Never Give Up and Always Keep the Faith—75 Quotes About Breast Cancer That Resonate

Whether you are a cancer survivor yourself or you know and love someone—a family member, a friend, a neighbor—who has experienced a breast cancer diagnosis, breast cancer affects so many of us. In fact, about 1 in 8 women will develop invasive breast cancer, and 2,650 new cases of invasive male breast cancer are expected this year, according to BreastCancer.org.

With so many lives touched by cancer, it's important to keep faith after a diagnosis and during breast cancer treatment. That can be difficult, of course, but with the help of these 75 breast cancer quotes from survivors and celebrities alike, you may just find that you feel less alone, inspired, and encouraged by others who have been affected, too. Ready to feel inspired? Keep reading for 75 inspiring breast cancer quotes that really resonate.

75 Breast Cancer Quotes

1. "More than 10 million Americans are living with cancer, and they demonstrate the ever-increasing possibility of living beyond cancer."—Sheryl Crow

2. "Having cancer does make you try to be better at everything you do and enjoy every moment. It changes you forever. But it can be a positive change.” —Jaclyn Smith

3. "A woman is like a tea bag; you cannot tell how strong she is until you put her in hot water." —Nancy Reagan

4. "Once I overcame breast cancer, I wasn’t afraid of anything anymore."—Melissa Etheridge

5. "Cure sometimes, treat often, comfort always."—Hippocrates

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6. "The most important thing in illness is never to lose heart."—Nikolai Lenin

7. "The only person who can save you is you."—Sheryl Crow

8. "We have two options, medically and emotionally: give up or fight like hell." —Lance Armstrong

9. "The goal is to live a full, productive life even with all that ambiguity. No matter what happens, whether the cancer never flares up again or whether you die, the important thing is that the days that you have had you will have lived." —Gilda Radner

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10. "The human spirit is stronger than anything that can happen to it."—C.C. Scott

11. "Yesterday I dared to struggle. Today, I dare to win." —Bernadette Devlin

12. "There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." —Albert Einstein

13. "Fearless does not mean you aren’t afraid; it means you accept the fear and move forward anyway."—Brianne Joseph

14. "If children have the ability to ignore all odds and percentages, then maybe we can all learn from them. When you think about it, what other choice is there but to hope?" —Lance Armstrong

15. "It's about focusing on the fight and not the fright."—Robin Roberts

16. "With breast cancer, it’s all about detection. You have to educate young women and encourage them to do everything they have to do." —Bill Rancic

17. "You are not your scars." —Malisa Morris

18. "Breast cancer changes you, and the change can be beautiful."—Jane Cook

19. "Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things."—Robert Brault

20. "And if it comes back, I’ll keep fighting."—Nicole Kramer

21. "Every woman needs to know the facts. And the fact is, when it comes to breast cancer, every woman is at risk." —Debbie Wasserman Schultz

22. "Breast cancer is scary and no one understands that like another woman who has gone through it too." —Mindy Sterling

23. "Keep your sunny side up, keep yourself beautiful, and indulge yourself!"—Betsey Johnson

24. "Whether you’re a mother or father, or a husband or a son, or a niece or a nephew or uncle, breast cancer doesn’t discriminate." —Stephanie McMahon

25. "My diagnosis flung me into despair until it hit me: I’m alive."—Dana Dinerman

26. "It's OK not tobe OK all the time." —Shauna Kirby

27. "Having had cancer, one important thing to know is you're still the same person at the end. You're stripped down to near-zero. But most people come out the other end feeling more like themselves than ever before." —Kylie Minogue

28. "When fear knocks, let faith answer the door." —Robin Roberts

29. "Since I had cancer, I've realized that every day is a bonus." —Geoffrey Boycott

30. "Once cancer happens, it changes the way you live for the rest of your life." —Hayley Mills

31. "Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says, 'I’ll try again tomorrow.'"—Mary Anne Radmacher

32. "I personally know women who are breast cancer survivors and I will do all I can to support the cause. Besides, I love boobies!" —Jane Wiedlin

33. "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. So the only thing to be really afraid of is if you don’t go get your mammograms." —Cynthia Nixon

34. "Have your own experience and trust your intuition. A million people will tell you what you should and shouldn't be doing, but you know yourself and your body best—do what you think is right." —Christina Steinorth-Powell

35. "I would like to take the stigma away. 'Mastectomy,' the word seemed to scary to me at first. After doing research and seeing the advancements, the surgery has come a long way from 20 years ago. The results can be incredible." —Giuliana Rancic

36. "I'm battling cancer. It's another battle I intend to win." —Arlen Specter

37. "Cancer has shown me what family is. It showed me a love that I never knew really existed." —Michael Douglas

