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About this quote

What does it mean?
A woman's inner strength or spiritual fire remains dormant in prosperity but becomes active and visible during adversity.
In plain terms
Women show their true strength only when things go wrong.
What can you take from it?
Adversity reveals inner strength.

Where it applies

  • crisis
  • personal growth
  • hardship

Putting it to work

  • facing challenges
  • developing resilience

Questions to consider

  • When have you seen true strength?
  • Does struggle reveal character?

Another view

Strength can also be shown in prosperity.

More from Washington Irving

  1. They claim to be the first inventors of those recondite beverages, cocktail, stonefence, and sherry cobbler.

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  2. Those men are most apt to be obsequious and conciliating abroad, who are under the discipline of shrews at home.

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  3. His wife 'ruled the roost,' and in governing the governor, governed the province, which might thus be said to be under petticoat government.

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