Abilities - Quotes

This 'label' - ZQuotesA - has all the quotes on subjects beginning with the Alphabet A. You might want to search the labels on the right hand side of the page too.

Abilities

A man must not deny his manifest abilities, for that is to evade his obligations. - William Feather

Ability is a poor man’s wealth. - Mathew Wren

Ability is of little account without opportunity. - Napoleon Bonaparte

Ability is the power of applying knowledge to practical purposes. - George Frederick Graham

Ability may get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there. - John Wooden 

Ability will never catch up with the demand for it. - Confucius

As we advance in life, we learn the limits of our abilities. - James Anthony Froude

Each of us has been put on earth with the ability to do something well. We cheat ourselves and the world if we don’t use that ability as best we can. - Gracie Allen

Every man’s ability may be strengthened or increased by culture. - John Abbott

If you have but moderate abilities, industry will supply their deficiency. - Joshua Reynolds

In the last analysis, ability is commonly found to consist mainly in a high degree of solemnity. - Ambrose Bierce

It requires no small degree of ability to know when to conceal one’s ability. - Francois de La Rochefoucauld

Let each one do according to his ability. - Terence 

Mediocre ability, well developed and properly planted, will produce a larger tree of success than will extraordinary ability, scattered or uncared for. - Nathaniel Clark Fowler

Natural abilities are like natural plants, they need pruning by study. - Francis Bacon

Natural ability without education has more often raised a man to glory and virtue than education without natural ability. - Marcus Aurelius

Natural abilities can almost compensate for the want of every kind of cultivation, but no cultivation of the mind can make up for the want of natural abilities. - Arthur Schopenhauer

No amount of ability is of the slightest avail without honour. - Thomas Carlyle

No man’s abilities are so remarkably shining as not to stand in need of a proper opportunity, a patron, and even the praises of a friend to recommend them to the notice of the world. - Pliny, the Elder 

Nothing is more destructive of individual character than for a man to lose all faith in his own abilities for the prosecution of his work. - John Gottlieb Fichte

The abilities of man have not been exhausted; nothing has been done by him that cannot be better done; there is no effort of science or art that may not be exceeded, no depth of philosophy that cannot be deeper sounded, no flight of imagination that may not be passed by strong and soaring wing. - Jean Paul

The art of being able to make a good use of moderate abilities wins esteem, and often confers more reputation than greater real merit. - Duc de La Rochefoucauld

The art of using moderate abilities to advantage wins praise, and often acquires more reputation than actual brilliancy. - Francois de la Rochefoucauld

The desire of appearing persons of ability often prevents our being so. - Francois de La Rochefoucauld 

The superior  man is distressed by the limitations of his ability; he is not distressed by the fact that men do not recognize the ability that he has. - Confucius 

There is something that is much more scarce, something rarer than ability. It is the ability to recognize ability. - Robert Half

To become an able man in any profession, there are three things necessary – nature, study, and practice. - Aristotle 

To show your true ability is always, in a sense, to surpass the limits of your ability, to go a little beyond them: to dare, to seek, to invent; it is at such a moment that new talents are revealed, discovered, and realized. - Simone de Beauvoir

We all have ability. The difference is how we use it. - Charlotte Whitton

We rate ability in men by what they finish, not by what they attempt. - Norman MacDonald

What we lack in natural abilities may usually be made up by industry; a dwarf may keep pace with a giant if he will only move his legs fast enough. - G. D. Prentice

You are the only person on earth who can use your ability. - Zig Ziglar

You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through. - Rosalynn Carter

Accomplishment / Achievement - Quotes

(1) You clearly decide what it is that you're absolutely committed to achieving,

(2) You're willing to take massive action,

(3) You notice what's working or not, and

(4) You continue to change your approach until you achieve what you want, using whatever life gives you along the way. - Tony Robbins

Achievement is largely the product of steadily raising one’s levels of aspiration and expectation. - Jack Nicklaus

All enduring accomplishments are created through dedication, persistence and a sense of commitment. - Sherri Bishop

All great accomplishment require time. - David Joseph Schwartz

All great achievement starts from the ground. - Unknown

All personal accomplishment starts in the mind of the individual. The first step is to know exactly what your problem, goal, or desire is. If you are not clear about this, then write it down, and rewrite it until the words express precisely what you are after. - Unknown

All that a man achieves and all that he fails to achieve is the direct result of his own thoughts. - James Allen

