100 Cancer Quotes to Give You Hope & Strength to Fight

If you need some inspiration to fight every day, then these cancer quotes are for you.

Cancer is one of the most researched and talked about diseases globally. This is primarily because it’s one of the leading causes of death in many countries.

This disease will throw numerous challenges that will test you to your very core. Because of that, fighters and survivors of this illness need tremendous amounts of strength, hope, and resilience to rise above it.

Having cancer can be scary, but it is something that will give you a lot of realizations about life.

For one, patients will learn about appreciating the little things in life through the hardships they face. But, there will also be times when dark thoughts can get the best of us.

So, don’t miss out on our quotes that can inspire and motivate you to keep fighting in life. Check out our entire collection below to learn about love and positivity.

Start reading here.

And don’t miss out these fighting quotes and positive quotes.

Best Cancer Quotes

1. “Cancer changes your life, often for the better. You learn what’s important, you learn to prioritize, and you learn not to waste your time. You tell people you love them.” – Joel Siegel

2. “You beat cancer by how you live, why you live, and in the manner in which you live.” – Stuart Scott

3. “Cancer is only going to be a chapter in your life, not the whole story.” – Joe Wasser

4. “Cancer is not a death sentence, but rather, it is a life sentence. It pushes one to live.” – Marcia Smith

5. “Cancer opens many doors. One of the most important is your heart.” – Greg Anderson

6. “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

7. “Cancer has shown me what family is. It showed me a love that I never knew really existed.” – Michael Douglas

8. “You can be a victim of cancer or a survivor of cancer. It’s a mindset.” – Dave Pelzer

9. “Above all, cancer is a spiritual practice that teaches me about faith and resilience.” – Kris Carr

10. “When cancer happens, you don’t put life on hold. You live now.” – Fabi Powell

11. “Cancer may have started the fight, but I will finish it.” – Anonymous

12. “What cancer cannot do: cancer is so limited. It cannot cripple love. It cannot shatter hope. It cannot corrode faith. It cannot destroy peace. It cannot kill friendship. It cannot suppress memories. It cannot silence courage. It cannot invade the soul. It cannot steal eternal life. It cannot conquer the spirit.” – Anonymous

Inspirational Cancer Quotes

13. “Cancer didn’t bring me to my knees. It brought me to my feet.” – Michael Douglas

14. “Never give up. Life is worth living. There is life after cancer.” – Anonymous

15. “Beat cancer. Small steps every day.” – Anonymous

16. “I have cancer. Cancer doesn’t have me.” – Marco Calderon

17. “The most important thing in illness is never to lose heart.” – Vladimir Ilʹich Lenin

18. “I’m battling cancer. It’s another battle I intend to win.” – Arlen Specter

19. “Cancer is the be-all and end-all of the sport, and the only thing you can do is show up to the game with your jersey on.” – Colleen Hoover

20. “I’m going to beat this cancer or die trying.” – Michael Landon

21. “Beating cancer is a personal battle. It was one of the toughest opponents I have faced so far, and I think I did reasonably well.” – Yuvraj Singh

22. “Cancer is a word, not a sentence. Cancer is not a death sentence. It’s just one word in your sentence. One part of your life.” – John Diamond

Also read: Inspirational Quotes

Cancer Quotes to Help You Go Through Hard Times

23. “You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, smarter than you think, and twice as beautiful as you’d ever imagined. Don’t let cancer cause you to sell yourself short or forget your worth.” – Anonymous

24. “Love and laughter are two of the most important universal cancer treatments on the planet. Overdose on them.” – Tanya Masse

25. “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

26. “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

27. “Cancer is a journey, but you walk the road alone. There are many places to stop along the way and get nourishment. You just have to be willing to take it.” – Emily Hollenberg

28. “Surviving cancer is not the end of a gruesome story. It’s the beginning of a beautiful one.” – Anonymous

29. “Cancer doesn’t define who you are. You do it, so keep going.” – Nelda Blair

30. “I had cancer. Cancer never had me. You are not defined by what you are going through. Cancer will never have you. You are much more than your disease.” – Anonymous

31. “If you loved your life before cancer, do not be afraid of life after cancer. You will find beauty again.” – Anonymous

32. “You have to fight because if you don’t, you let the opponent win. And if your opponent is cancer, the results can be deadly.” – Lawrence Wray

33. “You are stronger than cancer. Beat it.” – Odeta Stuikys Rose

Meaningful Cancer Quotes Everyone Can Learn From

34. “Time is shortening, but every day that I challenge this cancer and survive is a victory for me.” – Ingrid Bergman

35. “Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.” – Steve Jobs

36. “Yes, I have cancer and it might not go away, but I can still have a future because life goes on.” – Kris Carr

37. “We have two options, medically and emotionally: give up or fight like hell.” – Lance Armstrong

38. “You know, once you’ve stood up to cancer, everything else feels like a pretty easy fight.” – David Koch

39. “Once I overcame breast cancer, I wasn’t afraid of anything anymore.” – Melissa Etheridge

