Adversity

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

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• 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.

• 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, The Hero as Man of Letters (1840).

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

• 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.

• 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.

• 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 (1599).

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

• 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, 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, De Providentia, IV.

• Sweet are the uses of adversity;
  Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,
  Wears yet a precious jewel in his head.
  • William Shakespeare, As You Like It (c.1599-1600), Act II, scene I, line 12.

• 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 (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.