Anyone who has ever accomplished anything of importance – especially to the benefit of others – has had to endure being misunderstood by those who just couldn’t get it. - Unknown

Because a thing seems difficult for you, do not think it impossible for anyone to accomplish. - Marcus Aurelius

Definiteness of purpose is the starting point of all achievement. - W. Clement Stone

Don't measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability. - John Wooden

Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try. - Unknown

Great accomplishments start with great aspirations. - Gary Hamel

Great achievement is usually born of great sacrifice, and is never the result of selfishness. - Napoleon Hill

High achievement always takes place in the framework of high expectation. - Charles F. Kettering

It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things. - Leonardo da Vinci

It is important that you recognize your progress and take pride in your accomplishments. Share your achievements with others. Brag a little. The recognition and support of those around you is nurturing. - Rosemarie Rossetti

Man is always more than he can know of himself; consequently, his accomplishments, time and again, will come as a surprise to him. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Many of the great achievements of the world were accomplished by tired and discouraged men who kept on working. - Unknown

Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all. - Dale Carnegie  

Never was anything great achieved without danger. - Niccolo Machiavelli

None of us will ever accomplish anything excellent or commanding except when he listens to this whisper which is heard by him alone. - Thomas Carlyle

Nothing builds self-esteem and self-confidence like accomplishment. - Thomas Carlyle

Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside of them was superior to circumstance. - Unknown

Nothing stops the man who desires to achieve. Every obstacle is simply a course to develop his achievement muscle. It’s a strengthening of his powers of accomplishment. - Thomas Carlyle

One reason so few of us achieve what we truly want is that we never direct our focus; we never concentrate our power. Most people dabble their way through life, never deciding to master anything in particular. - Tony Robbins

Only those who attempt the absurd will achieve the impossible. - M. C. Escher

Self-image sets the boundaries of individual accomplishment. - Maxwell Maltz

Someone has defined genius as intensity of purpose: the ability to do, the patience to wait. . . . Put these together and you have genius, and you have achievement. - Leo J. Muir 

The great accomplishments of man have resulted from the transmission of ideas and enthusiasm. - Thomas J. Watson

The greatest accomplishment is not in never falling, but in rising again after you fall. - Vincent Lombardi

The greatest achievement of the human spirit is to live up to one’s opportunities and make the most of one’s resources. - Marquis De Vauvenargue

The law of achievement says, ‘you must plough, sow good seeds… and reap the rewards usually much later. - Unknown

The most splendid achievement of all is the constant striving to surpass yourself and to be worthy of your own approval. - Denis Waitley

The only worthwhile achievements of man are those which are socially useful. - Alfred Adler

The roots of true achievement lie in the will to become the best that you can become. - Harold Taylor

The secret of achievement is to hold a picture of a successful outcome in mind. - Norman Vincent Peale

The starting point of all achievement is desire. - Napoleon Hill

The supreme accomplishment is to blur the line between work and play. - Arnold J. Toynbee

The world of achievement has always belonged to the optimist. - J. Harold Wilkins

The world’s greatest achievers have been those who have always stayed focussed on their goals and have been consistent in their efforts. - Roopleen

There are four steps to accomplishment: Plan Purposefully. Prepare Prayerfully. Proceed Positively. Pursue Persistently. - Unknown

There is no end to what you can accomplish if you don’t care who gets the credit. - Florence Luscomb

To accomplish great things we must first dream, then visualize, then plan . . . believe . . . act! - Alfred Montapert

To achieve anything, you must be prepared to dabble on the boundary of disaster. - Stirling Moss

To achieve great things we must live as if we were never going to die. - Marquis de Vauvenargues

To achieve the impossible, it is precisely the unthinkable that must be thought. - Tom Robbins

To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

What we achieve inwardly will change outer reality. - Plutarch

Whenever anything is being accomplished, it is being done, I have learned, by a monomaniac with a mission. - Peter F. Drucker

You can do what you want to do, accomplish what you want to accomplish, attain any reasonable objective you may have in mind – not all of a sudden, perhaps, not in one swift and sweeping act of achievement – but you can do it gradually – day by day and play by play – if you want to do it, if you will to do it, if you work to do it, over a sufficiently long period of time. - William E. Holler

You decide what it is you want to accomplish and then lay out your plans to get there, and then you just do it. It is pretty straightforward. - Unknown

