The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism. – Norman Vincent Peale

Even as the stone of the fruit must break, that its heart may stand in the sun, so must you know pain…. [A]ccept the seasons of your heart, even as you have always accepted the seasons that pass over your fields…. – Khalil Gibran, The Prophet

Men often bear little grievances with less courage than they do large misfortunes. – Aesop

Suffering is above, not below. And everyone thinks that suffering is below. And everyone wants to rise. – Antonio Porchia, Voces, 1943, translated from Spanish by W.S. Merwin