"Love does not just happen...it is acquired with interior struggle." (John Paul II)
"...reminding them what trials our fathers underwent ... how Abraham was put to the proof, tested by long endurance, before he became God's friend; how Isaac, Jacob, Moses, and all who won God's favour, must be loyal to him under great affliction first." (Jud 8:21-23) ["Mementote quia tentati sunt patres nostri. Mementote quomodo pater noster Abraham tentatus est; et, per multas tribulationes probatus, Dei amicus effectus est. Sic Isaac, sic Iacob, sic Moyses et omnes qui placuerunt Deo, per multas tribulationes transierunt fideles."]
"And indeed, for fear that these surpassing revelations should make me proud, I was given a sting to distress my outward nature, an angel of Satan sent to rebuff me. Three times it made me entreat the Lord to rid me of it; but he told me, My grace is enough for thee; my strength finds its full scope in thy weakness." (II Cor 12:7-9) ["Propter quod, ne extollar, datus est mihi stimulus carni, angelus Satanae ut me colaphizet. Propter quod ter Dominum rogavi, ut discederet a me; et dixit mihi, 'Sufficit tibi gratia mea, nam virtus in infirmitate perficitur.'"]
"I have toiled harder, spent longer days in prison, been beaten so cruelly, so often looked death in the face. Five times the Jews scourged me, and spared me but one lash in the forty; three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned; I have been shipwrecked three times, I have spent a night and a day as a castaway at sea. What journeys I have undertaken, in danger from rivers, in danger from robbers, in danger from my own people, in danger from the Gentiles; danger in cities; danger in the wilderness, danger in the sea, danger among false brethren! I have met with toil and weariness, so often been sleepless, hungry and thirsty; so often denied myself food, gone cold and naked." (II Cor 11:23-28)
"Our human weakness could find no means of rest; all was conflict without, all was anxiety within. But there is one who never fails to comfort those who are brought low..." (II Cor 7:5)
"In the world you shall have distress. But have confidence: I have overcome the world." (Jn 16:33)
"And the Lord said to Simon, 'Simon, Simon, behold Satan has claimed power over you all, so that he can sift you like wheat: but I have prayed for thee, that thy faith may not fail; when, after a while, thou hast come back to me, it is for thee to be the support of thy brethren." (Lk 22:32)
"If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything." (Anonymous)
"If you're looking for a big opportunity, seek out a big problem." (H. Jackson Brown, Sr.)
"Problems are opportunities in work clothes." (H. Kaiser)
"In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity." (A. Einstein)
"A diamond is a chunk of coal that made good under pressure." (Anonymous)
"The difference between great runners lies less in their anatomy and physiology than in their capacity ... to overcome or ignore the discomfort, even pain, of extreme effort. ... It is this which sets the razor's edge of victory or defeat." (from a study of athletes)
"The kind of person who is able to push through a physiologic energy barrier is often the one who is capable of great personal growth." (A. Lakein)
"Most people operate in the mid-range of mediocrity, in the range of hours or days. They don't think in terms of minutes--the little chunks most time comes in. They waste all the minutes." (A. Lakein)
"Since we should behave
at all times as God's envoys, we must be very much aware that we are not
serving him loyally if he we leave a job unfinished; if we don't put as
much effort and self-sacrifice as others do into the fulfillment of professional
commitments; if we can be called careless, unreliable, frivolous, disorganized,
lazy or useless... Because people who neglect obligations that seem less
important will hardly succeed in other obligations that pertain to the
spiritual life and are undoubtedly harder to fulfill." (Josemaria Escriva,
Friends of God 62)