"When Heaven is about to confer a great office on a man, it first exercises his mind with suffering, and his sinews and bones with toil."
— Mencius
When Heaven Is About To Confer
When Heaven is about to confer a great office on a man, it first exercises his mind with suffering, and his sinews and bones with toil.
About this quote
Found in Mengzi 6B:15, this passage introduces a general principle through the examples of six great ministers of antiquity who all rose from humble circumstances — labourers, prisoners, and fishmongers — before being called to high office. The original Chinese text (天將降大任於是人也，必先苦其心志) presents suffering not as random misfortune but as Heaven's deliberate method of strengthening character. Mencius, extending the ethics of Confucius, saw adversity as integral to the formation of truly great individuals.
Source
Mencius, Book 6B