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About this quote

What does it mean?
Challenges are essential for developing strength and character, though they are uncomfortable.
In plain terms
Hardships make us stronger even though they feel rough.
What can you take from it?
Struggle builds capacity and resilience.

Where it applies

  • learning moments
  • leadership
  • personal hardship

Putting it to work

  • training
  • mentorship
  • goal setting

Questions to consider

  • What hardships helped you grow?
  • How do you react to difficulty?

Another view

Extreme difficulty can also break people rather than build them.

More from William Cullen Bryant

  1. A world of blossoms for the bee, Flowers for the sick girl's silent room, For the glad infant sprigs of bloom, We plant with the apple tree.

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  2. Eloquence is the poetry of prose.

    Permalink to quote #40
  3. A sculptor wields The chisel, and the stricken marble grows To beauty.

    Permalink to quote #37

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