Extreme hopes are born from extreme misery.

Extreme hopes are born from extreme misery.

Meagre were his looks,
Sharp misery had worn him to the bones;
And in his needy shop read more

Meagre were his looks,
Sharp misery had worn him to the bones;
And in his needy shop a tortoise hung,
An alligator stuffed, and other skins
Of ill-shaped fishes; and about his shelves
A beggarly account of boxes,
Green earthen pots, bladders, and musty seeds,
Remnants of packthread, and old cakes of roses
Were thinly scattered, to make up a show.

People talk about the courage of condemned men walking to the place of execution: sometimes it needs as much courage read more

People talk about the courage of condemned men walking to the place of execution: sometimes it needs as much courage to walk with any kind of bearing towards another person's habitual misery.

Laugh not once at one's misfortune for one will laugh twice as much at you later.

Laugh not once at one's misfortune for one will laugh twice as much at you later.

There are a good many real miseries in life that we cannot help smiling at, but they are the smiles read more

There are a good many real miseries in life that we cannot help smiling at, but they are the smiles that make wrinkles and not dimples.

This, this is misery! the last, the worst,
That man can feel.

This, this is misery! the last, the worst,
That man can feel.

The wretched hasten to hear of their own miseries.
[Lat., Miserias properant suas
Audire miseri.]

The wretched hasten to hear of their own miseries.
[Lat., Miserias properant suas
Audire miseri.]

The white man's happiness cannot be purchased by the black man's misery

The white man's happiness cannot be purchased by the black man's misery

All of which misery I saw, part of which I was.
[Lat., Quaeque ipse misserrima vidi, et quorum pars read more

All of which misery I saw, part of which I was.
[Lat., Quaeque ipse misserrima vidi, et quorum pars magna fui.]