Action - Quotes

A good action is never lost; it is a treasure laid up and guarded for the doer’s need. - Edwin Markham

Act quickly, think slowly. - Germaine Greer

Action always generates inspiration. Inspiration seldom generates action. - Frank Tibolt

Action is a great restorer and builder of confidence. Inaction is not only the result, but the cause, of fear. Perhaps the action you take will be successful; perhaps different action or adjustments will have to follow. But any action is better than no action at all. - Norman Vincent Peale

Action is character. - F. Scott Fitzgerald

Action is the antidote to despair. - Joan Baez

Act is the blossom of thought, and joy and suffering are its fruits; thus does a man garner in the sweet and bitter fruitage of his own husbandry. - James Allen

Action is the foundational key to all success. - Tony Robbins

Action is the highest perfection and drawing forth of the utmost power, vigour, and activity of man’s nature. - Bishop Robert South

Actions lie louder than words. - Carolyn Wells

Action speaks louder than words. - Unknown

Action springs not from thought, but from a readiness for responsibility. - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Action to be effective must be directed to clearly conceived ends. - Jawaharlal Nehru

Actions determine what kind of characteristics are developed. - Aristotle

Actions follow thoughts – consciously or unconsciously. Control your thoughts and the right actions will follow. - Unknown

All of our actions have in their doing the seed of their undoing. - Louise Erdrich

All human actions have one or more of these seven causes: chance, nature, compulsions, habit, reason, passion, desire. - Aristotle

Almost every sinful action ever committed can be traced back to a selfish motive. It is a trait we hate in other people but justify in ourselves. - Stephen Kendrick

An action is the perfection and publication of thought.  - Ralph Waldo Emerson 

An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory. - Friedrich Engels

As a man believes, so he will act. - Sam Harris

Be wary of the man who urges an action in which he himself incurs no risk. - Joaquin Setanti

Do not analyse things to death. Sometimes the best strategy is, “Ready, fire, aim.” Do it first, then make adjustments. The answer lies in action – not in words. - Philip Toshio Sudo

Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experiment. The more experiments you make the better. What if they are a little coarse, and you may get your coat soiled or torn? What if you do fail, and get fairly rolled in the dirt once or twice. Up again, you shall never be so afraid of a tumble. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Every act is an expression of one’s self. - Eiji Yoshikawa

Every action of our lives touches on some chord that will vibrate in eternity. - Edwin Hubble Chapin 

I have always thought the actions of men the best interpreters of their thoughts. - John Locke

I must lose myself in action, lest I wither in despair. - Lord Alfred Tennyson

I think there is something more important than believing: Action! The world is full of dreamers. There aren’t enough who will move ahead and begin to take concrete steps to actualise their vision. - W. Clement Stone

In essence, if we want to direct our lives, we must take control of our consistent actions. It's not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently. - Tony Robbins

In youth, the days are short and the years are long; in old age, the years are short and the days long. - Nikita Ivanovich Panin

Is it really so difficult to tell a good action from a bad one? I think one usually knows right away or a moment afterward, in a horrid flash of regret. - Mary McCarthy

It is a mark of a good action that it appears inevitable in retrospect. - Robert Louis Stevenson

It is better to act quickly and err than to hesitate until the time of action is past. - Von Clausewitz

It is circumstance and proper timing that give an action its character and make it either good or bad. - Agesilaus II

It is easy to perform a good action, but not easy to acquire a settled habit of performing such actions. - Aristotle

It is easy to sit up and take notice. What is difficult is getting up and taking action. - Al Batt

It is in vain to say human beings ought to be satisfied with tranquillity: they must have action; and they will make it if they cannot find it. - Charlotte Bronte

It is quite impossible to understand the character of a person from one action, however striking that action may be. - Arthur Helps

It’s the action, not the fruit of the action, that’s important. You have to do the right thing. It may not be in your power, may not be in your time, that there’ll be any fruit. But that doesn’t mean you stop doing the right thing. You may never know what results come from your action. But if you do nothing, there will be no result. - Mahatma Gandhi

Let's plunge ourselves into the roar of time, the whirl of accident; may pain and pleasure, success and failure, shift as they will – it’s only action that can make a man. - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Men may boast of their great actions; but they are more often the effects of chance than of design. - Francois de la Rochefoucauld

My actions are my only true belongings. I cannot escape the consequences of my actions. My actions are the ground on which I stand. - Thich Nhat Hanh

