Welcome to our collection of grit quotes, where resilience, determination, and perseverance take center stage. Grit, often described as the steadfast courage and resolve to pursue long-term goals despite obstacles and setbacks, is a trait revered by many successful individuals across various fields. Whether you’re striving for personal growth, professional success, or overcoming challenges in life, these quotes serve as poignant reminders of the power of perseverance.
Within these pages, you’ll find words of wisdom from renowned figures spanning from authors and entrepreneurs to athletes and leaders. Their insights illuminate the importance of resilience in the face of adversity, urging us to press on even when the path ahead seems daunting. Each quote encapsulates the essence of grit, inspiring us to dig deep, push past our limitations, and keep moving forward towards our aspirations. As you explore these quotes, may you find motivation and strength to embrace your own journey with unwavering determination. Now, without further ado, let’s delve into the inspiring world of grit.
With ‘True Grit,’ the language was very specific, as is Shakespeare. You couldn’t really improvise, nor would you really ever have to. I never felt the need to. It was all so beautifully written, and it was all right there. Hailee Steinfeld
That’s a very nice compliment, for somebody to be described as having grit, having some gravel in the gut. Jim Harbaugh
To me, the most shocking thing about grit is how little we know, how little science knows, about building it. Every day, parents and teachers ask me, ‘How do I build grit in kids? What do I do to teach kids a solid work ethic? How do I keep them motivated for the long run?’ The honest answer is, I don’t know. Angela Duckworth
Talent alone gets you nowhere. You really have to have the grit, and you gotta have a love for people. Zac Brown
My favorite bands are Hank Williams Jr. and Led Zeppelin. When it’s rock, it’s ’70s rock, and when it’s country, it’s ’70s country. For me, it’s the grit and dirt of music that I love so much. Shooter Jennings
Our brand of democracy is hard. But I can promise that a year from now, when I no longer hold this office, I’ll be right there with you as a citizen – inspired by those voices of fairness and vision, of grit and good humor and kindness that have helped America travel so far. Barack Obama
I kept going. The decisions I’ve had to make, the setbacks, the feeling of having my back against the wall, I was determined that I had the grit. Eddy Alvarez
No one ever wants fight of the night. Every fight I’ve gone in, I want knockout of the night. I want to be in and out quick. Sometimes, these guys just have a lot of grit – they’re highly trained, and I just can’t get them out of there, so I get fight of the night. Robbie Lawler
There’s so many great Western films. Let’s see, ‘Red River,’ any of those Henry Fonda movies are fantastic. Any of those John Ford movies are fantastic. I love all the Eastwood ‘Man With No Name’ movies, John Wayne, ‘True Grit.’ Timothy Olyphant
What I really like about ‘Grit’ – especially being the guy who goes on TV every week and says ‘Never Give Up’ and who truly tries to live his life to that credo – we recruited 16 people who said, ‘I will never give up.’ And the only way they can leave the contest is by doing the one thing they said they never would. John Cena
What does it take to be the first female anything? It takes grit, and it takes grace. Meryl Streep
In ‘True Grit,’ we had a vulture, a trained vulture… that was a pain and that was – even by vulture standards – probably a stupid vulture, and that was frustrating. Ethan Coen
The last thing I want is for people to say that the music is nice. It’s not nice. It sounds good, but it’s got grit, and it’s got edge. It never veers into sweet. Lukas Forchhammer
‘The Iliad’ includes some snappy sports reporting, and writers ever since have been probing athletes for signifiers, for metaphor amped by grit under pressure. Katherine Dunn
I have to grit my teeth sometimes, knowing I am going to be written about. But I think it is my life, and I don’t want to get people interested in debating it. But I do feel that if you are going to put yourself about as a public person on a television screen, there’s a curiosity. Jonathan Dimbleby
Last year, when ‘Black Swan,’ ‘True Grit’ and ‘King’s Speech’ all grossed over $100 million, it gave studios and independent financiers the confidence to make daring movies and not do the same old you-know-what. Harvey Weinstein
When I was auditioning for ‘True Grit,’ I was on the Paramount lot. I was wearing clothes from the 1800s that were big and uncomfortable. Hailee Steinfeld
Grit and self-control are related, but they’re not the same thing. Angela Duckworth
Grit your teeth and smile. In the face of adversity, go. They don’t deserve you. Christine Lagarde
Some people mistake grit for sheer persistence – charging up the same hill again and again. But that’s not quite what I mean by the word ‘grit.’ You want to minimize friction and find the most effective, most efficient way forward. You might actually have more grit if you treat your energy as a precious commodity. Reid Hoffman
