85+ Inspirational Setback Quotes To Keep You Pushing Forward

A setback could be an obstacle or failure which pushes you down in life.  

It's one's own decision to look at a setback and either become disheartened by it or face it head-on. We have some inspirational quotes about setbacks to put you in a great headspace.

These quotes will help you in kindling that fire within so you don't give up and keep moving forward even during challenging times. For more inspirational quotes, check out keep going quotes and keep trying quotes.

Quotes For Moving Forward

Quotes given here will inspire you to keep moving forward after mistakes or failures. Success will come.

1. "Every great journey begins with one step and it begins with moving forward. Remember, going through pain is temporary, and it will subside."

-Louie Herron.

2. "Moving forward is one of the most important decisions we can make in life because it allows us to grow, learn new lessons, have more energy, enjoying more peace, and overcome our adversaries."

-Dr. Peter Nieman.

3. "Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who had kept on trying when there seemed no hope at all."

-Dale Carnegie.

4. "It's not possible to discover new oceans unless one is willing to lose sight of the shore."

-Lord Chesterfield.

5. "I demolish the bridges behind me. Then there's no choice but to move forward."

-Fridtjof Nansen.

6. "It's not whether you get knocked down, it's whether you get up."

-Vince Lombardi.

7. "Our greatest glory is not in failing, but in rising every time we fall."

-Confucius.

8. "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.

9. "Life may not be going well for you now, but as long as you are here, as long as you press forward, anything is possible. Hold on to hope."

-Nick Vujicic.

10. "To get over the past, you first have to accept that the past is over."

-Mandy Hale.

11. "If you're brave enough to say goodbye, life will reward you with a new hello."

-Paulo Coelho.

12. "Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time."

-Thomas A. Edison.

13. "I'm looking forward to the future, and feeling grateful for the past."

-Mike Rowe.

14. "You can spend minutes, hours, days, weeks, or even months over-analyzing a situation; trying to put pieces together, justifying what could've, would've happened, or you can just leave the pieces on the floor and move on."

-Tupac Shakur.

15. "I'll probably get knocked down a few more times before life is through with me, but I can guarantee you I'll never stay on the ground."

-Colleen Hoover.

16. "You may not be responsible for getting knocked down. But you are certainly responsible for getting back up."

-Wally Amos.

17. "We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths."

-Walt Disney.

18. "The great courageous act that we all must do, is to have the courage to step out  of our history and past so that we can live our dreams."

-Oprah Winfrey.

19. "The answer to every adversity lies in courageously moving forward with faith."

-Edmond Mbiaka.

20. "March on. Do not tarry. To go forward is to move toward perfection."

-Khalil Gibran.

21. "Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says  I'll try again tomorrow."

-Anne Radmacher.

22. "That's all you can do in this world, no matter how strong the current beats against you, or how heavy your burden, or how tragic your love story, you keep going."

-Robyn Schneider.

23. "Life is like riding a bicycle, to keep your balance, you must keep moving."

-Albert Einstein.

24. "The truth is unless you let go, unless you forgive yourself, unless you forgive the situation, unless you realize that the situation is over, you cannot move forward."

-Steve Maraboli.

25. "If one dream should fall and break into a thousand pieces, never be afraid to pick one of those pieces up and begin again."

-Flavia Weedn.

26. "Keep on going, and the chances are that you will stumble on something, perhaps when you are least expecting it."

-Charles F. Kettering.

27. "Some lean back. But those who lean forward are poised to cross the finish line first."

-T. F. Hodge.

28. "Don't be afraid if things seem difficult in the beginning. That's only the initial impression."

-Olga Korbut.

29. "Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm."

-Winston Churchill.

30. "The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

-Lao Tzu.

31. "You will just keep crashing if you never take your eyes off the rearview mirror."

-Leo Christopher.

32. "A bad day doesn't cancel out a good life. Keep going."

-Richie Norton.

33. "There are far better things ahead than any we leave behind."

-C. S. Lewis.

34. "You don't fear change. You fear the unknown. If you knew the future would be great, you'd welcome the change to get there."

-Joe Vitale.

35. "The life in front of you is far more important than the life behind you."

-Joel Osteen.

36. "Don't dwell on what went wrong. Instead, focus on what to do next. Spend your energies on moving forward towards finding the answer."

-Denis Waitley.

37. "Every strike brings me closer to the next home run."

-Babe Ruth.

38. "Don't watch the clock. Do what it does. Keep going."

-Sam Levenson.

39. "Faith is moving forward even when things don't make sense, trusting that in hindsight,  everything will become clear."

-Mandy Hale.

40. "Failure is a bend in the road, not the end of the road. Learn from failure and keep moving forward."

-Roy T. Benett.

41. "Letting go isn't about forgetting; it's about learning and moving on. It's making a choice to be strengthened by your past, not strangled by it."

-Steve Maraboli.

Inspirational Setback Quotes By Zig Ziglar

Zig Ziglar was an American author and motivational speaker, who spoke strongly about how one's attitude and perspective determines their way of life. Here are his inspirational lines on how to face setbacks.