My actions reflect who I truly am and your interpretation of them reflects who you truly are. - Unknown

Necessity of action takes away the fear of the act, and makes bold resolution the favorite of fortune. - Francis Quarles

No action will be considered blameless, unless the will was so, for by the will the act was dictated. - Seneca

Not always actions show the man; we find Who does a kindness is not therefore kind. - Alexander Pope

Our actions are like blank rhymes, to which everyone applies what sense he pleases. - Francois de la Rochefoucauld 

So many of man's actions appear to have no immediate consequence but, concealed, do their work until finally all catches up and forms a complex web of cause and effect. - Tobsha Learner 

Sometimes we have to do a thing in order to find out the reason for it. Sometimes our actions are questions, not answers. - John le Carre

Take some action that will move you forward. Action is the test of determination that goes beyond willingness. Like motivation, action generates more energy and enthusiasm to sustain you in the early stages of transition. - Unknown

Take time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in. - Andrew Jackson

The key to successful aging is to pay as little attention to it as possible. - Judith Regan

The man of action is not the headstrong fool who rushes into danger with no thought for himself, but the man who puts into practice the things he knows. - Cesare Pavese

The mark of a good action is that it appears inevitable in retrospect. - Robert Luis Stevenson

The mind sees, the will commands, the man acts. What is it then to act? To act is to produce something. If you have produced nothing – if no result has been the fruit of your will, you have done nothing. - Henri-Dominique Larcordaire

The most decisive actions of our life – I mean those that are most likely to decide the whole course of our future – are, more often than not, unconsidered. - Andre Gide

The only things in which we can be said to have any property are our actions. Our thoughts may be bad, yet produce no poison, they may be good, yet produce no fruit. Our riches may be taken from us by misfortune, our reputation by malice, our spirits by calamity, our health by disease, our friends by death. But our actions must follow us beyond the grave; with respect to them alone, we cannot say that we shall carry nothing with us when we die, neither that we shall go naked out of the world. Our actions must clothe us with an immortality, loathsome or glorious; these are the only title-deeds of which we cannot be disinherited; they will have their full weight in the balance of eternity, when everything else is as nothing; and their value will be confirmed and established by those two sure and stateless destroyers of all other things – Time and Death. - Charles Caleb Colton

The only correct actions are those that demand no explanation and no apology. - Red Auerbach

The return we reap from generous actions is not always evident. - Francesco Guicciardini

The time for action is now. It’s never too late to do something. - Antoine De Saint-Exupery

The views of men can only be known, or guessed at, by their words or actions. - George Washington

The world behaves differently when I take action to go after what I want. - Price Pritchett

The world can only be grasped by action, not by contemplation. The hand is more important than the eye. - Jacob Bronowski 

Thinking will not overcome fear but action will. - W. Clement Stone

Thus every action must be due to one or other of seven causes: chance, nature, compulsion, habit, reasoning, anger, or appetite. - Aristotle

Time is a factor in all action. An imperfect scheme put into action at the proper time is better than a perfect one accomplished too late. - Andre Maurois

We don’t have to engage in grand, heroic actions to participate in the process of change. Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can quietly become a power no government can suppress, a power than can transform the world. - Howard Zinn

We will act consistently with our view of who we truly are, whether that view is accurate or not. - Tony Robbins

When our actions are based on good intentions our soul has no regrets. - Unknown

When thought becomes excessively painful, action is the finest remedy. - Salman Rushdie

When you choose an action, you choose the consequences of that action. - Lois McMaster Bujold

While we are free to choose our actions, we are not free to choose the consequences of our actions. - Stephen Covey

Words may lie, but actions will always tell the truth. - Unknown

You are younger today than you ever will be again. Make use of it for the sake of tomorrow. - Unknown 

You may never know what results come of your actions, but if you do nothing there will be no results. - Mahatma Gandhi

You see, in life, lots of people know what to do, but few people actually do what they know. Knowing is not enough! You must take action. - Tony Robbins

Addiction - Quotes

Addiction begins with the hope that something ‘out there’ can instantly fill up the emptiness inside. - Jean Kilbourne

Addiction doesn’t kill the addict. It kills the family, kids and people who tried to help! - Unknown

Addiction is a symptom of not growing up. - C. C. DeVille

Addiction is just a way of trying to get at something else. Something bigger. Call it transcendence if you want, but it's like a rat in a maze. We all want the same thing. We all have this hole. The thing you want offers relief, but it's a trap. - Tess Callahan

Addictions ... started out like magical pets, pocket monsters. They did extraordinary tricks, showed you things you hadn't seen, were fun. But came, through some gradual dire alchemy, to make decisions for you. Eventually, they were making your most crucial life-decisions. And they were ... less intelligent than goldfish. - William Gibson

All the suffering, stress and addiction comes from not realizing you already are what you are looking for. - Jon Kabat-Zinn

At every stage, addiction is driven by one of the most powerful, mysterious, and vital forces of human existence. What drives addiction is longing – a longing not just of brain, belly, or loins but finally of the heart. - Cornelius Platinga

At first, addiction is maintained by pleasure, but the intensity of this pleasure gradually diminishes and the addiction is then maintained by the avoidance of pain. -  Frank Tallis

Every form of addiction is bad, no matter whether the narcotic be alcohol or morphine or idealism. - Carl Jung

First you take a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes you. - Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald

I have absolutely no pleasure in the stimulants in which I sometimes so madly indulge. It has not been in the pursuit of pleasure that I have periled life and reputation and reason. It has been the desperate attempt to escape from torturing memories, from a sense of insupportable loneliness and a dread of some strange impending doom. - Edgar Allan Poe

Recovery from addiction requires hard work, a proper attitude and learning skills to stay sober, not drinking alcohol or using other drugs. Successful drug recovery or alcohol recovery involves changing attitudes, acquiring knowledge, and developing skills to meet the many challenges of sobriety. - Dennis Daley

The initial journey towards sobriety is a delicate balance between insight into one's desire for escape and abstinence from one’s addiction. - Debra L. Kaplan

The mentality and behaviour of drug addicts and alcoholics is wholly irrational until you understand that they are completely powerless over their addiction and unless they have structured help, they have no hope. - Russell Brand

What fascinates me about addiction and obsessive behaviour is that people would choose an altered state of consciousness that's toxic and ostensibly destroys most aspects of your normal life, because for a brief moment you feel okay. - Moby

What is addiction, really? It is a sign, a signal, a symptom of distress. It is a language that tells us about a plight that must be understood. - Alice Miller

You can come out of the furnace of trouble two ways: if you let it consume you, you come out a cinder; but there is a kind of metal which refuses to be consumed, and comes out a star. - Jean Church

Admiration - Quotes

Admiration: Our polite recognition of another’s resemblance to ourselves. - Grenville Kleiser

A mixture of admiration and pity is one of the surest recipes for affection. - Andre Maurois

Admiration is a very short-lived passion that decays on growing familiar with its object unless it be still fed with fresh discoveries and kept alive by perpetual miracles rising up to its view. - Joseph Addison

Admiration is a youthful fancy which scarcely ever survives to mature years. - H. W. Shaw

Distance is a great promoter of admiration. - Denis Diderot

Fools admire, but men of sense approve. - Alexander Pope

No nobler feeling than this of admiration for one higher than himself dwells in the breast of man. - Thomas Carlyle

The only things one can admire at length are those one admires without knowing why. - Eleanor Roosevelt

There is an innocence in admiration; it is found in those to whom it has never yet occurred that they, too, might be admired some day. - Friedrich Nietzsche

There is nothing in the world so much admired as a man who knows how to bear unhappiness with courage. - Seneca

Though familiarity may not breed contempt, it takes the edge of admiration. - William Hazlitt

We always love those who admire us, but we do not always love those whom we admire. - Luise von Francois

You always admire what you really don’t understand. - Eleanor Roosevelt

Adventure - Quotes

A life without adventure is likely to be unsatisfying, but a life in which adventure is allowed to take whatever form it will is sure to be short. - Bertrand Russell

Adventure is just bad planning. - Roald Amundsen

Adventure is not outside a man; it is within. - David Grayson

Adventure is often the unintentional result of poor planning. - Michael C. Thomsett

Adventure is what might otherwise be called hardship if it were attempted in a different spirit. - Laura Miller

Adventure is when you toss your life on the scales of chance and wait for the pointer to stop. - Murray Leinster

Adventure, yeah. I guess that’s what you call it when everybody comes back alive. - Mercedes Lackey 

