All sorts of spiritual gifts come through privations, if they are accepted.
—Janet Erskine Stuart (1857–1914) English Catholic Nun, Educationalist
These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value. I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.
—Thomas Paine (1737–1809) American Nationalist, Author, Pamphleteer, Radical, Inventor
If you suffer, thank God! It is a sure sign that you are alive.
—Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) American Writer, Publisher, Artist, Philosopher
Do not free a camel of the burden of his hump; you may be freeing him from being a camel.
—G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) English Journalist, Novelist, Essayist, Poet
The virtue of adversity is fortitude, which in mortals is the heroical virtue.
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English Philosopher
Nothing is harder to direct than a man in prosperity; nothing more easily managed than one in adversity.
—Plutarch (c.46–c.120 CE) Greek Biographer, Philosopher
You never know what you’ve got until it’s gone.
—Unknown
Usually when people are sad, they don’t do anything.
They just cry over their condition.
But when they get angry, they bring about a change.
—Robert G. Ingersoll (1833–99) American Lawyer, Orator, Agnostic
When suffering comes, we yearn for some sign from God, forgetting we have just had one.
—Mignon McLaughlin (1913–83) American Journalist, Author
As the yellow gold is tried in fire, so the faith of friendship must be seen in adversity.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso) (c.43 BCE–c.18 CE) Roman Poet
I know God will not give me anything I can’t handle. I just wish that He didn’t trust me so much.
—Mother Teresa (1910–97) Roman Catholic Missionary, Nun
Constant success shows us but one side of the world; adversity brings out the reverse of the picture.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
It is a common experience that a problem difficult at night is resolved in the morning after the committee of sleep has worked on it.
—John Steinbeck (1902–68) American Novelist, Short Story Writer, Journalist
Behold, I have refined thee, but not with silver; I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
Adversity is like the period of the former and of the latter rain,—cold, comfortless, unfriendly to man and to animal; yet from that season have their birth the flower and the fruit, the date, the rose, and the pomegranate.
—Walter Scott (1771–1832) Scottish Novelist, Poet, Playwright, Lawyer
Turn your wounds into wisdom.
—Oprah Winfrey (b.1954) American TV Personality
Two frogs fell into a bowl of cream. One didn’t panic, he relaxed and drowned. The other kicked and struggled so much that the cream turned to butter and he walked out.
—Unknown
We become wiser by adversity; prosperity destroys our appreciation of the right.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
Some people bear three kinds of trouble—all they ever had, all they have now, and all they expect to have.
—Edward Everett Hale (1822–1909) American Unitarian Clergyman, Writer
Against criticism a man can neither protest nor defend himself; he must act in spite of it, and then it will gradually yield to him.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
The greatest object in the universe, says a certain philosopher, is a good man struggling with adversity; yet there is still a greater, which is the good man that comes to relieve it.
—Oliver Goldsmith (1730–74) Irish Novelist, Playwright, Poet
Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune, but great minds rise above it.
—Washington Irving (1783–1859) American Essayist, Biographer, Historian
Breakdowns can create breakthroughs. Things fall apart so things can fall together.
—Unknown
We are healed of a suffering only by experiencing it to the full.
—Marcel Proust (1871–1922) French Novelist
Watch a man in times of… adversity to discover what kind of man he is; for then at last words of truth are drawn from the depths of his heart, and the mask is torn off.
—Lucretius (c.99–55 BCE) Roman Epicurean Poet, Philosopher
A certain amount of opposition is a great help to a man; it is what he wants and must have to be good for anything. Hardship and opposition are the native soil of manhood and self-reliance.
—John Neal (1793–1876) American Editor, Poet, Novelist, Critic
To be without some of the things you want is an indispensable part of happiness.
—Bertrand A. Russell (1872–1970) British Philosopher, Mathematician, Social Critic
And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow.
—G. K. Chesterton (1874–1936) English Journalist, Novelist, Essayist, Poet
You have learned something. That always feels at first as if you had lost something.
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
Opposition inflames the enthusiast, never converts him.
—Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) German Poet, Dramatist
Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seamed with scars; martyrs have put on their coronation robes glittering with fire, and through their tears have the sorrowful first seen the gates of Heaven.
—Edwin Hubbell Chapin (1814–80) American Preacher, Poet
Genuine morality is preserved only in the school of adversity; a state of continuous prosperity may easily prove a quicksand to virtue.
—Friedrich Schiller (1759–1805) German Poet, Dramatist
Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.
—Napoleon Hill (1883–1970) American Author, Journalist, Attorney, Lecturer
The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value. I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress and grow brave by reflection. ‘Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death.
—Thomas Paine (1737–1809) American Nationalist, Author, Pamphleteer, Radical, Inventor
Poverty, frost, famine, rain, disease, are the beadles and guardsmen that hold us to common sense.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
The willow which bends to the tempest, often escapes better than the oak which resists it; and so in great calamities, it sometimes happens that light and frivolous spirits recover their elasticity and presence of mind sooner than those of a loftier character.
—Walter Scott (1771–1832) Scottish Novelist, Poet, Playwright, Lawyer
Sometimes adversity is what you need to face in order to become successful.
—Zig Ziglar (1926–2012) American Author
Prosperity is a great teacher; adversity is a greater.
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English Essayist
Adversity does, I think, allow a person to grow, to feel more empathy, to feel wisdom, and more importantly, to feel perspective.
—Doris Kearns Goodwin (b.1943) American Biographer, Historian
It would not be better if things happened to men just as they wish.
—Heraclitus (535BCE–475BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher
It is from the level of calamities … that we learn impressive and useful lessons.
—William Makepeace Thackeray (1811–63) English Novelist
God will not look you over for medals, degrees, or diplomas, but for scars.
—Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) American Writer, Publisher, Artist, Philosopher
Be careful the environment you choose for it will shape you; be careful the friends you choose for you will become like them.
—W. Clement Stone (1902–2002) American Self-help Guru, Entrepreneur
A diamond is a chunk of coal that made good under pressure.
—Anonymous
One who gains strength by overcoming obstacles possesses the only strength which can overcome adversity.
—Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965) French Theologian, Musician, Philosopher, Physician
Always continue the climb. It is possible for you to do whatever you choose, if you first get to know who you are and are willing to work with a power that is greater than ourselves to do it.
—Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850–1919) American Poet, Journalist
Prosperity has this property: It puffs up narrow souls, makes them imagine themselves high and mighty, and leads them to look down upon the world with contempt; but a truly noble spirit appears greatest in distress; and then becomes more bright and conspicuous.
—Plutarch (c.46–c.120 CE) Greek Biographer, Philosopher
One may not reach the dawn save by the path of the night.
—Kahlil Gibran (1883–1931) Lebanese-born American Philosopher, Poet, Painter, Theologian, Sculptor
If your knees are knocking, kneel on them.
—Unknown
He that has never suffered extreme adversity, knows not the full extent of his own depravation.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist