consider it as a servant who should obey, function, give pleasure. In sickness, you realise that you are not the boss. It is the other way around.
Federico Fellini
Become a possibilitarian. No matter how dark things seem to be or actually are, raise your sights and see possibilities – always see them, for they’re always there.
Norman Vincent Peale
Fearlessness is like a muscle. I know from my own life that the more I exercise it, the more natural it becomes to not let my fears run me.
Arianna Huffington
Cancer didn’t bring me to my knees, it brought me to my feet.
Michael Douglas
The power of love to change bodies is legendary, built into folklore, common sense, and everyday experience. Love moves the flesh, it pushes matter around… Throughout history, ‘tender loving care’ has uniformly been recognized as a valuable element in healing.
Larry Dossey
With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.
Eleanor Roosevelt
Each day comes bearing its own gifts. Untie the ribbons.
Ruth Ann Schabacker
When it rains, look for rainbows When it’s dark, look for stars.
Anonymous
Working out is my way of saying to cancer, ‘You’re trying to invade my body; you’re trying to take me away from my daughters, but I’m stronger than you. And I’m going to hit harder than you.
Stuart Scott
When everything seems to be going against you, remember that the airplane takes off against the wind, not with it.
Henry Ford
When we embrace uncertainty, it can be very liberating. If you can accept the uncertainty, it allows you to live life every day.
Victor Gospodinoff
Cancer is so limited… It cannot cripple love. It cannot shatter hope. It cannot corrode faith. It cannot destroy peace. It cannot kill friendship. It cannot suppress memories. It cannot silence courage. It cannot invade the soul. It cannot steal eternal life. It cannot conquer the spirit.
Anonymous
If children have the ability to ignore all odds and percentages, then maybe we can all learn from them. When you think about it, what other choice is there but to hope? We have two options, medically and emotionally: give up, or fight like hell.
Lance Armstrong
Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I’ll try again tomorrow.
Mary Anne Radmacher
Opportunities to find deeper powers within ourselves come when life seems most challenging.
Joseph Campbell
Cancer Survivor Quotes
Cancer is a word, not a sentence.
John Diamon
While you’re living, live.
Valerie Harper
My advice is to remember that only you can fight your cancer. Other people can do the laundry, make meals, and even wipe away tears. You must – even if it’s the first time in your life – think of yourself first. No one can fight this battle well as you can.
Deborah, survivor
Cancer is messy and scary. You throw everything at it, but don’t forget to throw love at it. It turns out that might be the best weapon of all.
Regina Brett
My will, my faith and my body have been challenged. But make no mistake, my heart is strong and my resolve to fight will never be broken.
Anastacia
It would have helped me to know that there was a good, but different, life after all the treatment – that I would probably never feel so much heartbreak as I did, but that it would ease in time.
Pearl, survivor
I think cancer is a hard battle to fight alone or with another person at your side, but I will say having someone to pick you up when you fall, stand by your side through every appointment and delivery of bad news, is priceless.
Jenna Morasca
We decide the first day of our cancer diagnosis whether we are going to be victims or survivors. We decide to muster up all our strength to fight to win. We decide to stay positive and not let cancer define us. We decide how we are going to handle each day. Yes, there are good days and bad days, but our attitude determines each day. Hold on to your hopes, dreams, faith, and determinations and gather strength from your support systems, because in the fight against cancer, we cannot give up.
Ann, survivor
Quotes About Staying Strong Through Cancer
When you come to the end of your rope tie a knot and hang on.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
To fear is one thing. To let fear grab you by the tail and swing you around is another.
Katherine Paterson
You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, smarter than you think, and twice as beautiful as you’d ever imagined.
Anonymous
Life’s not about how hard of a hit you can give… it’s about how many you can take, and still keep moving forward.
Sylvester Stallone
Some days there won’t be a song in your heart. Sing anyway.
Emory Austin
No matter what kind of challenges or difficulties or painful situations you go through in your life, we all have something deep within us that we can reach down and find the inner strength to get through them.
Alana Stewart
A woman is like a tea bag, you cannot tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water.
Nancy Reagan
The hardest thing you can do is smile when you are ill, in pain, or depressed. But this no-cost remedy is a necessary first half-step if you are to start on the road to recovery.
