May 27, 2014
This week we again learned how a troubled mind can cause so much pain to so many innocent people. I do not want to name the person that committed this last despicable act because he does not need to be recognized as someone that contributed anything to this world. However, the person that killed Veronica Weiss, Katherine Cooper, Christopher Martinez, Cheng Yuan Hong, George Chen, and Weihan Wang, just because he felt lonely, obviously did not understand what adverse events in life are all about. I would like to use this post to reflect on adversity by citing some quotes from people who truly understood adversity. We truly need to stop thinking that we can only achieve success or happiness in life by avoiding or hiding from hurtful situations.
“Adversity is the mother of progress.” – Mahatma Gandhi
“Success in the affairs of life often serves to hide one's abilities, whereas adversity frequently gives one an opportunity to discover them..” – Horace
“Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune, but great minds rise above them.” – Washington Irving
“A wise man adapts himself to circumstances as water shapes itself to the vessel that contains it.” – Chinese Proverb
“Problems are only opportunities in work clothes.” – Henry J. Kaiser
“It is interesting to notice how some minds seem almost to create themselves, springing up under every disadvantage, and working their solitary but irresistible way through a thousand obstacles.” – Washington Irving
“Wherever we look upon this earth, the opportunities take shape within the problems.” - Nelson A. Rockefeller
“The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man be perfected without trials.” – Danish Proverb
“There can be no rainbow without a cloud and a storm.” – J. H. Vincent