Adventures are for the adventurous. - Unknown

Adventures are only interesting once you've lived to see the end of them. Before that, they are nothing but fear, and being too cold or too hot or too wet or too hungry, and getting hurt. - Holly Lisle 

An adventure is never an adventure while it’s happening. Challenging experiences need time to ferment, and adventure is simply physical and emotional discomfort recollected in tranquillity. - Tim Cahill

An adventure is only an inconvenience rightly considered. An inconvenience is only an adventure wrongly considered. - G. K. Chesterton

An adventurous spirit sometimes leads a man into unnecessary difficulties. - Count von Moltke

Being soaked alone is cold. Being soaked with your best friend is an adventure. - Emily Wing Smith

I have ever been prone to seek adventure and to investigate and experiment where wiser men would have left well enough alone. - Edgar Rice Burroughs

It is invidious to distinguish particular men as adventurers: we are all such. - Christian Nestell

It is men of desperate fortunes on the one hand, or of aspiring, superior fortunes on the other, who go abroad upon adventures, to rise by enterprise, and make themselves famous in undertakings of a nature out of the common road. - Daniel Defoe

Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Reckless adventure is the fool's hazard. - Tacitus 

The greatest adventure is not going to the moon - the greatest adventure is going to your own innermost core. - Osho

The spirit of adventure, the lure of the unknown, the thrill of a gallant quest. How very grand indeed. - Norton Juster

The test of an adventure is that when you’re in the middle of it, you say to yourself, “Oh, now I’ve got myself into an awful mess; I wish I were sitting quietly at home.” - Thornton Wilder 

The true adventurer goes forth aimless and uncalculatingly to meet and greet unknown fate. - O. Henry

The very basic core of a man's living spirit is his passion for adventure. The joy of life comes from our encounters with new experiences, and hence there is no greater joy than to have an endlessly changing horizon, for each day to have a new and different sun. - Jon Krakauer

We are all adventurers in the battle of life; but, alas! how many fall in the struggle. - Eupolis 

We pay for security with boredom, for adventure with bother. - Peter de Vries

When you’re safe at home you wish you were having an adventure; when you are having an adventure you wish you were safe at home. -Thornton Wilder

Without adventure, civilization is in full decay. - Alfred North Whitehead

Adversity - Quotes

Abused prosperity is oftentimes made the very means of our greatest adversity. - Daniel Defoe

Adversity borrows its sharpest sting from impatience. - Bishop Horne

Adversity causes some men to break; others to break records. - William Arthur Ward

Adversity does teach who your real friends are. - Lois Mcmaster Bujold

Adversity has ever been considered the state in which a man most easily becomes acquainted with himself, then, especially, being free from flatterers. - Samuel Johnson

Adversity has made many a man great who, had he remained prosperous, would only have been rich. - Maurice Switzer

Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which, in prosperous circumstances, would have lain dormant. - Horatius

Adversity is a good test of our resiliency, our ability to cope, to stand back up, to recover from misfortune. Adversity is a painful pedagogue. - Charles R. Swindoll

Adversity is a severe instructor, set over us by one who knows us better than we do ourselves. - Edmund Burke

Adversity is a soul sister to success. And on the journey to greatness, our willingness to befriend these twin sisters, and know them as one, will have much to do with our greatness. - Noah Benshea

Adversity introduces a man to himself. - Thomas Fuller

Adversity is easier borne than prosperity forgot. -  Unknown

Adversity is like a strong wind. It tears away from us all but the things that cannot be torn, so that we see ourselves as we really are. - Arthur Golden

Adversity is like the period of the former and of the latter rain – cold, comfortless, unfriendly to man and to animal; yet from that season have their birth, the flower, and the fruit, the date, the rose, and the pomegranate. - Sir Walter Scott

Adversity is never the end point; for those faced with a positive attitude, it's always the beginning. - J. Barry Griswell & Bob Jennings 

Adversity is not a curse, for it is often, if not always, necessary to our welfare and happiness. It is like medicine to the sick, which if it be unpalatable is still salutary. - T. J. Sawyer

Adversity is sometimes hard upon a man; but for one man who can stand prosperity, there are a hundred that will stand adversity. - Elvis Presley

Adversity is the first path to truth. - Lord Bryon

Adversity is the state in which man mostly easily becomes acquainted with himself, being especially free of admirers then. - John Wooden

