Quotation Inspiration: 10 Quotes to Inspire, Motivate and Uplift Cancer Patients

Quotation Inspiration: 10 Quotes to Inspire, Motivate and Uplift Cancer Patients

This month, I thought we could all do with a little quotation inspiration. When you’re dealing with cancer, some inspiring words can be just the thing to give you a daily lift.

Note this is not the same as saying that “thinking positive” is the best way to deal with cancer. While for some, a positive thinking mindset can help them cope, for many others, the tyrannical think positive brigade only makes us feel worse.

Thinking back on my own cancer experience, there were certain messages of hope and inspiration that I received which help bring some much-needed perspective to my situation.

So with the help of our community, I’ve compiled the following quotes and messages to inspire and uplift you today.


Julia (@juliabarnickle), turns to her own words of wisdom to get her through her various cancer experiences over the past twelve years. In particular this one: “Nothing in Life is worth worrying about.”

 

Nancy (@nancyspoint) also looks to her own words for motivation. “Be real. Be you. It’s enough,” she says.

 

Take a leaf out of Ilene’s (@ilenealizah) quotebook. “When inspiration moves to another neighborhood, I often reference poetry, especially Mary Oliver and Maya Angelou (And Still I Rise)” she says. “Yet I shiver in the cool winds of words whispered in history, my mind running wild as I open up my quotebook (notebook of quotes)‘ to add or to discover. I picked these randomly on purpose, and in no quantitative or qualitative importance of order:

 

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” — Maya Angelou

 

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

“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.

 

“The knack of flying is learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.” —Douglas Adams

 

Sarah (@he4dgirl) shares with us a three-word quote from CS Lewis – one that I have turned to often myself: “Courage, dear heart.”

 

Another one of my favorites is from the author, Cheryl Strayed, who writes: “The place of true healing is a fierce place. It’s a giant place. It’s a place of monstrous beauty and endless dark and glimmering light. And you have to work really, really, really hard to get there, but you can do it. You’re a woman who can travel that far.”

 

Finally take inspiration from Cancer biologist, Triona (@NiTriona) and pass on some encouragement to another person today. Triona shares these words from poet and philosopher, John O’Donohue (Eternal Echoes) to remind us of the gift that encouragement bestows.

 

“One of the most beautiful gifts in the world is the gift of encouragement. When someone encourages you, that person helps you over a threshold you might otherwise never have crossed on your own.”