Quotes About Adversity

Sometimes you receive a knock in action: it may be your death-wound or just a scratch

A possible explanation may be this: in addition to professional competence, cheerful resignation, an excellent liver, natural authority and a hundred other virtues, there must be the far rarer quality of resisting the effects, the dehumanising effects, of the exercise of authority. Authority is a solvent of humanity: look

all that wretched schoolmastering.' 'On some it acts like a poison, making them unfit for the society of grown men.

Well, my lord, the one was something that dropped on my head - a piece of mortar-shell, I imagine; but luckily I was in the water at the time, so it did little damage, only tearing off a handsbreadth of scalp. The other was a sword-thrust I did not notice at the moment, but it seems it nicked some vessel, and most of my blood ran out before I was aware. Dr Maturin said he did not suppose there was more than three ounces left, and that mostly in my toes.

Do you mean to fight with her?' 'I mean to sink, take, burn or destroy her,' said Jack, a smile flashing across his face.

Surely man in general is born to be oppressed or solitary, if he is to be fully human;

Sometimes when our backs are up against the wall, we can surprise ourselves with what we are truly capable of. We can push off those walls and discover something deep within ourselves. We just have to make sure we do not create walls within ourselves, or between us and other people. Walls are for scaling. Or for knocking down and crumbling.

Those of us who refuse to risk and grow get swallowed up by life.

Il est facile de se tourner vers Dieu quand le reste n'est plus là.

many people will only change due to desperation

Roman poet Ovid wrote: "Be patient and tough; some day this pain will be useful to you.

who was a lot more than just the sum of their weaknesses.

she could not see how much there was to live for, that she was young and that one could build anew upon the ashes of failure

Because for all of his big frame, loud voice and quick smile, Lou Gehrig was one of those strange souls born to be frustrated, to have glory and happiness always within his reach, yes, even to have it in his grasp, only to have it snatched away from him.

In our world, you sink or swim, and there are no excuses.

Suppose you are a little, nimble guy being chased by a big, fat, bully. You open a door and find yourself in a staircase. Do you go up or down? I say up. The bully can probably run downstairs as fast as you can. Going upstairs his bulk will be more of a disadvantage. Running upstairs is hard for you but even harder for him.

I've been ridiculed by silk-suited lawyers, jailed by ornery judges, and occasionally paid for services rendered. I never intended to be a hero, and I succeeded.

We keep looking for justice, but it's nothing but stormy nights and dark alleys out there.

The world is your oyster... ...too bad you're allergic to shellfish.

pain is fact; suffering is optional

Kumar was a man who felt in the end he had lost everything, even his Englishness, and could then only meet every situation—even the most painful—in silence, in the hope that out of it he would dredge back up some self-respect.

the one thing to which the human spirit could always accommodate itself was chaos and misfortune.

And I must be what I must be and face tomorrow.

To be patient in an emergency is a terrible trial.