Adversity is the true school of the mind. - Katharine Lee Bates

Adversity is wont to reveal genius, prosperity to hide it. - Horace

Adversity makes men; good fortune makes monsters. - French Proverb

Adversity makes strange bedfellows. - William Shakespeare

Adversity often hatches out the true nobility of character. - George Ade

Adversity reveals genius, prosperity conceals it. - Horatius

Adversity shows whether we have friends, or only the shadows of friends. - Publilius Syrus

Adversity will surface in every life. How we meet it makes the difference. - Marvin J. Ashton 

All the adversity I’ve had in my life, all my troubles and obstacles, have strengthened me… You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you. - Walt Disney

All have their miseries. He is not truly a man who has not experienced adversity. - Edward Counsel 

Always seek out the seed of triumph in every adversity. - Og Mandino

Even the severed branch grows again, and the sunken moon returns: wise men who ponder this are not troubled in adversity. - Bhartrhari

Every adversity carries with it the seed of equal or greater benefit. - Napoleon Hill 

Fire is the test of gold; adversity, of strong men. - Seneca

For some adversity comes into our life like an ever-changing kaleidoscope and changes the pattern we laid out for our life. Some others are born into adversity and must learn survival tactics. When adversity is conquered, the skills learned, in the doing, are the golden treasures of life's experience. - Barbara B. Bergstrom

Fresh activity is the only means of overcoming adversity. - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Gratitude in adversity is the most beautiful and precious crown of the soul. - Ludovicus Blosius 

Harnessing adversity is a discipline tailored to a world of unpredictable outcomes – a world where one can disturb, but not wholly direct, a living system. Because the unexpected – adversity – is guaranteed, this discipline is about routinely making lemons into lemon meringue pie. - Richard T. Pascale

He knows not his own strength that hath not met adversity. - Ben Johnson

He that can heroically endure adversity will bear prosperity with equal greatness of soul; for the mind that cannot be dejected by the former is not likely to be transported with the later. - Henry Fielding

If you can’t live through adversity, you’ll never be good at what you do. You have to live through the unfair things, and you have to develop the hide to not let it bother you and keep your eyes focused on what you have to do. - Maurice

In any adversity that happens to us in the world, we ought to consider that misery and affliction are not less natural than snow and hail, storm and tempest: And it were as reasonable to hope for a year without winter, as for a life without trouble. - Wellins Calcott

In estimating the adversities of life, we would seldom have much reason to complain of the evils we suffer, did we understand the dangers we daily escape. - Norman MacDonald

In every kind of adversity, the bitterest part of a man’s affliction is to remember that he once was happy. - Boethius

In every adversity there lies the seed of an equivalent advantage. In every defeat is a lesson showing you how to win the victory next time. - Robert Collier

In the adversity of our best friends we always find something which is not wholly displeasing to us. - Duc de La Rochefoucauld

In times of great stress or adversity, it’s always best to keep busy, to plough your anger and your energy into something positive. - Lee Iacocca

It is more useful to watch a man in times of peril, and in adversity to discern what kind of man he is; for then at last, words of truth are drawn from the depths of his heart, and the mask is torn off, reality remains. - Lucretius 

It is your reaction to adversity and not adversity itself that determines how your life’s story will develop. - Unknown

Keen adversity is the best crucible in which to try a man’s integrity. - William Scott Downey

Let not adversity oppress thee: be rather like unto the nail; the farther ‘tis hammered, the firmer it holds. - Ivan Panin

Life is truly known only to those who suffer, lose, endure adversity, and stumble from defeat to defeat. - Ryszard Kapuscinski

No adversity is in kind or degree peculiar to us; but if we survey the conditions of other men (of our brethren everywhere, of our neighbours all about us), and compare our case with theirs, we shall find that we have many consorts and associates in adversity, most as ill, many far worse bestead than ourselves; whence it must be a great fondness and perverseness to be displeased that we are not exempted from, but exposed to bear a share in the common troubles and burdens of mankind. - Isaac Barrow

Nothing is more patent than that the discipline of adversity is by far the most gracious and elevating influence affecting human character. - Unknown

Prosperity gathers smiles, while adversity scatters them. - William Scott Downey

Prosperity is apt to prevent us from examining our conduct; but adversity leads us to think properly of our state, and so is beneficial to us. - Bruce Lee

Prosperity is no just scale; adversity is the only balance to weigh friends. - Plutarch

Prosperity is not without many fears and distastes; and adversity is not without comforts and hopes. - Francis Bacon 

