MISFORTUNE QUOTES
quotations about misfortune
The most fortunate of us, in our journey through life, frequently meet with calamities and misfortunes which may greatly afflict us; and, to fortify our minds against the attacks of these calamities and misfortunes should be one of the principal studies and endeavors of our lives. The only method of doing this is to assume a perfect resignation to the Divine will, to consider that whatever does happen, must happen; and that, by our uneasiness, we cannot prevent the blow before it does fall, but we may add to its force after it has fallen. These considerations, and others such as these, may enable us in some measure to surmount the difficulties thrown in our way; to bear up with a tolerable degree of patience under the burden of life; and to proceed with a pious and unshaken resignation, till we arrive at our journey's end, when we may deliver up our trust into the hands of Him who gave it, and receive such reward as to him shall seem proportioned to our merit.
THOMAS JEFFERSON
letter to John Page, July 15, 1763
Misfortune nobly born is good fortune.
MARCUS AURELIUS
Meditations
When the soul suffers too much, it develops a taste for misfortune.
ALBERT CAMUS
The First Man
There's only one kind of happiness, but misfortune comes in all shapes and sizes.
HARUKI MURAKAMI
Kafka on the Shore
We bear, all of us, the misfortunes of other people with heroic constancy.
FRANÇOIS DE LA ROCHEFOUCAULD
Moral Maxims
It is often said that in prosperity we have many friends, but that we are usually neglected when things go badly. I disagree. Not only do malicious people flock about us in order to witness our ruin, but other unfortunates as well, who have been kept away by our happiness, and now feel close to us on account of our troubles.
ANDRÉ MAUROIS
An Art of Living
The danger from lightning is gone when the thunder is heard, and the worst is over when misfortune has arrived.
IVAN PANIN
Thoughts
Misfortune had conquered her, how true it is, that sooner or later the most rebellious must bow beneath the same yoke.
ANNE LOUISE GERMAINE DE STAËL
CORINNE
Cheerfulness can change misfortune into love and friends.
LOUISA MAY ALCOTT
Jack and Jill: A Village Story
It is often better to have a great deal of misfortune happen to one; a great deal may arouse you to remove what a little will only accustom you to endure.
LORD GREVILLE
attributed, Day's Collacon
Life is thickly sown with thorns, and I know no other remedy than to pass quickly through them. The longer we dwell on our misfortunes, the greater is their power to harm us.
VOLTAIRE
Candide
Heavy misfortunes have befallen us, but let us only cling closer to what remains, and transfer our love for those whom we have lost to those who yet live. Our circle will be small, but bound close by the ties of affection and mutual misfortune. And when time shall have softened your despair, new and dear objects of care will be born to replace those of whom we have been so cruelly deprived.
MARY SHELLEY
Frankenstein
The worst is not
So long as we can say "This is the worst."
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
King Lear
It is time enough to bear a misfortune when it comes, without anticipating it; for why should we torment ourselves with what may fall out, perhaps, twenty years hence, or never.
WELLINS CALCOTT
Thoughts Moral and Divine
A man is the sum of his misfortunes.
WILLIAM FAULKNER
The Sound and the Fury
We can only feel sorry for ourselves when our misfortunes are still supportable. Once this limit is crossed, the only way to bear the unbearable is to laugh at it.
MARJANE SATRAPI
The Complete Persepolis
We have seen better days.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Timon of Athens
In the greatest misfortune oft lies the greatest hope.
EDWARD COUNSEL
Maxims
It never rains but it pours.
L. M. MONTGOMERY
The Blue Castle
Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune; but great minds rise above them.
WASHINGTON IRVING
attributed, Business Philosopher, 1913