Despite Challenges Quotes

In the West we are brainwashed into thinking that clinging to our personal rights and freedoms, while striving after things, is our ticket to happiness. In reality, it's making us miserable.

Several studies have revealed that, statistically speaking, America has one of the highest rates of depression (and other mental health disorders) in the world. On the other hand, these mental health studies suggest that Nigeria has one of the lowest rates of depression. Despite the fact that the average standard of living in America is roughly four times that of Nigeria, and despite the fact that Nigeria is a country with a multitude of social problems - including dehumanizing poverty, a serious AIDS epidemic, and ongoing civil strife - Nigeria has far less depression, per capita, than America.

What do Nigerians have that Americans lack?

Judging from the Nigerians I know, I'm convinced the main thing is a sense of community. Nigerians generally know they need one another. They don't have the luxury of trying to do life solo, even if they had the inclination to do so. Consequently, Nigerians tend to have a sense of belonging that most Americans lack, and this provides them with a sense of general satisfaction in life, despite the hardships they endure.

Many studies have shown that personal happiness is more closely associated with one's depth of relationships and the amount one invests in others than it is with the comforts one "enjoys." And thi ~ Gregory A. Boyd

Despite their common reputation as agents of God's will, forces of good, and the gold standard for morality, all the angels Dean had met over the last year had been shifty, manipulative dicks. Except Cas, of course. ~ Rebecca Dessertine

The future of Africa lies not with external actors but within Africa itself. The future of Africa lies here in Africa. ~ Paul Boateng

Populists have always been out to challenge the orthodoxy of the corporate order and to empower workaday Americans so they can control their own economic and political destinies. This approach distinguishes the movement from classic liberalism, which seeks to live in harmony with concentrated corporate power by trying to regulate excesses. ~ Jim Hightower

As he spoke, he looked into their faces and saw, as though in his own features, that fundamentally they all bore the indelible impress of a similar background: army tradition; long spells of garrison service in a world isolated from the rest of society; a sense of alienation, of being despised by that society and ridiculed by liberal writers; the official ban on discussing politics and political literature, resulting in a blunting or stultifying of the intellect; a permanent shortage of money; and yet, despite it all, the knowledge that they represented, in purified and concentrated form, the vitality and courage of the whole nation. ~ Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

To make a concrete response to the appeal of our brothers and sisters in humanity, we must come to grips with the first of these challenges: solidarity among generations, solidarity between countries and entire continents, so that all human beings may share more equitably in the riches of our planet. This is one of the essential services that people of good will must render to humanity. The earth, in fact, can produce enough to nourish all its inhabitants, on the condition that the rich countries do not keep for themselves what belongs to all. ~ Pope Benedict XVI

The greatest visionaries do not consider the limits of their assets, but they rather grow despite those limitations. ~ Scott Appleton

You work for it. You don't have to massage it, so that it fits into the way it has to be. He's just too vigorous a writer and the dialogue is too sparking to do anything other than inhabit it and give it as much truth as you can. You just try to make it part of your DNA. That's what the challenge is, really. ~ Brendan Gleeson

In adversity remember to keep an even mind. ~ Horace

Despite the sarcastic remarks of Northerners, who don't know the region (read Easterners, Westerners, North Easterners, North Westerners, Midwesterners), the South of the United States can be so impellingly beautiful that sophisticated creature comforts diminish in importance. ~ Maya Angelou

I always imagined that I would learn something each time that I would take to a new project, then I realized that each new project poses a completely different challenge. ~ Freida Pinto

I gently pull on Ivy's hand. Let's go," I tell Ivy, who, despite it all, still looks calm and poised. She nods and we walk away towards the back door, skirting around people and the rim of the pool.
I realize how stupid it is when it's too late.
"You WHORE!"
Melanie is a blur of motion. I feel Ivy's hand leave mine and she shrieks. I spin around and watch as she falls back.
Right in the direction of the pool. ~ Colleen Boyd

With, or despite our scars, we stay alive. ~ Marilyn Hacker

Despite the voice in his head that says he doesn't want anything that's owed to his father, Tom can't wait to get his hands on it.
Just take it. Hit your old man over the head with it. You're dying to. ~ Melina Marchetta