Prosperity often presages adversity. - Hosea Ballou 

Sometimes adversity is what you need to face in order to become successful. - Zig Ziglar

Stars may be seen from the bottom of a deep well, when they cannot be discerned from the top of a mountain. So are many things learned in adversity which the prosperous man dreams not of. - Charles Haddon Spurgeon 

Sweet are the uses of adversity, which like the toad, ugly and venomous, wears yet a precious jewel in his head. - William Shakespeare

The conquering of adversity produces strength of character, forges self-confidence, engenders self-respect, and assures success in righteous endeavour. - Richard G. Scott

The day of adversity is one from which none are absolutely secure. Some, indeed, bring adversity on themselves by their own folly; but the wise as well as the foolish are liable to it, and all should be prepared for it. - Unknown 

The dictionary says that adversity is a condition marked by misfortune, a calamity, or an unfortunate event or circumstance. I say that adversity comes in all shapes and sizes, from life-threatening illnesses, to losing a sale, to failing in business, to rocky relationships. Adversity can be many things according to just when it hits you and under what conditions. Whatever it may be for you, if you have suffered setbacks, hardships, or failures, know that you are not alone. Very few things are true all of the time in all situations, but this is a universal truth: Plans do not become achievements, dreams do not become realities, and ideas do not come to fruition without setbacks, hardships, and failures. - Barry J. Farber

The fire of adversity will melt you like butter, or temper you like steel. The choice is yours. - Unknown

The shade of faith and the cloak of true godliness is the best equipage for the storm of adversity. - William Scott Downey 

The trials and pressures of life –  and how we face them –often define us. Confronted by adversity, many people give up while others rise up. How do those who succeed do it? They persevere. They find the benefit to them personally that comes from any trial. And they recognize that the best thing about adversity is coming out on the other side of it. There is a sweetness to overcoming your troubles and finding something good in the process, however small it may be. Giving up when adversity threatens can make a person bitter. Persevering through adversity makes one better. - John C. Maxwell

The truth is that adversity is a part of most days. Whether you are ultimately weakened or strengthened by each event, or the accumulation of events, will depend on you first mastering the ability to Take It On! - Erik Weihenmayer

The worse our state of wretchedness, the more we are open to receive the blessings of happiness. Adversity is the only tutor of contentment. No man, unless his mouth has been embittered with gall, can taste the true savour of honey. - Anthony Lisle

There is in every true woman’s heart a spark of heavenly fire, which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity; but which kindles up, and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity. - Washington Irving

There is in every true woman’s heart, a spark of heavenly fire, which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity, but which kindles up and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity. - Washington Irving

There is no education like adversity. - Benjamin Disraeli

There is not unmitigated ill in the sharpest of this world's sorrows; I touch not the sore of thy guilt; but of human griefs I counsel thee, Cast off the weakness of regret, and gird thee to redeem thy loss: Thou has gained, in the furnace of affliction, self-knowledge, patience and humility, And these be as precious ore, that waiteth the skill of the coiner: Despise not the blessings of adversity, nor the gain thou hast earned so hardly, And now thou hast drained the bitter, take heed that thou lose not the sweet. - Martin Farquhar Tupper

Those who choose to make adversity their friend doesn’t enjoy hardship any more than the next person. But there is a world of difference between those who befriend adversity by overcoming it and learning from the experience, and those who give up at the first sign of an obstacle … Adversity is going to happen, and usually in ways you could’ve never foreseen. Knowing this, make a choice right now to look at adversity in a new light the next time it comes your way. Though it may not look so friendly on the surface, realize that adversity is an ally and that it’s here to teach you something of crucial importance. Of course, it’s an unwelcome visitor. But when it presents itself, treat the experience as a unique learning opportunity. Here is your chance to impact positively your human capital development in ways that no seminar, class, or training session can even closely approximate. - J. Barry Griswell & Bob Jennings 

To stand alone against all adversity is the most sacred moment of existence. - Frank Herbert

We fail to see the purifying and refining effect wrought by the flames of adversity. These flames are not meant to consume but only to purify us. Disguised as adversity, blessings are showered upon us. - Theodore Tuttle

With every adversity comes a blessing because a shock acts as a reminder to oneself that we must not get stale in routine. - Bruce Lee

Without adversity a person hardly knows whether they are honest or not. - Henry Fielding