Joseph Smith Jr. Quotes

As in nature, as in the arts, so in grace; it is rough treatment that gives souls as well as stones their lustre; the more the diamond is cut the brighter it sparkles; and in what seems hard dealing, their God has no end in view but to perfect His people's graces. Our Father, and and kindest of fathers, He afflicts not willingly; He sends tribulations, but hear St Paul tell their purpose, - "Tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope."

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.

The more the diamond is cut the brighter it sparkles; and in what seems hard dealing, there God has no end in view but to perfect His people.

The good Lord made us all out of iron. Then he turns up the heat to forge some of us into steel.

A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials.

The gem cannot be polished without friction, nor man perfected without trials.

One emerges as a better person after going through the wringer.

I am growing stronger. I am a stone being excavated by the slow passage of water; I am wood charred by a fire.

The beast that bears you fastest to perfection is suffering.

The important thing is to firmly fix our gaze on our own weaknesses, not run away from them, but to battle them head-on and establish a solid self that nothing can sway. Hardships forge and polish our lives, so that eventually they shine with brilliant fortune and benefit. If left in its raw, unpolished form, even the most magnificent gem will not sparkle. The same applies to our lives.

The ability to get to a higher level in our life means that we have to generate the energy to be able to do so, and generally, we do that by a fall. Spiritual advances are almost always proceeded by a fall of one kind or another.

We all have to go through the tumbler a few times before we can emerge as a crystal.

Men... are bettered and improved by trial, and refined out of broken hopes and blighted expectations.

Karma is not just about the troubles, but also about surmounting them.

I had a calling inside of me. I had a sense that when I was going through experiences like living on the streets, losing my parents to AIDS, just having my whole world turned upside-down, there was this feeling inside of me like I was meant for something greater.

The reward of suffering is experience.

Difficulty creates the opportunity for self-reflection and compassion.

As with the butterfly, adversity is necessary to build character in people.

The hardest things in my life have made me who I am.

It's all the stuff I've been through in my life. From family struggles, people doubting me, things I went through as a child and going to prison, they all played a factor in who I am today. It really made me a better person. Going through those situations can make or break you as a human being.

In our culture, I feel like everyone just wants the good life, the dream life, but I'm learning to embrace suffering because with suffering there's so much good that comes out of it.

Sometimes you have to fall lower than you've ever been to stand taller than you ever could.

I've been overlooked and slighted every step of the way. I think that brings out the best in me.

I'm the same person. I got a grenade thrown at me. Situation turned out how it did. Now I'm just trying to do good things.

What don't break you will make you.