A friend of mine once asked how to make it in show business and I said "Be so good that they can't ignore you." She thought I was being flip but it's true. The challenge is trying to live up to the opportunities given me. ~ Steve Martin

Despite their good intentions, today's businesses are missing an opportunity to integrate social responsibility and day-to-day business objectives - to do good and make money simultaneously. ~ Cindy Gallop

Moral philosophy is very largely a branch of fiction. Despite this, a philosopher has yet to write a great novel. The fact should not be surprising. In philosophy the truth about human life is of no interest ~ John N. Gray

If survival calls for the bearing of arms, bear them you must. But the most important part of the challenge is for you to find another means that does not come with the killing of your fellow man. ~ Rod Serling

Actual artists, and despite their reputation for chaos, most artists keep their supplies and work spaces scrupulously tidy. It's the personal lives that get messy. Dusk, ~ Susan Juby

Ending poverty and ensuring sustainability are the defining challenges of our time. Energy is central to both of them. ~ Jim Yong Kim

To have the opportunity to work with Tiger Woods was just so awesome. I enjoyed it. I enjoyed the challenge. I enjoyed the good parts where he was winning. And I enjoyed the challenge to help him get better. But six years was enough. ~ Hank Haney

Your face is bright with the love of the Lord. Our souls are singing together, despite the evil that threatens to befall us. ~ DiAnn Mills

A man comes forth in Israel to make today's prophetic vision tomorrow's agenda; one for whom the teachings of Mount Sinai do not suffice because he wishes to penetrate beyond to the original divine intent; one who, despite war and tyranny, dares to pursue the biblical love of neighbor to its ultimate consequence in order to brand all our souls with an ideal of human possibility that no longer allows us to be content with the threadbare, run-of-the-mill persons we are but need not be. ~ Pinchas E. Lapide

In a world where millions of human beings live in extreme poverty, die of malnutrition and lack medical care, where pandemics continue to kill, it is imperative to pursue good faith disarmament negotiations and to shift budgets away from weapons production, war-mongering, surveillance of private persons and devote available resources to address global challenges including humanitarian relief, environmental protection, climate change mitigation and adaptation, prevention of pandemics, and the development of a green economy. ~ Alfred-Maurice De Zayas

I qualify it as pathetic. Pathetic
because despite the insatiable fire of my venereal appetite, I intended, with the most fervent force and foresight, to protect the purity of that twelve-year-old child. ~ Vladimir Nabokov

hockey field at Red Maids' School. By the time Emma had explained why she crossed the Atlantic despite the risks involved, they were both staring at her as if she'd just landed from ~ Jeffrey Archer

Despite her fears she found,
The secret to an outstanding life,
Is risking the fall,
For the possibility of flight. ~ Kyra Jackson

If you investigate the matter deeply enough and widely enough, you will find that happiness eludes nearly all men despite the fact that they are forever seeking it. The fortunate and successful few are those who have stopped seeking with the ego alone and allow the search to be directed inwardly by the higher self. They alone can find a happiness unblemished by defects or deficiencies, a Supreme Good which is not a further source of pain and sorrow but an endless source of satisfaction and peace. ~ Paul Brunton

If we experience life thoughtfully and bravely, we discover the journey doesn't end in a watercolored sunset on the horizon. Rather, we keep finding new roads with even greater challenges. Our ambitions expand because our courage soars, one success at a time. ~ Karen Henry Clark

Nothing is more frustrating than being attracted to someone who is a complete jerk – except for maybe also caring about that person despite continued abuses. I was such an idiot. ~ Penny Reid

If you can't see a benefit of the challenges in the present, know that you're giving a present to your future. - Bright Side Up: 100 Ways to Be Happier Right Now ~ Amy Spencer

Despite all the things I would have changed about our journey, I'd never want a different destination. It's always been you. ~ Leisa Rayven

We live in a marvelous time, my brothers and sisters. There are great blessings attached to being part of this final dispensation. But there are also great challenges and temptations. I pray that our Heavenly Father will give all of us the strength to reach our true potential. I invoke his Spirit on the homes of the Church, that there may be love and harmony found there. May our Father preserve and exalt our families, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen ~ Joseph Fielding Smith

