“Prosperity is a great teacher; adversity is a greater. Possession pampers the mind; privation trains and strengthens it.”

—  William Hazlitt

"On the Conversations of Lords," New Monthly Magazine (April 1826)
Men and Manners: Sketches and Essays (1852)

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Prosperity is a great teacher; adversity is a greater. Possession pampers the mind; privation trains and strengthens it." by William Hazlitt?
William Hazlitt photo
William Hazlitt 186
English writer 1778–1830

Related quotes

Pliny the Younger photo

“Prosperity proves men to be fortunate, while it is adversity which makes them great.”
Secunda felices, adversa magnos probent.

Pliny the Younger (61–113) Roman writer

XXXI.
Panegyricus

Theodore Roosevelt photo

“We are passing through a period of great commercial prosperity, and such a period is as sure as adversity itself to bring mutterings of discontent.”

Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American politician, 26th president of the United States

1900s, Address at Providence (1901)
Context: We are passing through a period of great commercial prosperity, and such a period is as sure as adversity itself to bring mutterings of discontent. At a time when most men prosper somewhat some men always prosper greatly; and it is as true now as when the tower of Siloam fell upon all alike, that good fortune does not come solely to the just, nor bad fortune solely to the unjust. When the weather is good for crops it is also good for weeds.

David Hare photo

“A weak mind sinks under prosperity, as well as under adversity. A strong and deep mind has two highest tides – when the moon is at the full, and when there is no moon.”

David Hare (1947) British writer

Augustus William Hare and Julius Charles Hare Guesses at Truth (London: Macmillan, ([1827-48] 1867) pp. 209-10.
Misattributed

“Prosperity makes friends, adversity tries them.”

Publilio Siro Latin writer

Maxim 872
Sentences, The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus, a Roman Slave

John Lancaster Spalding photo

“The aim of education is to strengthen and multiply the powers and activities of the mind rather than to increase its possessions.”

John Lancaster Spalding (1840–1916) Catholic bishop

Source: Aphorisms and Reflections (1901), p. 230

Samuel Butler photo

“Adversity, if a man is set down to it by degrees, is more supportable with equanimity by most people than any great prosperity arrived at in a single lifetime.”

Samuel Butler book The Way of All Flesh

Source: The Way of All Flesh (1903), Ch. 5

Francis Bacon photo

“Prosperity is the blessing of the Old Testament; adversity is the blessing of the New.”

Francis Bacon book Essays

Of Adversity
Essays (1625)

Diogenes Laërtius photo

“It was a saying of his that education was an ornament in prosperity and a refuge in adversity.”

Diogenes Laërtius (180–240) biographer of ancient Greek philosophers

Aristotle, 9.
The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (c. 200 A.D.), Book 5: The Peripatetics

Thomas Carlyle photo

“Adversity is sometimes hard upon a man; but for one man who can stand prosperity, there are a hundred that will stand adversity.”

Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish philosopher, satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher

(Often shortened to "can't stand prosperity" as an unknown quote).
1840s, Heroes and Hero-Worship (1840), The Hero as Man of Letters

Aristotle photo

“Learning is an ornament in prosperity, a refuge in adversity, and a provision in old age.”

Aristotle (-384–-321 BC) Classical Greek philosopher, student of Plato and founder of Western philosophy

Related topics