World Cancer Day 2019: Inspirational Quotes About Fighting The Disease

World Cancer Day is observed annually on Feb. 4 with an aim to not only raise awareness of it but also to promote research to find a cure. This year also marks the launch of a three-year campaign called "I Am and I Will."

According to the American Cancer Society, the death rate from cancer in the United States has declined significantly over the past 25 years and as of 2016, the death rate among men and women combined had fallen 27 percent from 1991.

Here are 10 inspirational quotes about fighting the disease, taken from BeSeenGetScreened and Goodreads:

1. "When you have cancer, it's like you enter a new time zone: the Cancer Zone. Everything in the Tropic of Cancer revolves around your health or your sickness. I didn't want my whole life to revolve around cancer. Life came first; cancer came second." – author Regina Brett

2. “At the end of the day, none of it matters but your own joy, your own spiritual journey that you go on, your loved ones, your friends, your animals. These are the things you’ve got to cherish and love and embrace.” – actress Christina Applegate

3. "I believe that we need a moon shot in this country to cure cancer. It's personal. But I know we can do this ... because there are so many breakthroughs just on the horizon in science and medicine, the things that are just about to happen. And we can make them real with an absolute national commitment to end cancer as we know it today." – Joe Biden, former U.S. vice president

4. “Time is shortening. But every day that I challenge this cancer and survive is a victory for me.” – actress Ingrid Bergman

5. “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.” – basketball player Jim Valvano

6. "When you think about it, what other choice is there but to hope? We have two options, medically and emotionally: give up or fight like hell." – cyclist Lance Armstrong

7. “When you die, it does not mean that you lose to cancer. You beat cancer by how you live, why you live and in the manner in which you live.” – ESPN anchor Stuart Scott

8. "Cancer has taught me a lot of things. Maybe it is the best thing that has happened to me. I can't say right now, but maybe some years down the line, I would realize. When I was taking chemotherapy, there were a lot of elderly patients and that would inspire me. I thought, 'If they can be cured, why can't I be?'" – Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh

9. "Cancer didn't bring me to my knees, it brought me to my feet." – actor Michael Douglas

10. “I’ve learned to make fearless choices. You come up against stuff now and you’re like ‘Alright! Just do it!’” – singer Melissa Etheridge