Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors.

Smooth seas do not make skillful sailors.

Sweet are the uses of adversity,
Which, like the toad, ugly and venomous,
Wears yet a precious read more

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 human haunt,
Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,
Sermons in stones, and good in everything.

A wretched soul, bruised with adversity,
We bid be quiet when we hear it cry.
But were read more

A wretched soul, bruised with adversity,
We bid be quiet when we hear it cry.
But were we burd'ned with like weight of pain,
As much or more we should ourselves complain:
So thou, that hast no unkind mate to grieve thee,
With urging helpless patience wouldst relieve me;
But if thou live to see like right bereft,
This fool-begged patience in thee will be left.

A wise man struggling with adversity is said by some heathen
writer to be a spectacle on which the read more

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.

Constant success shows us but one side of the world; adversity brings out the reverse of the picture.

Constant success shows us but one side of the world; adversity brings out the reverse of the picture.

Adversity makes a man wise, not rich ...

Adversity makes a man wise, not rich ...

Sometimes adversity impels a person to greater heights, and sometimes it provides the opportunity for that person to be a read more

Sometimes adversity impels a person to greater heights, and sometimes it provides the opportunity for that person to be a blessing in the lives of others.

Thou tamer of the human breast,
Whose iron scourge and tort'ring hour
The bad affright, afflict the read more

Thou tamer of the human breast,
Whose iron scourge and tort'ring hour
The bad affright, afflict the best!

Behold a worthy sight, to which the God, turning his attention to
his own work, may direct his gaze. read more

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.
[Lat., Ecce spectaculum dignum, ad quod respiciat intentus operi
suo Deus. Ecce par Deo dignum, vir fortis cum mala fortuna
compositus.]