The greatness comes not when things always go good for you. But the greatness comes when you're really tested, when you take some knocks, some disappointments, when sadness comes. Because it's not until you've been down in the deepest valley, that you can truly appreciate how magnificent it is to stand upon the highest mountain. (Richard M. Nixon, 1913-1994 Thirty-seventh President of the USA)

One ceases to recognize the significance of mountain peaks if they are not viewed occasionally from the deepest valleys. (Dr. Al Lorin)

One man gets nothing but discord out of a piano; another gets harmony. No one claims the piano is at fault. Life is about the same. The discord is there, and the harmony is there. Study to play it correctly, and it will give forth the beauty; play it falsely, and it will give forth the ugliness. Life is not at fault. (Unknown)

You need only look at a problem and say, "This problem is here for a reason so that I may learn wisdoms from it." That's the easiest approach to get out of your own way... there will be transitions around you, many trials and tribulations, but the more you see them as lessons, the more quickly they will evaporate and leave you the joy of learning. (The Brotherhood of Light through Edna G. Frankel) - http://www.beyondreiki.com (Source: Sedona Journal of Emergence - May 2004) - http://www.sedonajournal.com

We must accept life for what it actually is - a challenge to our quality without which we should never know of what stuff we are made, or grow to our full stature. (Ida R. Wylie)

I count life just the stuff to try the soul's strength on. (Robert Browning, 1812-1889 British Poet)

You'll never find a better sparring partner than adversity. (Walt Schmidt)

To be tested is good. The challenged life may be the best therapist. (Gail Sheehy, 1937 American Journalist Author)

The art of living lies not in eliminating but in growing beyond your troubles. (Bernard M. Baruch, 1870-1965 American Financier)

I believe that life is a journey, often difficult and sometimes incredibly cruel, but we are well equipped for it if only we tap into our talents and gifts and allow them to blossom. (Les Brown, 1945 American Speaker Author Trainer Motivator Lecturer)

But in the end, the way to deal with all the disturbing news and information that come our way is to take all of this as a challenge and a test to get us to develop greater soul-level equanimity, to learn to face the truth without shying away from it all while not allowing an unnecessary emotional reaction to overwhelm us and deprive us temporarily of our inner connection with the universal well of wisdom that can shed light and bring to us a deeper understanding of what our role may be, if any, with regard to the knowledge that has come our way. I don't think it is healthy and spiritually balanced to allow ourselves to be taken down into the lower end of the vibrational scale of consciousness - into utter despair, unremitting sadness, explosive anger or deep revulsion - for in doing so we only open ourselves to being disempowered and rendered useless, for a time, regarding the positive contributions we can absolutely make towards the solutions, if only through holding the basic inner sense that ultimately the universe is benevolent towards all Life and all sentient beings; that goodness, kindness and love always prevail, and that no matter how difficult a situation may appear, some greater good will always come from it. (Jean Hudon) - www.earthrainbownetwork.com/Archives2005/RisingPhoenix39.htm

Good people are good because they've come to wisdom through failure. We get very little wisdom from success, you know. (William Saroyan, 1908-1981 American Writer Novelist Playwright)

I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed. (Booker T. Washington)

Whenever someone sorrows, I do not say, "forget it," or "it will pass," or "it could be worse" - all of which deny the integrity of the painful experience. But I say, to the contrary, "It is worse than you may allow yourself to think. Delve into the depth. Stay with the feeling. Think of it as a precious source of knowledge and guidance. Then and only then will you be ready to face it and be transformed in the process. (Peter Koestenbaum)

A man either lives life as it happens to him, meets it head-on and licks it, or he turns his back on it and starts to wither away. (Gene Roddenberry, American Producer Director Creator of Star Trek Series)

I don't want to get to the end of my life and find that I have just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the full width of it as well. (Diane Ackerman, 1948 American Poet Writer Naturalist)

The joy of life consists in the exercise of one's energies, continual growth, constant change, the enjoyment of every new experience. To stop means simply to die. The eternal mistake of mankind is to set up an attainable ideal. (Aleister Crowley, 1875-1947 British Occultist)

Life is not a problem to be solved, but a reality to be experienced. (Soren Kierkegaard, 1813-1855 Danish Philosopher Writer)

In the midst of winter, I finally learned that there was in me an invincible summer. (Albert Camus)

You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf. (Jon Kabat Zinn)

The greater the difficulty the more glory in surmounting it. Skillful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests. (Epictetus 50-138, Phrygian Philosopher)