42. "If you don’t like who you are and where you are, don’t worry about it because you’re not stuck either with who you are or where you are. You can grow. You can change."

-Zig Ziglar.

43. "Happiness is the ability to move forward knowing the future will be better than the past."

-Zig Ziglar.

44. "If you have the character to hang in there when it’s tough, you will develop or acquire every other characteristic necessary to WIN in the game of life."

-Zig Ziglar.

45. "You don’t drown by falling in the water; you only drown if you stay there."

-Zig Ziglar.

46. "When you’ve got a strong enough why, you can always find the how."

-Zig Ziglar.

Inspirational Quotes About Challenging Yourself

Live every day best and get past any setback with these quotes. Choose to keep going after you fail, something good will come.

47. "A very wise man once told me that you can’t look back – you just have to put the past behind you, and find something better in your future."

-Jodi Picoult.

48. "It happens to everyone as they grow up. You find out who you are and what you want, and then you realize that people you’ve known forever don’t see things the way you do."

-Nicholas Sparks.

49. "It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop."

-Confucius.

50. "The most successful people are those who are willing to keep moving forward after making mistakes."

-Coach Flanagan.

51. "Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson.

52. "You just have to keep driving down the road. It's going to bend and curve and you'll speed up and slow down, but the road keeps going."

-Ellen DeGeneres.

53. "When we are no longer able to change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves."

-Viktor Frankl.

54. "If you are not moving forward, you are falling back."

-Sam Waterson.

Quotes To Help You Let Go

Often, we hold onto our past failures which inhibits us from moving forward. Choose to let go of that past and start your future.

55. "Nothing in the universe can stop you from letting go and starting over."

-Guy Finley.

56. "One of the most courageous decisions you'll ever make is to finally let go of what is hurting your heart and soul."

-Brigette Nicole.

57. "If you can't do anything about it, then let it go. Don't be a prisoner to things you can't change."

-Tony Gaskins.

58. "Take the changes in stride, and understand that you may have setbacks. Instead of focusing on that, make sure to keep moving forward."

-Esther King.

59. "Are the people around you holding you back or empowering you to move forward?"

-Les Brown.

60. "Moving on is a simple thing, what it leaves behind is hard."

-Dave Mustaine.

61. "There are those who are so scrupulously afraid of doing wrong that they seldom venture to do anything."

-Vauvenargues.

62. "The expert in anything was once a beginner."

-Helen Hayes.

Inspirational Quotes By Napoleon Hill On Facing Setbacks

Napoleon Hill was an American author of many best selling self-help books. Here are his how to act when facing minor setback quotes.

63. "Strength and growth  come only through continuous effort and struggle."

-Napoleon Hill.

64. "Only by doing so can one be sure of maintaining that state of mind known as a burning desire to win."

-Napoleon Hill.

65. "Every adversity, every failure, every heartbreak, carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit."

-Napoleon Hill.

66. "Failure is a trickster with a keen sense of irony and cunning. It takes great delight in tripping one when success is almost within reach."

-Napoleon Hill.

Quotes Inspiring You To Take That Step

When challenged by an uphill task, we need to take that first step towards our goal. The quotes given below will inspire you to push past the setback and work toward your goal.

67. "Man maintains his balance, poise, and sense of security only as he is moving forward."

-Maxwell Maltz.

68. "All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move."

-Benjamin Franklin.

69. "If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself."

-Henry Ford.

70. "Stay focused, go after your dreams and keep moving toward your goals."

-LL Cool J.

71. "There is no standing still because time is moving forward."

-Greg Lake.

72. "Don't dwell on what went wrong. Instead, focus on what to do next."

-Denis Waitley.

73. "If we fail to adapt, we fail to move forward."

-John Wooden.

74. "You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step."

-Martin Luther King Jr.

75. "Some beautiful paths can’t be discovered without getting lost."

-Erol Ozan.

76. "You are always a student, never a master. You have to keep moving forward."

-Conrad Hall.

77. "Life moves on and so should we."

-Spencer Johnson.

78. "When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be."

-Lao Tzu.

79. "Time is a circus, always packing up and moving away."

-Ben Hecht.

80. "You can clutch the past so tightly to your chest that it leaves your arms too full to embrace the present."

-Jan Glidewell.

Inspirational Setback Quotes

Below are the best inspiring quotes for facing your setbacks head-on and keep marching ahead.

81. "A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable but more useful than a life spent in doing nothing."

-George Bernard Shaw.

82. "Don't worry about failure; you only have to be right once."

-Drew Houston.

83. "Whether you think that you can, or that you can't, you are usually right."

-Henry Ford.

84. "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."

-Thomas Edison.

85. "The last one percent most people keep in reserve is the extra percent champions have the courage to burn."

-Chris Michael.

86. "Anything you can't control is teaching you how to let go."

-Jackson Kiddard.

87. "We need to learn from our errors and move on."

-Steve Maraboli.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully curated our list of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to cherish! If you liked our suggestions Setback Quotes, then why not take a look at trust the process quotes or, seasons of life quotes?