Evil being the root of mystery, pain is the root of knowledge.
—Simone Weil (1909–1943) French Philosopher, Political Activist
You don’t develop courage by being happy in your relationships everyday. You develop it by surviving difficult times and challenging adversity.
—Barbara De Angelis (b.1951) American Self-Help Author
People wish to be settled; only as far as they are unsettled is there any hope for them.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
I have always been pushed by the negative. The apparent failure of a play sends me back to my typewriter that very night, before the reviews are out. I am more compelled to get back to work than if I had a success.
—Tennessee Williams (1911–83) American Playwright
Out of love and hatred, out of earnings and borrowings and leadings and losses; out of sickness and pain; out of wooing and worshipping; out of traveling and voting and watching and caring; out of disgrace and contempt, comes our tuition in the serene and beautiful laws.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
The difficulties which I meet with in order to realize my existence are precisely what awaken and mobilize my activities, my capacities.
—Jose Ortega y. Gasset (1883–1955) Spanish Critic, Journalist, Philosopher
Troubles are a lot like people – they grow bigger if you nurse them.
—Unknown
We see many who are struggling against adversity who are happy, and more although abounding in wealth, who are wretched.
—Tacitus (56–117) Roman Orator, Historian
He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
My strength is made perfect in weakness.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
I received a letter from a lad asking me for an easy berth. To this I replied: You cannot be an editor; do not try the law; do not think of the ministry; let alone all ships and merchandise; abhor politics; don’t practice medicine; be not a farmer or a soldier or a sailor; don’t study, don’t think. None of these are easy. O, my son, you have come into a hard world. I know of only one easy place in it, and that is the grave.
—Henry Ward Beecher (1813–87) American Clergyman, Writer
To conquer without risk is to triumph without glory.
—Pierre Corneille (1606–84) French Poet, Dramatist
Many who seem to be struggling with adversity are happy; many, amid great affluence, are utterly miserable.
—Tacitus (56–117) Roman Orator, Historian
Adversity draws men together and produces beauty and harmony in life’s relationships, just as the cold of winter produces ice-flowers on the window-panes, which vanish with the warmth.
—Soren Kierkegaard (1813–55) Danish Philosopher, Theologian
Breakdowns can create breakthroughs. Things fall apart so things can fall together.
—Unknown
I would never have amounted to anything were it not for adversity. I was forced to come up the hard way.
—James Cash Penney (1875–1971) American Entrepreneur
Prosperity discovers vice, adversity discovers virtue.
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English Philosopher
Time and tide wait for no man. A pompous and self-satisfied proverb, and was true for a billion years; but in our day of electric wires and water-ballast we turn it around: Man waits not for time nor tide.
—Common Proverb
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. The true neighbor will risk his position, his prestige and even his life for the welfare of others.
—Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–68) American Civil Rights Leader, Clergyman
God had one Son on earth without sin, but never one without suffering.
—Augustine of Hippo (354–430) Roman-African Christian Philosopher
In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present.
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English Philosopher
The virtue of prosperity is temperance, but the virtue of adversity is fortitude; and the last is the more sublime attainment.
—Francis Bacon (1561–1626) English Philosopher
No untroubled day has ever dawned for me.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
Adversity and loss make a man wise
—Welsh Proverb
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
Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.
—Truman Capote (1924–84) American Novelist
The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word “crisis”. One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger — but recognize the opportunity.
—John F. Kennedy (1917–63) American Head of State, Journalist
What the student calls a tragedy, the master calls a butterfly.
—Richard Bach (b.1936) American Novelist, Aviator
Flowers never emit so sweet and strong a fragrance as before a storm. When a storm approaches thee, be as fragrant as a sweet-smelling flower.
—Jean Paul (1763–1825) German Novelist, Humorist
Better bread with water than cake with trouble.
—Russian Proverb
It just wouldn’t be a picnic without the ants.
—Unknown
If you are going to walk on thin ice, you might as well dance.
—Anonymous
In prosperity we need moderation; in adversity, patience.
—Lee Iacocca (1924–2019) American Businessperson
Be still my heart; thou hast known worse than this.
—Homer (751–651 BCE) Ancient Greek Poet
He that can’t endure the bad will not live to see the good.
—Yiddish Proverb
Anytime you suffer a setback or disappointment, put your head down and plow ahead.
—Les Brown
If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant; if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.
—Anne Bradstreet (1612–72) American Poet
Here is the rule to remember in the future, When anything tempts you to be bitter: not, “This is a misfortune” but “To bear this worthily is good fortune.”
—Marcus Aurelius (121–180) Emperor of Rome, Stoic Philosopher
Much of your pain is the bitter potion by which the physician within you heals your sick self.
—Kahlil Gibran (1883–1931) Lebanese-born American Philosopher, Poet, Painter, Theologian, Sculptor
To every disadvantage there is a corresponding advantage.
—W. Clement Stone (1902–2002) American Self-help Guru, Entrepreneur
Enter through the narrow gate. The gate that leads to damnation is wide, the road is clear, and many choose to travel it. But how narrow is the gate that leads to life, how rough the road, and how few there are who find it.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
Misfortunes leave wounds which bleed drop by drop even in sleep; thus little by little they train man by force and dispose him to wisdom in spite of himself. Man must learn to think of himself as a limited and dependent being; and only suffering teaches
—Simone Weil (1909–1943) French Philosopher, Political Activist
The soul would have no rainbow had the eyes no tears.
—John Vance Cheney (1848–1922) American Poet, Essayist, Librarian
In prosperity, our friends know us; in adversity, we know our friends
—John Churton Collins (1848–1908) English Literary Critic
The English nation is never so great as in adversity.
—Benjamin Disraeli (1804–81) British Head of State
Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune, but great minds rise above it.
—Washington Irving (1783–1859) American Essayist, Biographer, Historian
The truly great and good, in affliction, bear a countenance more princely than they are wont; for it is the temper of the highest hearts, like the palm tree, to strive most upwards when it is most burdened.
—Philip Sidney (1554–86) English Soldier Poet, Courtier
No man better knows what good is than he who has endured evil.
—Unknown
Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man’s character, give him power.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
Despair is anger with no place to go.
—Mignon McLaughlin (1913–83) American Journalist, Author