For one man who can stand prosperity, there are a hundred that will stand adversity.
AFFLICTION.
Afflictions are but the shadow of God's wings.
Human character is never found "to enter into its glory," except through the ordeal of affliction. Its force cannot come forth without the offer of resistance, nor can the grandeur of its free will declare itself, except in the battle of fierce temptation.
Affliction is the school in which great virtues are acquired, in which great characters are formed.
The damps of autumn sink into the leaves and prepare them for the necessity of their fall; and thus insensibly are we, as years close around us, detached from our tenacity of life by the gentle pressure of recorded sorrow.
God sometimes washes the eyes of His children with tears in order that they may read aright His providence and His commandments.
Be still, sad heart, and cease repining,
Behind the clouds the sun is shining;
Thy fate is the common fate of all;
Into each life some rain must fall,—
Some days must be dark and dreary.
