What doesn't kill us sharpens us. Hardens us. Schools us. You're beating plowshares into swords, Vosch. You are remaking us. We are the clay, and you are Michelangelo. And we will be your masterpiece.
Interpretation
Challenges and struggles make us stronger and more refined.
This quote emphasizes that adversity shapes and strengthens individuals, turning them into their best selves through the process of enduring hardship. It draws an analogy between the transformative power of challenges and the artistic process of a sculptor, suggesting that through trials, we can be molded into something extraordinary.
In practice
During a motivational speech about overcoming obstacles.
When the moment comes to stop running from your past, to turn around and face the thing you thought you could not face--the moment when your life teeters between giving up and getting up--when that moment comes, and it always comes, if you can't get up and you can't give up either, here's what you do: Crawl.
Always leave people with a solution; the heaven if you do versus the hell if you don't. If you're really skillful you can put the person into the future solution. Shoaff used to say, 'Jim, I can see you now in your new clothes, in your new home, in your new car. I can see others walking up to you.' The Promise of the Future is an Awesome Force!
It does not matter how many times you get knocked down, but how many times you get up.
Few things are impossible to diligence and skill.
Never mind a little dirt, if the goal is splendid!
In the game of life, before you get anything out, you must put something in!
In life, people tend to wait for good things to come to them. And by waiting, they miss out. Usually, what you wish for doesn't fall in your lap; it falls somewhere nearby, and you have to recognize it, stand up, and put in the time and work it takes to get to it. This isn't because the universe is cruel. It's because the universe is smart. It has its own cat-string theory and knows we don't appreciate things that fall into our laps.
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