Misfortunes come to all men.
—Chinese Proverb
The beauty of the soul shines out when a man bears with composure one heavy mischance after another, not because he does not feel them, but because he is a man of high and heroic temper.
—Aristotle (384BCE–322BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Scholar
Always fall in with what you’re asked to accept. Take what is given, and make it over your way. My aim in life has always been to hold my own with whatever’s going. Not against: with.
—Robert Frost (1874–1963) American Poet
A mountain man tries to live with the country instead of against it.
—Louis L’Amour (1908–88) American Novelist, Short-Story Writer
We win half the battle when we make up our minds to take the world as we find it, including the thorns.
—Orison Swett Marden (1850–1924) American New Thought Writer, Physician, Entrepreneur
There is no man in this world without some manner of tribulation or anguish, though he be king or pope.
—Thomas a Kempis (1379–1471) German Religious Priest, Writer
Nobody’s problem is ideal. Nobody has things just as he would like them. The thing to do is to make a success with what material I have. It is a sheer waste of time and soul-power to imagine what I would do if things were different. They are not different.
—Frank Hall Crane (1873–1948) American Stage and Film Actor, Director
The first step toward change is awareness. The second step is acceptance.
—Nathaniel Branden (1930–2014) American Psychotherapist
Whether it is the best of times or the worst of times, it is the only time we have.
—Art Buchwald (1925–2007) American Humorist, Satirist, Columnist
She had believed the land was her enemy, and she struggled against it, but you could not make war against a land any more than you could against the sea. One had to learn to live with it, to belong to it, to fit into its seasons and its ways.
—Louis L’Amour (1908–88) American Novelist, Short-Story Writer
Every man must be content with that glory which he may have at home.
—Boethius (c.480–524 CE) Roman Statesman, Philosopher
It’s okay if you mess up. You should give yourself a break.
—Billy Joel (b.1949) American Singer, Songwriter, Musician
If you make friends with yourself you will never be alone.
—Maxwell Maltz (1899–1975) American Surgeon, Motivational Writer
The courage to be is the courage to accept oneself, in spite of being unacceptable.
—Paul Tillich (1886–1965) German-born Protestant Theologian
Who except the gods can live without any pain?
—Aeschylus (525–456 BCE) Greek Playwright
It is a common observation that those who dwell continually upon their expectations are apt to become oblivious to the requirements of their actual situation.
—Charles Sanders Peirce (1839–1914) American Philosopher, Logician, Mathematician
I wish they would only take me as I am.
—Vincent van Gogh (1853–90) Dutch Painter
We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope.
—Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–68) American Civil Rights Leader, Clergyman
Make a virtue of necessity.
—Robert Burton (1577–1640) English Scholar, Clergyman
It is not necessarily those lands which are the most fertile or most favored in climate that seem to me the happiest, but those in which a long struggle of adaptation between man and his environment has brought out the best qualities of both.
—T. S. Eliot (1888–1965) American-British Poet, Dramatist, Literary Critic
Wisdom never kicks at the iron walls it can’t bring down.
—Olive Schreiner (1855–1920) South African Writer, Feminist
Every creator painfully experiences the chasm between his inner vision and its ultimate expression. The chasm is never completely bridged. We all have the conviction, perhaps illusory, that we have much more to say than appears on the paper.
—Isaac Bashevis Singer (1902–91) Polish-born American Writer, Novelist, Short Story Writer
Adapt yourself to the things among which your lot has been cast and love sincerely the fellow creatures with whom destiny has ordained that you shall live.
—Marcus Aurelius (121–180) Emperor of Rome, Stoic Philosopher
There is a mortal breed most full of futility. In contempt of what is at hand, they strain into the future. Hanging impossibilities on the wings of ineffectual hopes.
—Pindar (c.518–c.438 BCE) Greek Lyric Poet
Of all the young men in America only a few hundred can get into major league baseball, and of these only a handful in a decade can get into the Hall of Fame. So it goes in all human activity … Some become multimillionaires and chairmen of the board, and some of us must be content to play baseball at company picnics or manage a credit union without pay.
—William Feather (1889–1981) American Publisher, Author
The real world is not easy to live in. It is rough; it is slippery. Without the most clear-eyed adjustments we fall and get crushed. A man must stay sober; not always, but most of the time.
—Clarence Day (1874–1935) American Author, Humorist
We must make the best of those ills which cannot be avoided.
—Alexander Hamilton (c.1757–1804) American Federalist Politician, Statesman
Maturity is achieved when a person accepts life as full of tension.
—Joshua L. Liebman (1907–48) American Rabbi, Author
Man is the only creature who refuses to be what he is.
—Albert Camus (1913–60) Algerian-born French Philosopher, Dramatist, Novelist
The unknown is what it is. And to be frightened of it is what sends everybody scurrying around chasing dreams, illusions, wars peace, love, hate, all that. Unknown is what it is. Accept that it’s unknown, and it’s plain sailing.
—John Lennon (1940–80) British Singer, Songwriter, Musician, Activist
Leave a Reply