In its rather clinical view of death, ‘True Grit’ rivals the hardboiled world of ‘Red Harvest’-era Dashiell Hammett and prefigures Cormac McCarthy by 20 years. George Pelecanos
Childhood doesn’t have to be perfect, and children don’t have to be beautiful. From a bit of grit may grow a pearl, and if pearl production doesn’t materialise, the outcome will still be preferable to the shallowness of vanity. Laurie Graham
I think my story relates. When I started out, all I had was my passion and grit. Huda Kattan
Grit may carry risk because it’s about putting all your eggs in one basket, to some extent. Angela Duckworth
I like grit. I like love and death. I’m tired of irony. Jim Harrison
On ‘City Music’, I wanted there to be grit, and I wanted it to be loose, and I wanted there to be mistakes. Kevin Morby
At various points, in big ways and small, we get knocked down. If we stay down, grit loses. If we get up, grit prevails. Angela Duckworth
I would say I’m more traditional than I am superstitious. I don’t, for example, have to do things ritually before the game in order to feel comfortable going to the game. But I don’t think I’m naturally a football player. I don’t have that grit and that killer instinct. Troy Polamalu
Ultimately, I think it takes a certain grit and determination to constantly re-prove to people that you’re just as dedicated, just as determined, and just as capable as the entrepreneurs around you who may better fit the physical pattern – but on the flipside, women who succeed often become razor sharp through the process. Kathryn Minshew
We’re going to be OK because of the American people. They have more grit, determination and courage than you can imagine. Joe Biden
Of course I have said, till I am blue in the face – people don’t lack goals, passion, grit, or drive – they lack leadership! Dan Pena
Heroes are never perfect, but they’re brave, they’re authentic, they’re courageous, determined, discreet, and they’ve got grit. Wade Davis
There are lots of come-from-behind wins, games getting tied in the last period, teams going on to win. That, I think, tells the best story. Whether or not some teams have more grit, better chemistry, or more luck or more skill, it’s still within the parameters. I think that makes for great storytelling and great interest for our fans. Gary Bettman
So much of Reddit as a product was built on the shoulders of giants… We did some novel remixes of it but, at the end of the day, it was that: Grit and good luck. Alexis Ohanian
Being a top performer – whether it’s in business or on the athletic field – requires grit and tenacity, as well as the continuous desire to become better. Amy Morin
I just try to reflect the grittiness in New York. I try to protect the grit and the dirt that comes with it, which is a good thing. Aesop Rock
Over time, grit is what separates fruitful lives from aimlessness. John Ortberg
We have found a direct correlation between grit and positive emotions, but the fact that I have no evidence that grit is bad for you doesn’t mean it’s not. It’s always a possibility that in the future researchers will discover a downside to grit. Angela Duckworth
We loved the language in Cormac McCarthy’s ‘No Country,’ which is really about the region, while in ‘True Grit’ it’s more about period: people did speak more formally and floridly. Ethan Coen
My character in ‘True Grit’ would set these goals for herself that seemed near impossible, but to her they were possible. She was never going to believe anything else other than that. Hailee Steinfeld
I was always drawn to darker sounds, things with an edge and a little bit of grit, things that have a lot of emotion and a lot of drive. Aubrie Sellers
I did not raise my son, Sam, to celebrate Mother’s Day. I didn’t want him to feel some obligation to buy me pricey lunches or flowers, some annual display of gratitude that you have to grit your teeth and endure. Anne Lamott
Millennials get a bad rap sometimes about their grit and perseverance. Andrew Yang
I now have Grit Scale scores from thousands of American adults. My data provide a snapshot of grit across adulthood. And I’ve discovered a strikingly consistent pattern: grit and age go hand in hand. Sixty-somethings tend to be grittier, on average, than fifty-somethings, who are in turn grittier than forty-somethings, and so on. Angela Duckworth
A space nerd as a kid, I learned early that putting a man on the moon took American unity, grit, determination, teamwork, hardship, innovation, sacrifice and patriotism. Katie Pavlich
Some people, you have to grit your teeth in order to stay in the same room as them, but you get on and ask the questions you assume most of the people watching want to ask. Morley Safer
I think the very idea of character, of developing not just grit, but empathy and curiosity, emotional intelligence – you know, the things that I want my own daughters to develop – the idea that we’re going to get there through rewards and punishments seems completely at odds with the idea of character itself. Angela Duckworth
If you represent your country and millions of people are watching, it comes through a lot of grit and hard work. Michelle Kwan
