Gold is tried in the fire and acceptable men in the furnace of adversity.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Adversity reveals the true character of individuals just as fire reveals the purity of gold.
- In plain terms
- Hard times show who people really are, like fire tests gold.
- What can you take from it?
- Use challenges to test and reveal character.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Who have you seen stand strong during hard times?
- How have you been tested by adversity?
Another view
Not everyone responds to adversity with strength; some may break under pressure.
More from George Santayana
Fun is a good thing but only when it spoils nothing better.
Permalink to quote #50 Intolerance is a form of egotism, and to condemn egotism intolerantly is to share it.
Permalink to quote #52 Friends need not agree in everything or go always together, or have no comparable other friendships of the same intimacy.
Permalink to quote #49
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