The Good are better made by Ill,
As odours crushed are sweeter still.

The Good are better made by Ill,
As odours crushed are sweeter still.

And these vicissitudes come best in youth;
For when they happen at a riper age,
People are read more

And these vicissitudes come best in youth;
For when they happen at a riper age,
People are apt to blame the Fates, forsooth,
And wonder Providence is not more sage.
Adversity is the first path to truth:
He who hath proved war, storm, or woman's rage,
Whether his winters be eighteen or eighty,
Has won experience which is deem'd so weighty.

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.

Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune; but great minds rise above them.

Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune; but great minds rise above them.

By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity--another man's I mean.

By trying we can easily learn to endure adversity--another man's I mean.

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

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

In the adversity of our best friends we often find something
which does not displease us.
[Fr., Dans read more

In the adversity of our best friends we often find something
which does not displease us.
[Fr., Dans l'adversite de nos meilleurs amis nous trouvons
toujours quelque chose ne nous deplaist pas.]

We become wiser by adversity; prosperity destroys our appreciation of the right.

We become wiser by adversity; prosperity destroys our appreciation of the right.

Adversity is the first path to truth.

Adversity is the first path to truth.