120 Relationship Struggle Quotes That Hit Home

DISCLAIMER: These relationship struggle quotes won’t (magically) solve your relationship issues, but they will help you understand them and they will definitely resonate with a wide array of your emotions from pain to anger.

Don’t worry; I won’t switch to writing something about how relationships are tough and how they require lots of effort, blah, blah… The struggle is real (no irony intended) and we all know that already!

It’s true that some relationships have potential while others are doomed from the start or they fail in the middle of romance. Do you know what one thing is that all of them have in common?

It’s the fact that every relationship has its own struggles. Some struggles are extremely painful while others are bearable. Some of them are deal breakers while others aren’t.

And, do you know what? No matter the intensity of these struggles, love conquers every single time. If it doesn’t, then it wasn’t real love.

Take some time to think about all of that while seeking comfort and understanding in the following relationship struggle quotes.

And, yes, after these relationship struggle quotes, there will also be some funny relationship quotes. Honestly, if they don’t make you laugh, then I don’t know what will. *Sending virtual warm hugs.*

Best Relationship Struggle Quotes

Once struggles enter your relationship, you can’t help yourself but think: Should I leave my relationship or fight for it? The real answer to this question is somewhere in between your reason and feelings.

However, most relationship issues can be overcome, and they are actually a good thing because they test the strength of your relationship. Here are some of the best quotes that prove that:

1. “You don’t develop courage by being happy in your relationships every day. You develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity.” – Epicurus

2. “A strong relationship requires choosing to love each other even in those moments when you struggle to like each other.” – Unknown

3. “50% of a great relationship is how you treat someone. The other 50% is having the ability and confidence to communicate the treatment you want in return.” – Matthew Hussey

4. “Without communication, there is no relationship. Without respect, there is no LOVE. Without trust, there is no reason to continue.” – Unknown

5. “Problems in relationships occur because each person is concentrating on what is missing in the other person.” – Wayne Dyer

6. “A relationship, in my opinion, is similar to a fish. It needs to keep moving on or it will die.” – Unknown

7. “If you walked away from a toxic, negative, abusive, one-sided, dead-end, low vibration relationship – you won.” – Unknown

8. “If your love for another person doesn’t include loving yourself, then your love is incomplete.” – Shannon L. Alder

9. “When you get hurt in love, there are very few things that can help you get over the pain.” – Melba Sean

10. “Some of the biggest challenges in relationships come from the fact that most people enter a relationship to get something: they’re trying to find someone who’s going to make them feel good. In reality, the only way a relationship will last is if you see your relationship as a place that you go to give, and not a place that you go to take.” – Anthony Robbins

11. “All relationships have problems. Your ability to overcome them defines your relationship strength.” – Unknown

12. “What love we’ve given, we’ll have forever. What love we fail to give will be lost for all eternity.” – Leo Buscaglia13. “Relationships include fights, jealousy, arguments, and tears. But, a real relationship fights through all of those with love.” – Unknown

14. “When you struggle with your partner, you are struggling with yourself. Every fault you see in them touches a denied weakness in yourself.” – Deepak Chopra

15. “In general, the problem in a relationship is when the couple stagnates.” – Simon Baker

16. “Never let a problem to be solved become more important than a person to be loved.” – Barbara Johnson

17. “The best person to talk to about the problems in your relationship is the person you’re in a relationship with.” – Unknown

18. “Every relationship has its problems, but what makes it perfect is when you still want to be there when everything goes wrong.” – Ritu Ghatourey

19. “Explain your anger, don’t express it, and you will immediately open the door to solutions instead of arguments.” – Unknown

20. “Shared joy is a double joy; shared sorrow is half sorrow.” – Unknown

21. “Two flawed people who refuse to let go of each other define a real relationship.” – Unknown

22. “Wherever you have to clarify all the time, the relationship will never get deep.” – Unknown

23. “Don’t smother each other. No one can grow in the shade.” – Leo F. Buscaglia

24. “Remember that the best relationship is that in which mutual love is bigger than mutual necessity.” – Vincenzo Berghella

Relationship Life Struggle Quotes

Whenever I think about how painful love and relationships are, these lyrics by Incubus come to my mind: “Love hurts, but sometimes it’s a good hurt and it feels like I’m alive”.