Empowering Cancer Quotes for Every Fighter

40. “Cancer is not a straight line. It’s up and down.” – Elizabeth Edwards

41. “It is often in the darkest skies that we see the brightest stars. Try and find some beauty in your situation. You won’t be the person you were before cancer, but that does not have to be a bad thing.” – Anonymous

42. “There will come a time in life when you believe everything is finished. That will be the beginning.” – Louis L’Amour

43. “More than 10 million Americans are living with cancer, and they demonstrate the ever-increasing possibility of living beyond cancer.” – Sheryl Crow

44. “Be thankful for this day. You are here, breathing and living life. Even if it’s not the life you want or hoped for, it’s life. There’s always something to be thankful for.” – Anonymous

45. “Cancer taught my family that my mom is much stronger than we ever thought. Faced with a devastating diagnosis, she just kept going and living, never complaining.” – Richard Grenell

46. “Beating cancer is a personal battle. It was one of the toughest opponents I have faced so far, and I think I did reasonably well.” – Yuvraj Singh

47. “Since I had cancer, I’ve realized that every day is a bonus.” – Geoffrey Boycott

48. “Always remember that your present situation is not your final destination. The best is yet to come.” – Anonymous

49. “Never be ashamed of a scar. It simply means you were stronger than whatever tried to hurt you.” – Anonymous

50. “Every day is a good day, even when things are hard because we are still here, still fighting to live among the latter.” – Lisa Kinsella

Short Cancer Quotes to Give You Strength

51. “Cancer is a part of our life, but it’s not our whole life.” – Anonymous

52. “Without hair, a queen is still a queen.” – Prajakta Mhadnak

53. “You have to fight through some bad days to earn the best days of your life.” – Anonymous

54. “The human spirit is stronger than anything that can happen to it.” – C.C. Scott

55. “Don’t count the days. Make the days count.” – Muhammad Ali

56. “Pain is temporary. Quitting lasts forever.” – Lance Armstrong Sally Jenkins

57. “The only disability in life is a bad attitude.” – Scott Hamilton

58. “Once cancer happens, it changes the way you live for the rest of your life.” – Hayley Mills

59. “I am not thankful for cancer, but I am thankful for what cancer has taught me.” – Brett Conley

Cancer Quotes to Learn About the Struggles of a Survivor

60. “Acceptance of death and cancer did not mean I intended to give up, just the opposite. I was prepared to fight cancer not out of fear of dying, but out of the joy of living.” – Edie Littlefield Sundby

61. “Working out is my way of saying to cancer, ‘You’re trying to invade my body. You’re trying to take me away from my daughters, but I’m stronger than you. And I’m going to hit harder than you.” – Stuart Scott

62. “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

63. “Cancer, any type of cancer, is terrible. We don’t realize what it actually feels like until it happens to ourselves, and it is terrible. All the emotion we go through and the strength we need to build up is hard. We don’t understand how bad it really is.” – Anonymous

64. “I cried like a baby when no one could see me or hear me. Not because I feared what cancer would do, but because I didn’t want the disease. I wanted my life to be normal, which it could no longer be.” – Yuvraj Singh

65. “I’ve had a hip replacement, I’ve beaten cancer, I had my hand operation, and I stopped drinking. Something inside of me just went, ‘I’m done.'” – Eddie Van Halen

66. “During chemo, you’re more tired than you’ve ever been. It’s like a cloud passing over the sun, and suddenly you’re out. You don’t know how you’ll answer the door when your groceries are delivered. But you also find that you’re stronger than you’ve ever been. You’re clear. Your mortality is at an optimal distance, not up so close that it obscures everything else, but close enough to give you depth perception. Previously, it has taken you weeks, months, or years to discover the meaning of an experience. Now, it’s instantaneous.” – Melissa Bank

67. “When I hear a guy lost a battle to cancer, that really did bother me, that’s a term. It implies that he failed and that somebody else that defeated cancer is heroic and courageous.” – Norm Macdonald

68. “I’m happy to tell you that having been through surgery and chemotherapy and radiation, breast cancer is officially behind me.” – Carly Fiorina

69. “Cancer is such a ruthless adversary because it behaves as if it has its own fiendishly cunning agenda.” – Paul Davies

70. “Cancer affects all of us, whether you’re a daughter, mother, sister, friend, coworker, doctor, or patient.” – Jennifer Aniston

71. “Today, we fight. Tomorrow, we fight. The day after, we fight. And if this disease plans on whipping us, it better bring a lunch ’cause it’s gonna have a long day doing it.” – Jim Beaver

72. “A cancer diagnosis changes you forever. You always remember the moment it came.” – Anonymous

73. “Cancer is awful. It took 10 years until I didn’t think about it every day. Nobody should go through this. Nobody.” – Hans Rosling

74. “Cancer didn’t change me at all. I know lots of people talk about life revelation. I didn’t have that.” – Randy Pausch

Cancer Quotes for Patients Who Need Hope

75. “All we’ve got is hope, and we hang on to that every single day.” – Caleb Scott

76. “Hope is the physician of each misery.” – Irish Proverb

77. “There is no hope unmingled with fear, no fear unmingled with hope.” – Baruch Spinoza

