“A great step towards independence is a good-humored stomach, one that is willing to endure rough treatment.”

“Sucking at something is the first step towards being sorta good at something.”

Ryan North (1980) Canadian webcomic writer and programmer

“Few people know how to take a walk. The qualifications are endurance, plain clothes, old shoes, an eye for nature, good humor, vast curiosity, good speech, good silence and nothing too much.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American philosopher, essayist, and poet

“That history just unfolds, independently of a specified direction, of a goal, no one is willing to admit.”

Emil M. Cioran book History and Utopia

“This discipline and rough treatment are a furnace
to extract the silver from the dross.
This testing purifies the gold by boiling the scum away.”

Rumi (1207–1273) Iranian poet

“The theatre demanded of its members stamina, good digestion, the ability to adjust, and a strong sense of humor. There was no discomfort an actor didn’t learn to endure. To survive, we had to be horses and we were.”

Helen Hayes (1900–1993) actress

“It is a rough road that leads to the heights of greatness.”
Confragosa in fastigium dignitatis via est.

Seneca the Younger (-4–65 BC) Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, and dramatist

“Death is only a step towards …/ In this celebration of love/ Death is a stepping stone/ Towards the fullness/ Towards which all of us/ Consciously and unconsciously long for.”

Kuruvilla Pandikattu (1957) Indian philosopher

“An empty stomach is not a good political adviser.”

Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity

“If things are ever to move upward, some one must take the first step, and assume the risk of it. No one who is not willing to try charity, to try non-resistance as the saint is always willing, can tell whether these methods will or will not succeed.”

William James (1842–1910) American philosopher, psychologist, and pragmatist