‘True Grit’ was fun to do, but I wasn’t cut out to be an actor. I made John Wayne look so good, he won his only Oscar. Glen Campbell
Touring itself – and I was very young, and a lot of it I did by myself – it’s lonely, but it does give you some kind of spine, I think. It does give you some kind of grit. Julie Andrews
Chew on this: Human teeth can detect a grain of sand or grit 10 microns in diameter. A micron is 1/25,000 of an inch. If you shrank a Coke can until it was the diameter of a human hair, the letter O in the product name would be about 10 microns across. Mary Roach
I got down to business and started writing furiously. I wore my fingers down to a callous state writing with every Tom, Dick and Harry around the world, including a chap named Charlie who plays for a man named Bob, to wrestle my emotions and bring out the raw grit hiding in my tightly guarded sub-conscious. Gin Wigmore
What I do for Make-A-Wish is I make children and families that are up against some pretty tough circumstances, I let them come into our WWE universe, and I do my best to make them feel good. I’ve seen a lot of kids and a lot of families happy, and I think people are going to watch ‘American Grit’ and have emotional moments. John Cena
The way that I’ve been raised and the things I’ve had to do has given me grit that is unmatchable unless you were beside me. Lacey Evans
Hard work isn’t enough. And more work is never the real answer. The sort of grit you need to scale a business is less reliant on brute force. It’s actually one part determination, one part ingenuity, and one part laziness. Reid Hoffman
The guitar has a kind of grit and excitement possessed by nothing else. Brian May
Every day, across our state, we see grit and resilience. Ben Sasse
I think the thing that makes Indiana basketball special is that they have incredible teams, both college teams and pro teams, and they’re all about grit. Andy Mineo
We made ‘Wretched and Divine,’ and as much as I love it, it’s a pretty sparkly record – it’s a record that could be done as a play because it’s very theatrical with no grit. Andy Biersack
‘Before I Ever Met You’ was the first one to come out and that just dives into the grit, and it’s pretty graphic about a relationship. For my first song, it was very special the way it happened, because I didn’t really hold anything back, and people responded to it. Banks
I couldn’t imagine ‘True Grit’ in 3D. I think the idea is sort of absurd. Roger Deakins
I like high fantasy as much as the next guy, but I also like a bit of grit and grime with my faux-medieval trappings. Antony Johnston
Being gritty doesn’t mean not showing pain or pretending everything is O.K. In fact, when you look at healthy and successful and giving people, they are extraordinarily meta-cognitive. They’re able to say things like, ‘Dude, I totally lost my temper this morning.’ That ability to reflect on yourself is signature to grit. Angela Duckworth
For years, my state of Washington tried to pass its own state Dream Act. Many Republicans weren’t interested. But some thought differently after they met Dreamers and heard stories that revealed their courage, grit, and determination. It is the same determination that built America and will help it continue to thrive. Jay Inslee
We can find a great sector or business, but we’re investing so early that unless there’s this tenacious grit, determination, resourcefulness, ability to evolve, it won’t work. Dan Levitan
Negative emotions will challenge your grit every step of the way. While it’s impossible not to feel your emotions, it’s completely under your power to manage them effectively and to keep yourself in a position of control. When you let your emotions overtake your ability to think clearly, it’s easy to lose your resolve. Travis Bradberry
Writing is such a ‘pretend’ profession. Nobody is counting on you at all. You can’t ‘pretend’ to be a lawyer or a teacher. It takes a lot of grit to continue. MacKenzie Scott
I like things that make you grit your teeth. I like tucking my chin in and sort of leading into the storm. I like that feeling. I like it a lot. Daniel Day-Lewis
Goal line is goal line. You go down there and it’s the grit and grind of the game. Matt Cassel
I want you to think about your grandfather’s integrity and grit when you’re staring at the ceiling of your barracks room, but I also want you to think a little deeper. David Robinson
Humans are creatures of habit. If you quit when things get tough, it gets that much easier to quit the next time. On the other hand, if you force yourself to push through it, the grit begins to grow in you. Travis Bradberry
Sticking with a marriage. That’s true grit, man. Jeff Bridges
There haven’t been genetic studies on grit, but we often think that challenge is inherited but grit is learned. That’s not what science says. Science says grit comes from both nature and nurture. Angela Duckworth
For me, writing post-apocalyptic novels isn’t so much about exploding helicopters and fifty-megaton doomsday bombs as it is about the pleasure of dealing with the best of everything that makes us human: cleverness, grit, loyalty, and self-sacrifice. Jeff Carlson