Allen Klein
You beat cancer by how you live, why you live and in the manner in which you live.
Stuart Scott
The goal is to live a full, productive life even with all that ambiguity. No matter what happens, whether the cancer never flares up again or whether you die, the important thing is that the days that you have had you will have lived.
Gilda Radner
You’re allowed to scream. You’re allowed to cry. But don’t give up.
Anonymous
Your present circumstances don’t determine where you can go; they merely determine where you start.
Nido Qubein
Don’t be afraid to ask for the help you need, whether it is an errand or a hand to hold – your friends and family really do want to help in any way they can.
Cancer is a journey, but you walk the road alone. There are many places to stop along the way and get nourishment – you just have to be willing to take it.
Emily Hollenberg
No matter what the statistics say, there is always a way.
Bemie Siegel
Through strength, I will mend.
Anonymous
Toughness is in the soul and spirit, not in muscles.
Alex Karras
It’s about focusing on the fight and not the fright.
Robin Roberts
I had cancer; cancer never had me.
Emily Ransom
If you have any doubt, go back again… Because someone is in a white coat and using big medical instruments doesn’t necessarily mean they’re right.
Kylie Minogue
Whatever you do, hold on to hope. The tiniest thread will twist into an unbreakable cord. Let hope anchor you in the possibility that this is not the end of your story, that change will bring you to peaceful shores.
Unknown
Funny Cancer Quotes
Cancer touched my boobs, so I kicked its butt.
Anonymous
Ultimately, they’re just breasts right? I mean, I love them, they’re mine, they’re beautiful, but in the grand scheme of things, I would rather be alive and I would rather grow old with my husband.
Shannen Doherty
I got the bill for my surgery. Now I know what those doctors were wearing masks for.
James H. Boren
Broken crayons still color.
Unknown
A hospital should also have a recovery room adjoining the cashier’s office.
Francis O’Walsh
Optimist: Someone who figures that taking a step backward after taking a step forward is not a disaster, it’s a cha-cha.
Robert Brault
If you can’t make it better, you can laugh at it.
Erma Bombeck
When life kicks you, let it kick you forward.
Kay Yow
I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind.Some come from ahead and some come from behind.But I’ve bought a big bat. I’m all ready you see. Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!
Dr. Seuss
When I lost my hair and had to wear a wig, I found a new hairstyle that I like, and I will probably use that style when my hair grows back. For the moment, I never have a ‘bad hair day.’’
Nancy, survivor
Love and laughter are two of the most important universal cancer treatments on the planet. Overdose on them.
Tanya Masse
Spiritual Cancer Quotes
Be strong and courageous… It is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.
Deuteronomy 31:6
The period of greatest gain in knowledge and experience is the most difficult period in one’s life.
Dalai Lama
You have been assigned this mountain to show it can be moved.
Unknown
Feed your faith and your fears will starve to death.
Anonymous
Nothing is predestined: The obstacles of your past can become the gateways that lead to new beginnings.
Ralph Blum
I trust the Lord and his plan for me is perfect, so whatever that will be, will be.
Debbie Simpson
At the end of the day, none of it matters but your own joy, your own spiritual journey that you go on, your loved ones, your friends, your animals. These are the things you’ve got to cherish and love and embrace.
Christina Applegate
The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future, or anticipate troubles but to live in the present.
Buddha
Do not be afraid of tomorrow; for God is already there.
Unknown
One day at a time, one step at a time. Do what you can, do your best. Let God handle the rest.
Michelle Jones
People go through challenging moments of losing people and of having their life threatened from illness and real grief. But they get through it. And that’s the testament to the human spirit and it’s – we are fragile, but we also are divine.
Sheryl Crow
When you go through deep waters, I will be with you.
Isaiah 43:2
I am not afraid; I was born to do this.
Joan of Arc
The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, worry about the future or anticipate troubles but to live in the present.
Buddha
You were given this life because you are strong enough to live it.
Ain Eineziz
Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will.
Mahatma Gandhi
Hope and hopelessness are both a choice, so why not choose Hope?
Anonymous
Every evening I turn my worries over to God. He’s going to be up all night anyway.
Mary C. Crowley
The answer to every adversity lies in courageously moving forward with faith.
Edmond Mbiaka
