Adversity

Adversity is the universal human experience of facing obstacles and setbacks.

Quotes

B

• Prosperity is not without many fears and distastes; and adversity is not without comforts and hopes.
  • Francis Bacon, Essays, Of Adversity (1597).

• Prosperity is the blessing of the Old Testament; adversity is the blessing of the New.
  • Francis Bacon, Essays, Of Adversity (1597).

• In the day of prosperity be joyful, but in the day of adversity consider.
  • The Bible, Ecclesiastes, 7:14.

• If thou faint in the day of adversity thy strength is small.
  • The Bible, Proverbs, 24:10.

• And these vicissitudes come best in youth;
  For when they happen at a riper age,
  People are apt to blame the Fates, forsooth,
  And wonder Providence is not more sage.
  Adversity is the first path to truth:
  He who hath proved war, storm or woman's rage,
  Whether his winters be eighteen or eighty,
  Has won the experience which is deem'd so weighty.
  • Lord Byron, Don Juan (1818-24), Canto XII, Stanza 50.

C

• Adversity is sometimes hard upon a man; but for one man who can stand prosperity, there are a hundred that will stand adversity.
  • Thomas Carlyle, Heroes and Hero-Worship (1840), The Hero as Man of Letters (1840).

• 患難見真心 / 患難見真情
• One's true heart can be seen in disasters
• Literally: “Adversity allows one to see the true heart / feelings of others.”
  • Chinese proverb

D

• ...abused prosperity is oftentimes made the very means of our greatest adversity...
  • Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe 1719.

I

• It is said that adversity introduces us to ourselves. This is true of a nation as well. We see our national character in our ability to rally together in times of difficulties, celebrations and in eloquent acts of sacrifice.
  • Josefa Iloilo, "Opening address to the National Day of Prayer in Suva", May 15, 2005.

• Most people can bear adversity; but if you wish to know what a man really is give him power. This is the supreme test. It is the glory of Lincoln that, having almost absolute power, he never used it except on the side of mercy.
  • Robert G. Ingersoll (1883), Unity: Freedom, Fellowship and Character in Religion, Volume 11, Number 3, The Exchange Table, True Greatness Exemplified in Abraham Lincoln, by Robert G. Ingersoll (excerpt), Quote Page 55, Column 1 and 2, Chicago, Illinois. (Google Books Full View)

N

• was ihn nicht umbringt, macht ihn stärker
  • What does not kill him, makes him stronger.
  • Friedrich Nietzsche, Ecce Homo (1888), "Why I Am So Wise", 2; this is often paraphrased as: What does not kill me, makes me stronger.

S

• Fire is the test of gold; adversity, of strong men.
  • Seneca the Younger, De Providentia, 5, 9.

• Adversity's sweet milk, philosophy.
  • William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet, Act III, scene iii (1597).

• Sweet are the uses of adversity,
  Which like the toad, ugly and venomous,
  Wears yet a precious jewel in his head;
  And this our life, exempt from public haunt,
  Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
  Sermons in stones, and good in every thing.
  • William Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act II, scene i, line 12. (1599).

• Plain paths are not always straightforward. You might encounter uneven, sometimes steep, sometimes flat obstacles along the way. That's the nature of a path. Therefore, after reaching an easy path, the walking stick should not be discarded.
  • Sanu Sharma Pharak

• In your journey, be prepared to encounter an array of obstacles – some steep, some flat – for that's the nature of the path.
  • Sanu Sharma Pharak

• One must reflect deeply on the nature of the adversity, and on how it may be converted into an instrument for growth.
  • Arun Shourie, Preparing: For Death. Penguin Random House India Private Limited, 2020. ISBN 935305978X, 9789353059781

• Prosperity makes friends, adversity tries them.
  • Publius Syrus, Sentences, Maxim 872.

T

• It is the duty of all persons, when affairs are the most prosperous, then in especial to reflect within themselves in what way they are to endure adversity.
  • Terence, Phormio, Act II, scene i (166 BC).

Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations

Quotes reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 9-10.

• It is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
  • Acts, IX. 5.

• Adversity is sometimes hard upon a man; but for one man who can stand prosperity, there are a hundred that will stand adversity.
  • Thomas Carlyle, Heroes and Hero Worship (1840), Lecture V.

• Aromatic plants bestow
  No spicy fragrance while they grow;
  But crush'd or trodden to the ground,
  Diffuse their balmy sweets around.
  • Oliver Goldsmith, The Captivity, Act I.

• Thou tamer of the human breast,
  Whose iron scourge and tort'ring hour
  The bad affright, afflict the best!
  • Thomas Gray, Hymn to Adversity, Stanza 1.

• Dans l'adversité de nos meilleurs amis nous trouvons toujours quelque chose qui ne nous deplaist pas.
  • In the adversity of our best friends we often find something which does not displease us.
  • François de La Rochefoucauld, Maxim 99 (Ed. 1665. Suppressed in 3rd ed. Quoted as old saying).

• Adversæ res admonent religionum.
  • Adversity reminds men of religion.
  • Livy, Annales, V. 51.

• The Good are better made by Ill,
  As odours crushed are sweeter still.
  • Samuel Rogers, Jacqueline, Stanza 3.

• Ecce spectaculum dignum, ad quod respiciat intentus operi suo Deus. Ecce par Deo dignum, vir fortis cum mala fortuna compositus.
  • Behold a worthy sight, to which the God, turning his attention to his own work, may direct his gaze. Behold an equal thing, worthy of a God, a brave man matched in conflict with evil fortune.
  • Seneca the Younger, Lib. de Divina Providentia.

• Gaudent magni viri rebus adversis non aliter, quam fortes milites bellis.
  • Great men rejoice in adversity just as brave soldiers triumph in war.
  • Seneca the Younger, De Providentia, IV.

• A wretched soul, bruis'd with adversity,
  We bid be quiet when we hear it cry;
  But were we burthen'd with like weight of pain,
  As much, or more, we should ourselves complain.
  • William Shakespeare, The Comedy of Errors, Act II, scene 1, line 34.

• Let me embrace thee, sour adversity,
  For wise men say it is the wisest course.
  • William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part III (c. 1591), Act III, scene 1, line 24.

• His overthrow heap'd happiness upon him;
  For then, and not till then, he felt himself,
  And found the blessedness of being little.
  • William Shakespeare, Henry VIII (c. 1613), Act IV, scene 2, line 64.

• Then know, that I have little wealth to lose;
  A man I am cross'd with adversity.
  • William Shakespeare, The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1590s), Act IV, scene 1, line 11.

• A wise man struggling with adversity is said by some heathen writer to be a spectacle on which the gods might look down with pleasure.
  • Sydney Smith, Sermon on the Duties of the Queen (1837).

• In all distresses of our friends
  We first consult our private ends.
  • Jonathan Swift, On the Death of Dr. Swift.

Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895)

Quotes reported in Josiah Hotchkiss Gilbert, Dictionary of Burning Words of Brilliant Writers (1895).

• God kills thy comforts from no other design but to kill thy corruptions; wants are ordained to kill wantonness, poverty is appointed to kill pride, reproaches are permitted to destroy ambition.
  • John Flavel, p. 7.

• In the day of prosperity we have many refuges to resort to; in the day of adversity, only one.
  • Horatius Bonar, p. 7.

• Adversity borrows its sharpest sting from impatience.
  • Bishop Horne, p. 7.

• How full of briers is this working-day world!
  • William Shakespeare, p. 7.

See also

• Misfortune
• Perseverance
• Suffering