If I didn't have this affliction, I would be the first. As a rule the if-clause contains an unfulfillable condition, read more

If I didn't have this affliction, I would be the first. As a rule the if-clause contains an unfulfillable condition, or the patient's own arrangement, which only he can change.

Affliction is not sent in vain, young man,
From that good God, who chastens whom he loves.

Affliction is not sent in vain, young man,
From that good God, who chastens whom he loves.

No one could be more happy than a man who has never known affliction

No one could be more happy than a man who has never known affliction

When something [an affliction] happens to you, you either let it defeat you, or you defeat it.

When something [an affliction] happens to you, you either let it defeat you, or you defeat it.

To bear other people's afflictions, everyone has courage and enough to spare.

To bear other people's afflictions, everyone has courage and enough to spare.

Humanity either makes, or breeds, or tolerates all its afflictions.

Humanity either makes, or breeds, or tolerates all its afflictions.

With silence only as their benediction,
God's angels come
Where in the shadow of a great affliction,
read more

With silence only as their benediction,
God's angels come
Where in the shadow of a great affliction,
The soul sits dumb!

By afflictions God is spoiling us of what otherwise might have spoiled us. When he makes the world too hot read more

By afflictions God is spoiling us of what otherwise might have spoiled us. When he makes the world too hot for us to hold, we let it go.

Afflictions sent by providence melt the constancy of the noble minded, but confirm the obduracy of the vile, as the read more

Afflictions sent by providence melt the constancy of the noble minded, but confirm the obduracy of the vile, as the same furnace that liquefies the gold, hardens the clay