39 Quotes to Give Nurses Strength and Courage

Who would have thought that after almost a year, we’d still be at the peak of a global pandemic? Just a few months of chaos and then we can get back to our normal lives…right? How many people even saw the initial quarantine as a temporary break and excuse not to do anything? That’s what it was like for the general population but not for nurses. Nurses went to battle almost a year ago and are still battling – actually, the war on the human race has intensified! And even though the finish line is in sight (yay for vaccines!), what can leaders do to help inspire their nurses with the strength and courage to continue fighting this war until we’ve won?

The following 39 quotes give nurses strength and courage.

1. Courage isn’t having the strength to go on – it is going on when you don’t have strength. ~ Napoléon Bonaparte
2. How very little can be done under the spirit of fear? ~ Florence Nightingale
3. Kind hearts are the gardens, Kind thoughts are the roots, Kind words are the flowers, Kind deeds are the fruits, Take care of your garden And keep out the weeds, Fill it with sunshine, Kind words, and Kind deeds. ~ Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
4. That which doesn’t kill us makes us stronger. ~ Friedrich Nietzsche
5. Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. ~ Plato
6. Cooperation is the thorough conviction that nobody can get there unless everybody gets there. ~ Virginia Burden Tower, American writer
7. Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.~Khalil Gibran
8. When you’re a nurse you know that every day you will touch a life or a life will touch yours.  ~ Author Unknown
9. The only way to do great work is to love the work you do. ~ Steve Jobs
10. Never lose sight of the fact that the most important yardstick of your success will be how you treat other people. ~ Barbara Bush
11. A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles. ~ Christopher Reeve
12. The time is always right to do what is right. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
13. Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase. ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
14. An optimist is someone who goes after Moby Dick in a rowboat and takes the tartar sauce with him. ~ Zig Ziglar
15. And one has to understand that braveness is not the absence of fear but rather the strength to keep on going forward despite the fear. ~ Paulo Coelho
16. The sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being. ~ Carl Jung
17. The mighty oak is just a nut that held its ground. ~ Unknown
18. Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier. ~ Mother Teresa
19. Expect problems and eat them for breakfast. ~ Alfred A. Montapert
20. What makes the dawn come up like thunder? Courage! ~ Cowardly Lion
21. It’s not about being better than everyone else, it’s about being better than you used to be.  ~ Dr. Wayne Dyer
22. Nurses deserve to believe they make a difference because they do! ~ Dr. Renee Thompson
23. If you woke up breathing, congratulations! You have another chance. ~ Andrea Boydston
24. Courage is not simply one of the virtues, but the form of every virtue at the testing point. ~ C.S.Lewis
25. It’s not what you know or who you know. It’s what you are that finally counts. ~ Zig Ziglar
26. Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive because your words become your behavior. Keep your behavior positive because your behavior becomes your habits. Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values. Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny. ~Mahatma Gandhi
27. What do we live for; if it is not to make life less difficult for each other? ~ Mary Ann Evans
28. Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and, above all, confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this something, at whatever cost, must be attained. ~ Marie Curie
29. Courage is grace under pressure. ~ Ernest Hemingway
30. You don’t get to choose how you are going to die.  Or when.  You only decide how you are going to live. ~ Joan Baez
31. Let no one ever come to you without leaving better and happier.  Be the living expression of God’s kindness: kindness in your face, kindness in your eyes, kindness in your smile. ~ Mother Teresa
32. The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team. ~ Phil Jackson
33. We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone. ~ Ronald Reagan
34. Whether you think you can or think you can’t, either way, you are right. ~ Henry Ford
35. Individually, we are one drop. Together, we are an ocean. ~ Ryunosuke Satoro
36. Believe and act as if it were impossible to fail. ~ Charles F. Kettering
37. To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan but also believe. ~ Anatole France
38. Nurses are humans by birth and heroes by choice. ~ Dr. Renee Thompson
39. You never know how strong you are, until being strong is your only choice. ~ Bob Marley

How to Spread Strength and Courage

• Recite the quote during any huddles or meetings
• Write the quote on a whiteboard in a central place where everyone can see
• Post the quote in the team bathroom

Click here for more awesome quotes.

Until we’ve fully eradicated this virus, nurses and the entire healthcare team need as much strength and courage as possible so that they feel empowered to continue the fight.