Put a dozen relatively like-minded people into the same crisis and you will see a dozen different responses. Some are heroes; others are cowards. Some are leaders; others are followers. Some are optimistic; others despair. Some shake their fist at God; others quietly submit. You don't really know who you are until you have gone through suffering. We can measure our spiritual growth by the way we behave under pressure.

We can think that God is good, and we are pleased with him, though we might be pleased less with him than we are with the ease of our lives. Then, when life is hard—especially when life remains hard—the allegiances of our hearts.

There is a resiliency in the human spirit that keeps us going even when we have no reason to continue.

We need the sweet pain of anticipation to tell us we are really alive.

The willow which bends to the tempest, often escapes better than the oak which resists it and so in great calamities, it sometimes happens that light and frivolous spirits recover their elasticity and presence of mind sooner than those of a loftier character.

Anyone who proposes to do good must not expect people to roll stones out of his way, but must accept his lot calmly if they even roll a few more upon it.

One who gains strength by overcoming obstacles possesses the only strength which can overcome adversity.

I don't want to be a prisoner of comfort.

Arm yourself with resignation. We live in a world full of evil. In the later period of life, misfortunes seem to thicken round us and out duty and our peace both require that we should accustom ourselves to meet disaster with Christian fortitude

Feeling sorry for ourselves is the most useless waste of energy on the planet. It does absolutely no good. We can't let our circumstances or what others do or don't do control us. We can decide to be happy regardless.

War is a game that is played with a smile. If you can't smile, grin. If you can't grin, keep out of the way till you can.

My skin is hard when it comes to my music. But with my movies, I'm still a virgin in a lot of ways. I'm not used to being shot down for no reason.