Profound Cancer Quotes That’ll Teach You About Life

78. “Cancer is that awful word we all fear when we go to the doctor for a physical exam, but in that brief dark moment we hear it, the world we live in and the people we share it with begin to illuminate things we did not even pay attention to.” – BD Phillips 

79. “My cancer scare changed my life. I’m grateful for every new, healthy day I have. It has helped me prioritize my life.” – Olivia Newton-John

80. “For every wound, there is a scar, and every scar tells a story. A story that says, ‘I survived!'” – Fr. Craig Scott

81. “If you don’t like something, change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.” – Maya Angelou

82. “When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds, and diamonds are made under pressure.” – Peter Marshall

Cancer Quotes to Raise Your Awareness About Prevention and Detection

83. “We can reduce these cancer rates—breast cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer—by 90% or more by people adopting what I call a nutritarian diet.” – Joel Fuhrman

84. “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

85. “Breast cancer is being detected at an earlier, more treatable stage these days, largely because women are taking more preventive measures, like self-exams and regular mammograms, and treatment is getting better too.” – Elizabeth Hurley

86. “With all of the holiday cheer in the air, it’s easy to overlook the ingredients in the foods. Ingredients such as salt, sugar, and fat, all of which lead to diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes, strokes, heart disease, and cancer.” – Lee Haney

87. “Breast cancer deaths in America have been declining for more than a decade. Much of that success is due to early detection and better treatments for women. I strongly encourage women to get a mammogram.” – Larry Craig

88. “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

89. “It’s my firm intention to whop cancer into submission and I truly believe I’ve given myself the best start possible by radically overhauling my diet and by staying true to my motto, which is don’t worry, be happy, feel good. The first thing I did when I was diagnosed was to turn vegan.” – Larry Hagman

90. “Berries are the healthiest fruit, offering potential protection against cancer and heart disease, boosting the immune system and acting as a guard for the liver and brain.” – Michael Greger

More Cancer Quotes That’ll Change Your Perspective When Dealing With Illness

91. “God didn’t promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow, or sun without rain, but He did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears, and light for the way.” – Anonymous

92. “Accept what is, let go of what was, and have faith in what will be.” – Sonia Ricotti 

93. “Strength is born in the deep silence of long-suffering hearts, not amidst joy.” – Felicia Hemans

94. “One day at a time, one step at a time. Do what you can, do your best. Let God handle the rest.” – Michelle Jones

95. “Be strong, be fearless, be beautiful. And believe that anything is possible when you have the right people there to support you.” – Misty Copeland

96. “Stand in your light and shine brightly because that is how you defeat darkness.” – Leslie Esperanza Espaillat

97. “Faith doesn’t always mean that God changes your situation, sometimes it means he changes you.” – Steven Furtick

98. “At any given moment, you have the power to say this is not how the story is going to end.” – Christine Mason Miller

99. “You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have.” – Cayla Mills

100. “When you see an obstacle approaching, grab your courage and speed up.” – Angela Lynne Craig

Which Cancer Quote Gave You the Strength to Keep Going?

A disease like cancer is weak compared to the spirit that survivors and fighters have. It doesn’t matter how severe it may be because the attitude and hope they have are enough to still live a full life.

Many people may think that being diagnosed with cancer automatically means having a death sentence. While it is true that going through this journey will test your limits and deprive you of your physical, mental, and spiritual strength, it is not the end. We should all know that there’s always hope of recovering and truly living our lives free from cancer.

Cancer will attack you physically, and even if your mental and spiritual states are tested, this disease cannot touch them directly. Stay strong and have an unbeatable attitude. With that, you will surely recover from this disease.

This is why cancer fighters are the heroes of their own lives. Having the support of family and friends is helpful. But, they have the power and strength within themselves to endure anything.

Hopefully, these cancer quotes were able to inspire you to keep fighting. Make sure to reread these quotes to supply you with the motivation and energy to keep going at your lowest points.

Which cancer quote inspired you the most? Do you have more quotes to add to the collection? Leave a comment below!

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Karen Danao

Hi, I’m Karen, a content curator and writer for Quote Ambition; I’m also a marketing and advertising professional. Beyond the keyboard and the screen, I’m someone who’s out to enjoy every bit that life has to offer!

Poetry, philosophy, history, and movies are all topics I love writing about! However, my true passion is in traveling, photography, and finding common ground to which everyone from different cultures can relate.

With the many places I’ve been to, I found that love, inspiration, and happiness are some things that bring people together. No matter how different we are on the outside, I’m a true believer that our emotions don’t lie; if you dig deep into our psyche, we’re all the same inside.

This belief was further amplified when I joined Quote Ambition. Through the quotes I’ve read, collected, organized, and written about, I found that humans are resilient, creative, and compassionate.

We take from each others’ hearts and courage, and it’s through our individual experiences that we learn how to rise above our challenges and pain. In so many ways, Quote Ambition is a platform that allows people from all over the world to gain the inspiration they need anytime, anywhere!

You can find me on MuckRack and LinkedIn.