October marks Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which can be a time to honor the strength of the people who have faced the disease. According to the American Cancer Society, approximately one in eight women in the U.S. will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in their lifetime — meaning many of us know someone who has been personally affected by the disease. We've rounded up powerful breast cancer awareness quotes to highlight the journey that many breast cancer patients experience.

From inspiring quotes about resilience to empathetic quotes about the emotional toll that illness can take, these quotes can provide comfort to anyone who has personal experience dealing with breast cancer. Whether you're facing a diagnosis yourself, supporting a loved one, or just want to understand the experience better, these meaningful quotes can offer insight and validation.

Our collection of breast cancer awareness quotes from writers, celebrities, and others who have experienced the disease can be a powerful reminder of what it means to fight cancer.

  • "They say 'advocate for yourself,' but what does that really mean? What I’ve learned is that it means you gotta go to your doctor and you inundate them with information and you don’t stop until they give you the tests that you need. Don’t let them send you off, don’t let them tell you that it’s nothing to worry about. You have to keep fighting for yourself." — Olivia Munn
  • "You are not your illness. You have an individual story to tell. You have a name, a history, a personality. Staying yourself is part of the battle." — Julian Seifter
  • "Most of us have it mixed up. You don’t start with courage and then face fear. You become courageous because you face your fear."― Laura Davis
  • "You don’t have to be positive all the time. It’s perfectly okay to feel sad, angry, annoyed, frustrated, scared and anxious. Having feelings doesn’t make you a negative person. It makes you human." — Lori Deschene
  • "You can’t stop the waves, but you can learn to surf." — Jon Kabat-Zinn
  • "Keep your sunny side up, keep yourself beautiful, and indulge yourself!" — Betsey Johnson
  • "When fear knocks, let faith answer the door." — Robin Roberts
  • "More than 10 million Americans are living with cancer, and they demonstrate the ever-increasing possibility of living beyond cancer."— Sheryl Crow
  • “After something so life-changing, all these little fears seem like no big deal.” — Karen Lewis
  • "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
  • “Cancer survivors are blessed with two lives. There is your life before cancer, and your life after. I am here to tell you your second life is going to be so much better than the first.” — Hoda Kotb
  • "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
  • "I laughed more in the hospital than I ever have in my life, making fun of all the weird things that were happening to me. My friends would walk in with this sad look, and I would throw something at them and say, ‘Come on! This isn’t the end of the world!'" — Christina Applegate
  • "I'm here today because I refused to be unhappy. I took a chance." — Wanda Sykes
  • ​​"If a relative has suffered ovarian or breast cancer, get the genetic screening. It saves lives." — Lisa Jey Davis
breast cancer awareness quotes, mothers and daughters for breast cancer awareness
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  • "I will not allow cancer to keep me from doing all I can. Using every tool in my toolbox and that very much includes continuing to build this Fire Drill Fridays community and finding new ways to use our collective strength to make change." — Jane Fonda
  • "A lot of people see [cancer] as a fight, and [however] you choose to see it, that’s your prerogative. I see it as part of my mission." — Olivia Newton-John
  • "You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them." — Maya Angelou
  • "Fear, to a great extent, is born of a story we tell ourselves, and so I chose to tell myself a different story from the one women are told. I decided I was safe. I was strong. I was brave. Nothing could vanquish me." — Cheryl Strayed
  • "The ones that carry the weight of illness or a disability, they battle wars most know nothing about. They are the true warriors of the world, the ones who have every reason to quit but never do."― Nikki Rowe
  • "Cancer gave me a reason to be the best version of myself, and that’s what I’ve done. You realize that fear can either cripple you or it can motivate you, and it had been crippling me. And I decided to change it, and let that fear be motivating.” — Amy Robach
  • "Obviously, it wasn’t meant for me to die of cancer at 40. Every day my life surprises me, just like my cancer diagnosis surprised me. But you roll with it. That’s our job as humans." — Edie Falco
  • "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
  • "There can be life after breast cancer. The prerequisite is early detection."— Ann Jillian
  • "I don't have breasts — so why do I have to pretend like I do? That stuff isn't important. I'm just grateful to have been born at a time when the research made it possible for me to survive. I feel so incredibly lucky to be alive." — Kathy Bates
  • "I’ve always thought of myself as being a warrior. When you actually have a battle, it’s better than when you don’t know who to fight." — Carly Simon
  • "Cure sometimes, treat often, comfort always."— Hippocrates
  • "Each day comes bearing its own gifts. Untie the ribbons." — Ruth Ann Schabacker
  • “When I first was diagnosed, my gut reaction was, ‘This is a terrible thing.’ But as my journey has progressed, I feel so blessed because I’ve experienced the most incredible outpouring of love you can imagine.” — Victoria Lavine
  • "Don’t let breast cancer take away the motivation to achieve your dreams." — Dianna Cohen
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Karla Pope

Karla Pope is a longtime writer, editor and blogger with more than two decades of editorial experience. She’s written for a variety of outlets including Good Housekeeping, Woman’s Day, Travel + Leisure, Tripadvisor, People, Parade and more. Her coverage includes travel, lifestyle, entertainment and wellness content. When she's not exploring the world with her family, you can find her curled up on the couch watching a documentary and eating gummy bears.