There are some things you learn best in calm and some in storm. (Willa Cather)

The highest reward for man's toil is not what he gets for it, but what he becomes by it. (John Ruskin, 1819-1900)

A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery while on a detour. (Unknown)

Any fact facing us is not as important as our attitude toward it, for that determines our success or failure. The way you think about a fact may defeat you before you ever do anything about it. You are overcome by the fact because you think you are. (Norman Vincent Peale)

Everything that touches your life is an opportunity if you discover its proper use. Every circumstance, every seeming misfortune, every person you meet, every dog that barks at you or wags his tail as you pass - all have some element of usefulness to you if you will find it. Study them all, for they are your opportunities. Most people fail by waiting for some particular kind of opportunity, instead of being ready to seize every opportunity. (Wallace D. Wattles)

Don't go through life, GROW through life. (Eric Butterworth)

A problem is your soul's invitation card. (Dean Fraser)

Experience is not what happens to a man. It is what a man does with what happens to him. (Aldous Huxley)

One of the secrets of life is to make stepping stones out of stumbling blocks. (Jack Penn)

The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem. (Theodore Rubin)

Every oak tree started out as a couple of nuts who stood their ground. (Unknown)

It's not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters. (Epictetus)

When we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure. (Peter Marshall)

Never think of a difficulty - you give it strength (Unknown)

It is not the load that breaks you down, it's the way you carry it. (Lena Horne)

If I were asked to give what I consider the single most useful bit of advice for all humanity, it would be this: Expect trouble as an inevitable part of life, and when it comes, hold your head high. Look it squarely in the eye, and say, "I will be bigger than you. You cannot defeat me." (Ann Landers)

By facing our challenges, we discover our potential. (Unknown)

Each challenge that I conquer makes me stronger than before. (Dean Fraser)

When invaded by some sand the oyster makes a pearl. (Unknown)

The problem is not that there are problems. The problem is expecting otherwise and thinking that having problems is a problem. (Theodore I. Rubin)

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands in times of challenge and controversy. (Martin Luther King, Jr.)

Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, which, in prosperous circumstances, would have lain dormant. (Horace)

There is no education like adversity. (Disraeli)

Those who overcome great adversity develop strength, love and a sense of compassion that is not often found in the majority of those around them... When you face your deepest fears as manifested in your experience, you cannot help but come out of these experiences much stronger and uplifted. If you are in crisis, or feel scared by a past crisis, do not look at yourself as a victim of circumstance. Rather, choose to look for the opportunities for growth that are presenting themselves to you. You are the creator of your own experience, and nothing can come to you unless you have one some level requested that experience or event. The moment you cease seeing yourself as a victim of circumstance, but as the creator of your experience, you become empowered not only to understand the gift of the event, but also become empowered to create the changes your were already looking for on a deeper level.

Crisis creates change. Often, when you are feeling the need for change, but do not know how to create it, a crisis will come along to encourage you to take action. Crisis cannot be ignored, so they are effective in their intention to help, uplift and illumine the individual they visit... Looking back on crisis, most people can see how they were already asking for change, but did not know how to create them. Crisis then came along and helped them to create those needed changes...

Whether your crisis has been emotional, physical or financial, it has come bearing gifts. Sometimes it means choosing a new direction in career, or leaving a relationship that no longer serves you. It can also be the motivator behind changing beliefs that have been stopping you being all that you want to be and are able to be. Look back on crisis as a friend, for you can only leave those things behind you love, accept and forgive. (Omni through John Payne) - www.consciouscreation.com/journal/Archives.htm

Souls can only learn by experience, and it is through the experience of suffering that one becomes compassionate and learns not to cause suffering upon another. (The Source Of The Intervention through Karen Danrich "Mila") www.ascendpress.org

Men are wise in proportion, not to their experience, but to their capacity to learn from their experience. (George Bernard Shaw, 1856-1950 Irish-born British Dramatist)

We learn through experience and experiencing, and no one teaches anyone anything. This is as true for the infant moving from kicking to crawling to walking as it is for the scientist with his equations. If the environment permits it, anyone can learn whatever he chooses to learn; and if the individual permits it, the environment will teach him everything it has to teach. (Viola Spolin, 1911 American Theatrical Director Producer)

Life is an initiation process where we're learning to become better rather than bitter. (Dean Fraser)

If you learn from your suffering, and really come to understand the lesson you were taught, you might be able to help someone else who's now in the phase you may have just completed. Maybe that's what life's all about after all. (Unknown)