It’s true that pain can make us feel alive even when our relationship is dying in front of us. Giving ultimatums in relationships is often a result of fear and helplessness we feel when dealing with relationship issues. That’s where these motivational quotes come into the story:

1. “All relationships go through bad times, but real relationships get through bad times.” – Anurag Prakash Ray

2. “When two people are meant for each other, no time is too long, no distance is too far, no one can ever tear them apart.” – Uknown

3. “Relationships and marriages are ruined where one person continues to learn, develop, and grow and the other person stands still.” – Catherine Pulsifer

4. “You can’t just give up on someone because the situation’s not ideal. Great relationships aren’t great because they have no problems. They’re great because both people care enough about the other person to find a way to make it work.” – Unknown

5. “A ‘perfect marriage’ is just two imperfect people who refuse to give up on each other.” – Unknown

6. “We have to recognize that there cannot be relationships unless there is commitment, unless there is loyalty, unless there is love, patience, persistence.” – Cornel West

7. “For lack of an occasional expression of love, a relationship strong at the seams can wear thin in the middle.” – Robert Brault

8. “All couples have ups and downs, but how you handle it is what defines true love. Arguments are simply a test to see if a couple is strong enough to overcome it.” – Unknown

9. “I have a good imagination. Look, I know what it feels like to have a broken heart. I know what it feels like to feel something for somebody. I’m just too weird to be in a relationship.” – Diane Warren

10. “Once you accept the reality that even between the closest human beings, infinite distances continue, a wonderful relationship can grow.” – Unknown

11. “The emotion that can break your heart is sometimes the very one that heals it.” – Nicholas Sparks

12. “Hidden resentments poison a relationship; so if something bothers you, say it.” – Unknown13. “Looking back and wondering if it could have worked eventually hurts more than trying and failing.” – Dominic Riccitello

14. “Nothing is perfect. Life is messy. Relationships are complex. Outcomes are uncertain. People are irrational.” – Hugh Mackay

15. “Letting go of toxic people is an act of self-care.” – Unknown

16. “The worst feeling is to be ignored once, then twice, then again, and again by someone you consider precious.” – Betsy Kenton

17. “Don’t rush into any relationship. Work on yourself. Feel yourself, experience yourself, and love yourself. Do this first, and you will soon attract that special loving other.” – Russ Von Hoelscher

18. “Compromises in business can be beneficial, but not in relationships, and compromise can be a good shield, but not a good roof. It is important to maintain every relationship with love from the heart.” – Unknown

19. “Never love anybody that treats you like you’re ordinary.” – Oscar Wilde

20. “Each relationship nurtures a strength or weakness within you.” – Mike Murdock

21. “Disrespect is fatal to a relationship.” – Jonathan Lockwood Huie

22. “You never realize how much you love someone until they’re gone.” – Perry Ritthaler

23. “You can’t give love if you have no love for yourself. What you give to yourself will be exactly what you get from someone else.” – Mr. Semiopenminded Harris

24. “Consider that great love relationships and life goals are risky: if you lose, cherish the lesson anyway.” – Vincenzo Berghella

Struggle Relationship Quotes For Hard Times

You know your struggles are real when heartfelt I’m sorry paragraphs can’t help you. Take a deep breath, stop for a moment, and realize that everything will be okay. If it’s not, then it’s not true love. These difficult relationship quotes depict the relationship struggle in the most inspiring ways:

1. “Sometimes, two people have to fall apart to realize how much they need to fall back together.” – Colleen Hoover

2. “Whatever problems arise in a romantic relationship, it’s important to face them together as a couple. If an aspect of the relationship stops working, don’t simply ignore it, but instead, address it with your partner. Things change, so respond to them together as they do.” – Anne Nwakama

3. “You can’t have a relationship without fighting, but you can make it worth fighting for.” – Unknown

4. “Trouble is part of your life, and if you don’t share it, you don’t give the person who loves you enough of a chance to love you enough.” – Dinah Shore

5. “Hold no grudges, and practice forgiveness. This is the key to having peace in all your relationships.” – Wayne Dyer

6. “A relationship is like a house. When a light bulb burns out, you do not go and buy a new house, you fix the light bulb.” – Bernajoy Vaal

7. “One of the hardest decisions you’ll ever face in love is choosing whether to walk away or try harder.” – Unknown