When you cross a challenge that is expansive and deep, you may not even realize when you've come to the other side. That day will come. And when it does, how will you look at your crossing? ~ Teresa Hirst

Eric found that his choice of lifestyle never failed to offer him challenges to keep things interesting. ~ Evan Currie

The turnaround, however, did not come without expensive failures. Apple had done a good job embracing the Internet, by making the process of getting access to the Web as simple as any other function of an iMac. But Apple's eWorld, a proprietary online subscription service bundled with new iMacs, was a flop, despite a friendly interface that suggested that going online could be as easy as walking from one neighborhood to the next. All it really offered was email services and a way to download software, and in practice it wasn't any easier to use than bigger services like EarthLink and AOL, which came bundled on Wintel PCs. ~ Brent Schlender

What was going on? Brickman surmised that, in the case of the lottery winners, they now derived significantly less pleasure from ordinary events like buying clothes or talking to a friend. What was once enjoyable was no longer so. Psychologists call this the "hedonic treadmill." Much like a regular treadmill, the hedonic treadmill makes you sweat and should be avoided at all costs. Unlike a regular treadmill, however, the hedonic variety is definitely not good for your health. It will drive you nuts, this infinite cycle of pleasure and adaptation. Interestingly, there are two notable exceptions to the hedonic treadmill. Noise and big breasts. Studies have found that we never really get used to loud noises, despite prolonged exposure. Another study found that women who get breast implants never tire of the enjoyment it brings them, and presumably their companions feel the same. ~ Eric Weiner

Did I ever tell you that my mother and father started out as pen pals? They wrote these long, unabashedly affectionate love letters to one another, peppered with clichés and pie-in-the-sky proclamations of eternal devotion. Despite my father's eventual dishonesty and unfaithfulness, I have to believe he meant every word he wrote at that time, and it was admittedly romantic, uncovering my parents' yellowed letters, all soft, crumbling corners and black ink stains, one rainy afternoon. Because how can anyone scrawl lies, really, in their own handwriting, the evidence of your own betrayal right in front of you? I sat cross-legged on the floor, holding my breath as I unfolded each letter, fragile and expectant, like a little girl opening her presents on Christmas morning. I sat there and soaked up my parents' love for each other, and then I wondered where all those feelings had escaped to. I wondered where love went when it was lost - did it travel far, across miles and oceans and forests and deserts, or did it linger somewhere nearby, just waiting for a chance to be summoned again? Wherever it was, I could only hope it had ended up settling somewhere quieter, safer. ~ Marla Miniano

I am a buyer of blank books. Kids find it interesting that I would buy a blank book. They say, "Twenty-Six dollars for a blank book! Why would you pay that?" The reason I pay twenty-six dollars is to challenge myself to find something worth twenty-six dollars to put in there. All my journals are private, but if you ever got hold of one of them, you wouldn't have to look very far to discover it is worth more than twenty-six dollars ~ Jim Rohn

The most beautiful thing is that despite the shallow life we sometimes succumb to - the soul has no timeline and it knows what it wants and will yearn within until it seeks the journey ~ Malebo Sephodi

We patiently endure every trouble. ~ Lailah Gifty Akita

What black men, women, children did in Albany at that time was heroic. They overcame a century of passivity, and they did it without the help of the national government. They learned that despite the Constitution, despite the promises, despite the political rhetoric of the government, whatever they accomplished in the future would have to come from them. ~ Howard Zinn

As a company grows, communication becomes its biggest challenge. ~ Ben Horowitz

I am convinced that in all history there has never been a greater need to Pray for our Pastors than exists right now! Pastors are experiencing an unprecedented wave of attacks, stresses, challenges. obstacles. pressures. ~ Saint Augustine

If you're looking for an adventure, an intellectual challenge, and a close-knit community of professionals, consider land surveying! It's not for everyone, and I'd recommend working as a surveyor's assistant or office staff before committing to the necessary schooling. ~ Mark Mason