Evidence that Adversity May Become a Blessing by Napoleon Hill

It is a known fact that a prolonged illness often forces one to stop, look and listen. Thus we often learn to understand that still, small voice which speaks from within and causes us to take inventory of the factors which have led to defeat and failure in the past.
“A fever,” said Emerson, “a mutilation, a cruel disappointment, a loss of wealth, a loss of friends, seems at the moment unpaid loss, and unpayable. But the sure years reveal the deep remedial force that underlies all facts. The death of a dear friend, spouse, brother, lover, which seemed noting but privation somewhat later assumes the aspect of a guide or genius; for it commonly operates revolutions in our way of life, terminates an epoch of infancy or of youth which was waiting to be closed, breaks up a wonted occupation, or a household, or style of living, and allows the formation of new ones more friendly to the growth of character.
“It permits or constrains the formation of new acquaintances, and the reception of new influences that prove of first importance to the next years; and the man or woman who would have remained a sunny garden flower, with no room for its roots and too much sunshine for its head, by the falling of the walls and the neglect of the gardener is made the banyan of the forest, yielding shade and fruit to wide neighborhoods of man.”
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Verily, there is no such reality as failure save only that circumstance which is accepted as such. Remember this, you who have been struck down by circumstances which you regard as failures. Remember also that you may be face to face with the turning point of your life from which you may change your course, get on a new road, acquire new courage, new vision and a new will to win.
Source: PMA Science of Success. Educational Edition. 1961. Pgs. 380-382.