It is not on the pinnacle of success and ease where men and women grow most. It is often down in the valley of heartache and disappointment and reverses where men and women grow.
Interpretation
Growth often comes from overcoming challenges rather than from success.
This quote by Ezra Taft Benson highlights the idea that true personal growth and character development often occur in times of struggle and adversity rather than during periods of comfort and success. It suggests that the challenges we face, characterized as 'the valley of heartache and disappointment,' are crucial for cultivating resilience, strength, and depth in our lives.
In practice
During a motivational speech about resilience in the workplace.
Humility responds to God's will-to the fear of His judgments and to the needs of those around us. To the proud, the applause of the world rings in their ears; to the humble, the applause of heaven warms their hearts. Someone has said, "Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man."
Physical well-being is not only a priceless asset to oneself-it is a heritage to be passed on. With good health, all other activities of life are greatly enhanced. A clean mind in a healthy body enables one to render far more effective service to others. It helps one provide more vigorous leadership. It gives our every experience in life more zest and more meaning. Robust health is a noble and worthwhile attainment.
If you really want to receive joy and happiness, then serve others with all your heart. Lift their burden, and your own burden will be lighter.
Our parents deserve our honor and respect for giving us life itself. Beyond this they almost always made countless sacrifices as they cared for and nurtured us through our infancy and childhood, provided us with the necessities of life, and nursed us through physical illnesses and the emotional stresses of growing up.
We are an overfed and undernourished nation digging an early grave with our teeth.
Every man eventually is backed up to the wall of faith, and there he must make his stand.
Our actions are in our own hands, but the consequences of them are not. Remember that, my dear, and think twice before you do anything.
Don't appear so scholarly, pray. Humanize your talk, and speak to be understood.
Don't leave a 'good time' to chance. Experiences have to be woven with care and planning, like a tapestry.
It may arrive in the instant when we are doing something mundane, like putting our front-door key in the lock; it may lie hidden in the quiet that follows the lunch hour or in the thousand and one things that all seem the same to us.
The magic, the wonder, the mystery and the innocence of a childs heart are the seeds of creativity that will heal the world. I really believe that. What we need to learn from children isnt childish. Being with them connects us to the deeper wisdom of life, which is everpresent and only asks to be lived. They know the way to solutions that lie waiting to be recognized within our own hearts.
Each year, I ask, 'Now that I have this knowledge, these resources, what can I do?'
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.