38. "You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face." —Eleanor Roosevelt

39. "Attitude is a little thing that makes a difference." —Winston Churchill

40. "When someone has cancer, the whole family and everyone who loves them does, too." —Terri Clark

41. "I started realizing I could be an example for women to not just be aware of breast cancer, but to act on it, to give themselves an exam." —Giuliana Rancic

42. "No matter what the statistics say, there is always a way." —Bernie Siegel

43. "When life kicks you, let it kick you forward." —Kay Yow

44. "Don’t let breast cancer take away the motivation to achieve your dreams." —Diana Cohen

45. "I think cancer is a hard battle to fight alone or with another person at your side, but I will say having someone to pick you up when you fall, stand by your side through every appointment and delivery of bad news, is priceless." —Jenna Morasca

46. "I have lived over a decade now without a mom. She met only a few of her grandchildren and was often too sick to play with them. My mother fought the disease for a decade and made it into her 50s. My grandmother died in her 40s. I'm hoping my choices allow me to live a bit longer." —Angelina Jolie

47. "Cancer can take away all of my physical abilities. It cannot touch my mind, it cannot touch my heart, and it cannot touch my soul." —Jim Valvano

48. "The hardest thing you can do is smile when you are ill, in pain, or depressed. But this no-cost remedy is a necessary first half-step if you are to start on the road to recovery."—Allen Klein

49. "There is no medicine like hope, no incentive so great, and no tonic so powerful as expectation of something tomorrow." —Orison Swett Marden

50. "There can be life after breast cancer. The prerequisite is early detection."—Ann Jillian

51. "Toughness is in the soul and spirit, not in muscles." —Alex Karras

52. "If it takes a village to raise a child, it takes a bloody army to battle cancer." —Niyati Tamaskar

53. "Seeds of faith are always within us; sometimes it takes a crisis to nourish and encourage their growth." —Susan Taylor

Once you choose hope, anything’s possible." —Christopher Reeves

54. "Each day comes bearing its own gifts. Untie the ribbons." —Ruth Ann Schabacker

55. "Don’t delegate your survival to the doctors and hope for the best. You have to participate in your own cure. You have to fight." —Lawrence Wray

56. "If a relative has suffered ovarian or breast cancer, get the genetic screening. It saves lives." —Lisa Jey Davis

57. "Life’s better now. I wouldn’t do it all again, though. It’s funny how life works. Maybe it was meant to happen for many reasons because my life in many ways is richer." —Giuliana Rancic

58. "Cancer didn’t bring me to my knees; it brought me to my feet." —Michael Douglas

59. "Cancer affects all of us, whether you're a daughter, mother, sister, friend, coworker, doctor, or patient." —Jennifer Aniston

60. "Breast cancer, whether I like it or not, is part of my family’s story. That’s why I am so passionate about raising awareness because I have seen firsthand how it can impact others." —DeAngelo Williams

61. "Time is shortening. But every day that I challenge this cancer and survive is a victory for me." —Ingrid Bergman

62. "Cancer is messy and scary. You throw everything at it, but don’t forget to throw love at it. It turns out that might be the best weapon of all."—Regina Brett

63. "Do not partner with fear to help you make decisions." —Jeannette Gregory

64. "I think our scars remind us of what we have overcome. They are part of what makes each of us unique. That diversity is one of the things that is most beautiful about human existence." —Angelina Jolie

65. "It drove home, personally, the value of early detection and education and intervention." —Janet Napolitano

66. "Surviving cancer treatment is like coming home from war." —Saskia Lightstar

67. "Cancer opens many doors. One of the most important is your heart." —Greg Anderson

68. "I always look on the positive side and in a weird way just thought of it as another adventure. Not for a single second did it go through my head that I was going to die." —Caroline Monk

69. "Fight each round, take it on the chin. And never never never ever give in." —Olivia Newton-John

70. "I'm stronger than I thought I was. My favorite phrase has been, 'This too shall pass.' I now understand it really well." —Robin Roberts

71. "I'm here today because I refused to be unhappy. I took a chance." —Wanda Sykes

72. "You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have." —Cayla Mills

73. "Cancer is really hard to go through and it's really hard to watch someone you love go through, and I know because I have been on both sides of the equation." —Cynthia Nixon

74. "My relationship with my body has changed. I used to consider it as a servant who should obey, function, give pleasure. In sickness, you realize that you are not the boss. It is the other way around." —Federico Fellini

75. "I do not feel any less of a woman. I feel empowered that I made a strong choice that in no way diminishes my femininity."—Angelina Jolie

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