8. “When you find someone you can truly love, you will fight to keep that relationship. No matter what obstacles you both will face, you will never give up on each other. You may get lost along the way, but one of you always keeps catching the other. Soon, one day, both of you will have each other’s backs.” – Jenna Bognar

9. “When you make the sacrifice in marriage, you’re sacrificing not to each other, but to unity in a relationship.” – Joseph Campbell

10. “To solve the problem, you have to recognize your share of responsibility. If you only blame the other person, you will never solve it.” – Unknown

11. “Great couples still get angry with each other, but they continue to discuss until there is a solution, even if it takes several days.” – Bob Grant

12. “There is no pain equal to that which two lovers can inflict on one another.” – Cyril Connolly13. “Definition of a long-distance relationship: ‘Inconveniently the most effective way to find out if you really love each other.’” – Unknown

14. “If you love someone, set them free. If they come back, they’re yours; if they don’t, they never were.” – Richard Bach

15. “Love is the remedy of all problems: misunderstandings become jokes, insults become humor, a perfect relationship.” – Dielnov Muchati

16. “Love can sometimes be magic. But, magic can sometimes be an illusion.” – Unknown

17. “When someone is hard on you, it may have very little to do with you.” – Bryan McGill

18. “I push you away sometimes because I need you to pull me closer.” – Unknown

19. “Every relationship has its own problems. But, sometimes what makes it perfect is if you still wanna be together when things go the wrong way.” – Unknown

20. “Almost all of our sorrows spring out of our relations with other people.” – Arthur Schopenhauer

21. “Relationships based on obligation lack dignity.” – Wayne Dyer

22. “If you don’t learn how to guard your heart against the past, you’ll be a fool in the future.” – Mr. Semiopenminded Harris

23. “The key to loving relationships is to accept one another in permanence. That means we must love each other no matter what happens to the relationship.” – Vironika Tugaleva

24. “To make a great relationship last, trust and friendship must be your first task.” – Arlene De’Sha Jennings

Relationship Problems Quotes

After the honeymoon phase ends, relationship problems are inevitable, but it’s nothing you should worry about (that much) because being in a struggling relationship can also be just a phase. As a reminder that it’s okay to be sad, broken, and lost, these troubled relationship quotes come to the rescue:

1. “Problems should be like speed bumps. You slow down just to get over it, but you don’t let it stop you from heading to your destination.” – Sonya Parker

2. “Behind every happy couple lies two people who have fought hard to overcome all obstacles and interferences to be that way. Why? Because it’s what they wanted.” – Kim George

3. “Nobody likes conflict, but sweeping issues under the rug ultimately cause more damage than addressing things directly” – Unknown

4. “Never leave a true relationship for a few faults. Nobody is perfect, nobody is correct, and in the end, affection is always greater than perfection.” – Unknown

5. “Assumptions are the termites of relationships.” – Henry Winkler

6. “The extent to which two people in a relationship can bring up and resolve issues is a critical marker of the soundness of a relationship.” – Henry Cloud

7. “Love is not how you forget, but how you forgive. Not how you listen, but how you understand. Not what you see, but how you feel. And, not how you let go, but how you hold on.” – Unknown

8. “Long-term relationships, the ones that matter, are all about weathering the peaks and the valleys.” – Nicholas Sparks

9. “A successful relationship requires falling in love multiple times, but always with the same person.” – Unknown

10. “We are told that people stay in love because of chemistry, or because they remain intrigued by each other because of many kindnesses and because of luck. But, part of it has got to be forgiveness and gratefulness.” – Ellen Goodman

11. “Good communication is less about saying what you mean and more about defining what you say.” – Kelli Jae Baeli

12. “Secrets are festering parasites to a relationship devouring their hosts from within, leaving behind an empty hollow husk of what once was.” – Mark W. Boyer13. “We need to accept that we won’t always make the right decisions. That we’ll screw up royally sometimes.” – Arianna Huffington

14. “Anyone can give up; it’s the easiest thing in the world to do. But, to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart… that’s true strength.” – Unknown

15. “In a relationship, it is demeaning to seek your partner’s approval constantly. In such relationships, real caring, depth, or even love is missing.” – Daisaku Ikeda

16. “A lovers’ quarrel is always about every quarrel you ever had.” – Robert Brault

17. “There is a single rule that governs all relationships. Never leave your loved one feeling alone, particularly when you’re present.” – Unknown

