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• When the going gets tough, the tough get going
  When the going gets tough, the tough get going

  The way to overcome adversity is to try harder.
• when the going gets tough, the tough get going
  when the going gets tough, the tough get going

  see under get going, def. 2.

When the going gets tough, the tough get going

Cultural  

1. The way to overcome adversity is to try harder.

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when the going gets tough, the tough get going Idioms  

1. see under get going, def. 2.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

When the going gets tough, the tough get going when the going gets tough, the tough get going

I believe my man Bluto from “Animal House” put it best: When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

From New York Times ● Dec. 19, 2010

Well, in the words of every high school football coach and that famous felon John Mitchell: When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

From Time Magazine Archive

Mitchell football-coached, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going"; and everybody worried about the chief "lowering the boom."

From Time Magazine Archive

The hero was humble, would blush when bussed by a cheerleader, and was forever uttering inspiring words like "When the going gets tough, the tough get going."

From Time Magazine Archive

"When the going gets tough, the tough get going, right?"

From Joe Burke's Last Stand by John Moncure Wetterau

He just gets down, you know, when the going gets tough, the tough get going and that's what he is.

From BBC ● Mar. 13, 2025

Philadelphia is a city where, when the going gets tough, the tough get going.

From Time ● Aug. 5, 2016

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