You just have to stand and grit your teeth and know your poll numbers are going to go down – and mine have – but you gotta grit through it because the alternative is unacceptable. Chris Christie
I’m excited about going back to ‘Today,’ but, at odd moments, I’ll grit my teeth in anxiety. I feel like a student before the start of school. I’ve got my new shoes and my book bag, but I’m not sure I’ll remember how to do trigonometry. During my maternity leave, I haven’t used many words of more than one syllable. Jane Pauley
Hillary Clinton has taken some fire over 40 years of her fight for families and children. How does she do it? That’s what I want to know. Where does she get her grit and her grace? Where do any of our female firsts, our pathbreakers, where do they find that strength? Meryl Streep
‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’… is very little about boys who dress up in girls’ clothing: it’s very much about grit, integrity, heart, power of perseverance, and the power of love. It’s also opening a dialogue up about the persecution and the marginalization of trans people, of queer people, of gender non-binary and gender fluid people. Michelle Visage
On long car rides, we would always listen to the ‘Blues Brothers’ soundtrack and try to emulate everything that Aretha Franklin was doing. There was soul and grit in it that I think a kid from the suburbs really needed. Phillipa Soo
England in the late 1940s was famously grim. As I remember it, London back then was a very dirty place, from coal dust and smoke, from the grit stirred up every day by the jackhammers still clearing out rubble from the Blitz. Alexander Cockburn
Together we can build the Michigan we believe in, because we still have what we need most – the strength, the talent, the vision and the grit of the incredible people of this state. Gretchen Whitmer
Grit is that ‘extra something’ that separates the most successful people from the rest. It’s the passion, perseverance, and stamina that we must channel in order to stick with our dreams until they become a reality. Travis Bradberry
The parenting style that is good for grit is also the parenting style good for most other things: Be really, really demanding, and be very, very supportive. Angela Duckworth
‘True Grit’ is one of the few books my sons let me read to them – and paid attention to – when they were younger. George Pelecanos
In Wyoming, the beauty of our mountains is matched only by the grit of our people. Liz Cheney
When ‘Romeo and Juliet’ came along, I fell in love with the way that it was written and how innocent and vulnerable it was and how different it was from ‘True Grit.’ I really liked that. Hailee Steinfeld
I think the questions on the grit scale about not letting setbacks disappoint you, finishing what you begin, doing things with focus, I think that those are things I would aspire to or hope for for all our children. Angela Duckworth
Each year, Labor Day gives us an opportunity to recognize the invaluable contributions that working men and women make to our nation, our economy and our collective prosperity. It gives us a chance to show gratitude for workers’ grit, dedication, ingenuity and strength, which define our nation’s character. Tom Perez
Documentaries require an enormous amount of grit and empathy – and that is something women are incredibly strong at. Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi
I deeply appreciate the people of Michigan. I love their grit. I love the way they face life. I love the family values they have. Ernie Harwell
Grittier students are more likely to earn their diplomas; grittier teachers are more effective in the classroom. Grittier soldiers are more likely to complete their training, and grittier salespeople are more likely to keep their jobs. The more challenging the domain, the more grit seems to matter. Angela Duckworth
I’ve seen John Wayne’s ‘True Grit’ about 10 times. John Glenn
You have your best workouts when you go in thinking you don’t want to do it, because you’re so satisfied with your own determination and grit. Tessa Virtue
In order to obtain the goal of returning to Palestine, all of us sometimes have to grit our teeth. Yasser Arafat
Grit can’t be measured on pop quizzes, but it can often predict long-term success more than mere intelligence. Laura Moser
With her grace and grit, and the will to lead change, Misty Copeland is truly a ballerina for our time. Heather Watts
We need a president with experience and the wisdom and the grit to stand up to bullies who tell women that they should be punished for making their own decisions. Tony Goldwyn
If you are walking through the hood and you notice the cracks in the sidewalk where all the weeds, pebbles, dirt and grit settle in, that’s me. Stephen Jackson
I loved baseball. I was a pitcher. I loved being on the mound because I also loved being at the center of the action, the cat and mouse battle with the batter on every pitch. You had to develop grit. John Hickenlooper
I can’t think of anyone I admire who isn’t fuelled by self-doubt. It’s an essential ingredient. It’s the grit in the oyster. Richard Eyre
