It takes a wonderful brain and exquisite senses to produce a few stupid ideas.
George SantayanaRead
For gold is tried in the fire and acceptable men in the furnace of adversity.
Interpretation
What this quote means
True character is revealed through challenges and hardships.
This quote by George Santayana illustrates the idea that just as gold is refined and tested by fire, a person's true worth and character are revealed through the difficulties and adversities they face. It suggests that adversity serves as a crucible, shaping individuals and distinguishing those who are truly admirable and resilient.
Themes
AdversityCharacterStrengthResilienceValue
In practice
Example use cases
A motivational speaker may use this quote to inspire an audience to embrace challenges in their lives.
More from George Santayana
All quotes →The working of great institutions is mainly the result of a vast mass of routine, petty malice, self interest, carelessness and sheer mistake. Only a residual fraction is thought.
George SantayanaRead
There is no cure for birth and death save to enjoy the interval. The dark background which death supplies brings out the tender colours of life in all their purity.
George SantayanaRead
Not to believe in love is a great sign of dullness. There are some people so indirect and lumbering that they think all real affection rests on circumstantial evidence.
George SantayanaRead
To feel beauty is a better thing than to understand how we come to feel it. To have imagination and taste, to love the best, to be carried by the contemplation of nature to a vivid faith in the ideal, all this is more, a great deal more, than any science can hope to be.
George SantayanaRead
The vital straining towards an ideal, definite but latent, when it dominates a whole life, may express that ideal more fully than could the best chosen words.
George SantayanaRead
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It is a rare mind indeed that can render the hitherto non-existent blindingly obvious. The cry 'I could have thought of that' is a very popular and misleading one, for the fact is that they didn't, and a very significant and revealing fact it is too.
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Hurry is the weakness of fools.
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I've made peace with the fact that the things that I thought were weaknesses or flaws were just me. I like them.
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He seemed to be talking about my fears, my insecurity, and my unwillingness to see what was wonderful because tomorrow it might disappear and I might suffer. The gods throw the dice, and they don't ask whether we want to be in the game or not.
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