18. “Work on your relationships… Relationships need renewal or they die.” – Bo Sanchez

19. “Don’t settle for a relationship that won’t let you be yourself.” – Oprah Winfrey

20. “When you don’t talk, there’s a lot of stuff that ends up not getting said.” – Catherine Gilbert Murdock

21. “Warning signs of a relationship can be predetermined by words and actions expressed, but if you don’t take the time to listen, the mistakes, issues, or problems that occur will be your own fault by your own omission.” – Mr. Semiopenminded Harris

22. “Do not let a small disagreement ruin a great relationship.” – Vincenzo Berghella

23. “If there is no trust in a relationship at all, it is destined to surely fall.” – Arlene De’Sha Jennings

24. “Both people need to care deeply about the other person, to put the other’s needs before their own, and to make a daily commitment to that person to stick it out.” – Alessandra Torre

Funny Quotes About Relationships

After talking about relationship struggles, it’s time to relax a little bit. These funny couple quotes will make you laugh so hard that you’ll forget you even have relationship issues. Allow these “happiness quotes” to trigger positivity in your mind, body, and soul:

1. “Honesty is the key to a relationship. If you can fake that, you’re in.” – Richard Jeni

2. “Relationships start with ‘Can we talk?’ and end with ‘We need to talk’.” – Unknown

3. “A relationship without trust is like a car without gas. You can stay in it all you want, but it won’t go anywhere.” – Unknown

4. “Relationships are hard. It’s like a full-time job, and we should treat it like one. If your boyfriend or girlfriend wants to leave you, they should give you two weeks’ notice. There should be severance pay, and before they leave you, they should find you a temp.” – Bob Ettinger

5. “Relationships are like garage sales. From a distance, it looks like it could be interesting, but up close, it’s just a ton of shit you don’t need.” – Unknown

6. “Failed relationships can be described as so much wasted make-up.” – Marian Keyes

7. “The key to a successful relationship is to clear your internet history.” – Unknown

8. “When a husband brings his wife flowers for no reason, there’s a reason.” – Marian Jordan

9. “In a relationship, one person is always right and the other person is male.” – Unknown

10. “Before you marry a person, you should first make them use a computer with slow Internet service to see who they really are.” – Will Ferrell

11. “The world has grown suspicious of anything that looks like a happily married life.” –Unknown

12. “The difference between being in a relationship and being in prison is that in prisons, they let you play softball on the weekends.” – Agatha Christie13. “Do you know why a previous relationship is called ex? It’s not the term for the past. Ex is short for expired.” – Unknown

14. “A husband is living proof that a wife can take a joke.” – Hugh Payne

15. “Some people ask the secret of our long marriage. We take time to go to a restaurant two times a week. A little candlelight, dinner, soft music, and dancing. She goes Tuesdays, I go Fridays.” – Henny Youngman

16. “Being in a relationship is a full-time job, so don’t apply if you’re not ready.” – Unknown

17. “Love is a two-way street constantly under construction.” – Carroll Bryant

18. “Women marry men hoping they will change. Men marry women hoping they will not. So, each is inevitably disappointed.” – Albert Einstein

19. “It’s no good pretending that any relationship has a future if your record collections disagree violently or if your favorite films wouldn’t even speak to each other if they met at a party.” – Nick Hornby

20. “There’s no easy way to break off any relationship. It’s like the mozzarella cheese on a good slice of pizza. No matter how far you pull the slice away from your mouth it just gets thinner and longer, but never snaps.” – Jerry Seinfeld

21. “A happy marriage is the union of two good forgives.” – Robert Quillen

22. “Marry a man your own age; as your beauty fades, so will his eyesight.” – Phyllis Diller

23. “Some women spend the first part of their lives looking for a husband, and the last part wondering where he is.” – David Young

24. “When you’re in a relationship, you’re always surrounded by a ring of circumstances… joined together by a wedding ring, or in a boxing ring.” – Bob Seger

Final Thoughts

I hope these inspirational quotes helped you understand your relationship struggles better so that you can deal with them successfully. I also hope you laughed hard on those funny quotes about relationships because I surely did as I was writing them.

After relationship struggle quotes and funny relationship quotes, it’s finally time to wrap it all up with one of the heartfelt love quotes by Maya Angelou:

“In all the world, there is no heart for me like yours. In all the world, there is no love for you like mine.”