The Quotes canon

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What does not destroy me, makes me stronger. — Friedrich Nietzsche · 1889Life always gets harder toward the summit-the cold increases, responsibility increases. — Friedrich Nietzsche · 1895
George Eliot2 quotes
Deep unspeakable suffering may well be called a baptism, a regeneration, the initiation into a new state. — George Eliot · 1859The beginning of hardship is like the first taste of bitter food—it seems for a moment unbearable; yet, if there is nothing else to satisfy our hunger, we take another bite and find it possible to go on. — George Eliot · 1859
Seneca2 quotes
A great pilot can sail even when his canvas is rent. — Seneca · 65Fire is the test of gold; adversity, of strong men. — Seneca · 64
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 everything. — William Shakespeare · 1616Let me embrace the sour adversaries, For wise men say it is the wisest course. — William Shakespeare · 1595
It is not the prize that can make us happy; it is not even the winning of the prize....[It is] the struggle, the long hot hour of the honest fight.... There is no human bliss equal to twelve hours of work with only six hours in which to do it. — Anthony Trollope · 1862
Aristotle1 quote
Misfortune shows those who are not really friends. — Aristotle · 350 BC
Carl Jung1 quote
Man needs difficulties; they are necessary for health. — Carl Jung · 1916
What matters most is how well you walk through the fire. — Charles Bukowski · 1994
Chuck1 quote
When life gives you lemons, just say "Fuck the lemons," and bail. — Chuck · 2008
The first ten million years were the worst. And the second ten million years, they were the worst too. The third ten million I didn't enjoy at all. After that I went into a bit of a decline. — Douglas Adams · 1978
Eponine1 quote
A little fall of rain can hardly hurt me now. — Eponine · 2012
Every man at some point in his life is gonna lose a battle. He's gonna fight and he's gonna lose. But what makes him a man is that in the midst of that battle he does not lose himself. — Eric Taylor · 2006
Difficulties are just things to overcome after all. — Ernest Shackleton · 1908
The wise and tragic sense of life. By this I mean...the sense that life is essentially a cheat and its conditions are those of defeat, and that the redeeming things are not "happiness and pleasure" but the deeper satisfactions that come out of struggle. — F. Scott Fitzgerald · 1940
Fantine1 quote
Life has killed the dream I dreamed. — Fantine · 2012
Prosperity doth best discover Vice; But Adversity doth best discover Vertue. — Francis Bacon · 1625
The way to bliss lies not on beds of down, And he that had no cross deserves no crown. — Francis Quarles · 1621
Moments of crisis produce in man a redoubling of life. — Francois-Rene de Chateaubriand · 1850
Henry Hill1 quote
The way I saw it, everybody takes a beating sometime. — Henry Hill · 1990
Heraclitus1 quote
It would not be better if things happened to men just as they wish. — Heraclitus
Jesus1 quote
In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world. — Jesus · 90
It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great. — Jimmy Dugan · 1992
Job1 quote
Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? — Job · 500 BC
He that is down needs fear no fall He that is low, no pride; He that is humble ever shall Have God to be his guide. — John Bunyan · 1678
Courage and perseverance have a magical talisman, before which difficulties disappear and obstacles vanish into air. — John Quincy Adams · 1802
Damaged people are dangerous. They know they can survive. — Josephine Hart · 1991
He said not "Thou shalt not be tempested, thou shall not be travailed, thou shalt not be diseased"; but he said, "Thou shalt not be overcome." — Julian of Norwich · 1413
I'm not afraid of storms, for I'm learning how to sail my ship. — Louisa May Alcott · 1868
Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this, too, was a gift. — Mary Oliver · 2006
Our greatest glory is, not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall. — Oliver Goldsmith · 1761