The sun will rise again. The only uncertainty is whether or not we will rise to greet it. Alan Christensen's diary

There is one day that has brought me unspeakable pain, & the effects of that day continue to cover & erode my world like rust. I suspect that someday the rust will eat through the joists & posts of my life & I will topple, literally as well as figuratively.

We climb mountains because the valleys are full of cemeteries. The secret of survival is to climb, even in the dark, even when the climb seems pointless. The climb, not the summit, is the thing. And the great don't just climb mountains, they carve them as they go. Korczak

It is often during the worst of times that we see the best of humanity—awakening within the most ordinary of us that which is most sublime.

The thing is, the only real sign of life is growth. And growth requires pain. So to choose life is to accept pain. Some people go to such lengths to avoid pain that they give up on life. They bury their hearts, or they drug or drink themselves numb until they don't' feel anything anymore. The irony is, in the end their escape becomes more painful than what they're avoiding.

Though adversity is the fertile soil in which the human spirit best grows, we loathe it still. I do not see how it can be otherwise, for no rational being seeks out pain and misfortune. Still, I cannot help but wonder if it is not somehow wrong to enjoy the fruit but curse the tree.

We do not succeed in spite of our obstacles and challenges. We succeed precisely because of them.

I believe that, for the most part, we don't succeed in spite of our hardships but precisely because of them.

I have learned a great truth of life. We do not succeed in spite of our challenges and difficulties, but rather, precisely because of them.

Usually life's greatest gifts come wrapped in adversity.

Faith is not for overcoming obstacles; it is for experiencing them—all the way through!

The heroic deeds of those great worthies do not comfort the church so much as their falls and bruises do.