The gem cannot be polished without friction nor man without trials. – Confucius

Adversity introduces a man to himself. – Author Unknown

Every path hath a puddle. – George Herbert, “Jacula Prudentum”

In our nature, however, there is a provision, alike marvelous and merciful, that the sufferer should never know the intensity of what he endures by its present torture, but chiefly by the pang that rankles after it. – Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter