72 Quotes About Misfortune

That’s how stories happen – with a turning point, an unexpected twist. There’s only one kind of happiness, but misfortune comes in all shapes and sizes. It’s like Tolstoy said. Happiness is an allegory, unhappiness a story. Haruki Murakami

Unseen in the background, Fate was quietly slipping lead into the boxing-glove. P.g. Wodehouse

[W]hen someone finds himself quite unjustly attacked and hated on all sides, there is no need for such a person to feel dismayed by misfortune. See how Fortune, who has harmed many a one, is so inconstant, for God, Who opposes all wrong deeds, raises up those in whom hope dwells. Christine De Pizan

Death always knew how to connect vice with misfortune. Unknown

Heavy misfortunes have befallen us, but let us only cling closer to what remains, and transfer our love for those whom we have lost to those who yet live. Our circle will be small, but bound close by the ties of affection and mutual misfortune. And when time shall have softened your despair, new and dear objects of care will be born to replace those of whom we have been so cruelly deprived. Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

No one is adequate to comprehending the misery of my lot! Fate obliges me to be constantly in movement: I am not permitted to pass more than a fortnight in the same place. I have no Friend in the world, and from the restlessness of my destiny I never can acquire one. Fain would I lay down my miserable life, for I envy those who enjoy the quiet of the Grave: But Death eludes me, and flies from my embrace. In vain do I throw myself in the way of danger. I plunge into the Ocean; The Waves throw me back with abhorrence upon the shore: I rush into fire; The flames recoil at my approach: I oppose myself to the fury of Banditti; Their swords become blunted, and break against my breast: The hungry Tiger shudders at my approach, and the Alligator flies from a Monster more horrible than itself. God has set his seal upon me, and all his Creatures respect this fatal mark! . Unknown

Mankind accepts good fortune as his due, but when bad occurs, he thinks it was aimed at him, done to him, a hex, a curse, a punishment by his deity for some transgression, as though his god were a petty storekeeper, counting up the day's receipts. Sheri S. Tepper

It never really ends.. Children surviving through the cold winds of neglect, and all kinds of misfortune and vile treatment. We see them everyday, with broken smiles that endure the painful kicking of their malnourished bellies protruded with dreams that may never see the light of conception.. But with just a little kind word, A handful of promise, A heart of compassion, A smile full of hope, We would hold hands together in helping them conceive their dreams.. Because they are the little bits and pieces that make us whole.. Chinonye J. Chidolue

But then again...perhaps the whole human race is cursed, and I'm simply in the lower echelon and therefore lose everything first. Ondrelique C. Ouellette

For the young, there is nothing unattainable; a good thing desired with the whole force of a passionate will, and yet impossible, is to them not credible. Yet, by death, by illness, by poverty, or by the voice of duty, we must learn, each one of us, that the world was not made for us, and that, however beautiful may be the things we crave, Fate may nevertheless forbid them. It is the part of courage, when misfortune comes, to bear without regretting the ruin of our hopes, to turn away our thoughts from vain regrets. This degree of submission to power is not only just and right: it is the very gate of wisdom. . Bertrand Russell

Maybe when we face a tragedy, someone, somewhere is preventing a bigger tragedy from happening. Kamand Kojouri

Every misfortune is a fortune. Lailah Gifty Akita

When the two become the one And the inside outside, the outside in So that the male be not male nor the female female Then will you see me. Wesley Stace

Dread was always with her, an alarm system in her head, alertto her next disaster. Despite being resigned to a life of misfortune, she becameresourceful. She grudgingly noticed that things always worked out, evenwhen she claimed defeat. An inconvenient truth, yet it was right there, in her face, betraying her self-punishments and assumptions. She kept overcoming things, dammit, aggravating herself. She still felt so much joy, despite her efforts to be miserable. Her life was full of miracles and spectacles that she was afraidto rely on so she didn’t know how to enjoy, how to be thankful, without guilt. She didn’t want to win and she didn’t want to lose. Ambiguity intrigued her and she found passion in the gapsbetween hope and despair. G.G. Renee Hill

When the rush of the weak sweeps over those that strive to be strong, its destruction. The commonplaces of moral judgment become fogged with the lack of perception stained with the sting of longing. The voice of reason is lost in the envious echoes of hearts torn by battle. The song of our children echo the misfortune of their parent's haze---we all started out small and had dreams to become something more than what we were. . Shannon L. Alder

Rather blessings, after counting my misfortunes, I realized how the more blessed I am. Anthony Liccione

... misfortune and creativity go together. Cirilo F. Bautista

The fortune that you feel you don't deserve is heaven's compensation for the misfortunes she feels you didn't deserve Agona Apell

Chuang-tzu once told a story about two persons who both lost a sheep. One person got very depressed and lost himself in drinking, sex, and gambling to try to forget this misfortune. The other person decided that this would be an excellent chance for him to study the classics and quietly observe the subtleties of nature. Both men experience the same misfortune, but one man lost himself because he was too attached to the experience of loss, while the other found himself because he was able to let go of gain and loss. . Liezi

Friends disappear or they are powerless. This is what misfortune meansan acid test of friendship. I wouldn't wish it on anyone. Anne Carson

Fire tests gold, suffering tests brave men. Seneca

Beware! Balance rules the cosmos. It is not concerned with good or bad. You can be struck by misfortune and be buried in grief if that is what it takes to restore the imbalance you have wrought unto the world. Psyche RoxasMendoza

Horror is a feeling that cannot last long; human nature is incapable of supporting it. Sadness, whether it be from bereavement, or disappointment, or misfortune of any kind may linger on through life James De Mille

And it was at this time that Sir Myles died of his hurt, for it is often so that death and misfortune befall some, whiles others laugh and sing for hope and joy, as though such grievous things as sorrow and death could never happen in the world wherein they live. Howard Pyle

That would be the greatest misfortune of all! -- To find a man agreeable whom one is determined to hate! -- Do not wish me such an evil. Jane Austen

I beg you, alight and join your sorrow with mine: misfortune wanders everywhere, and settles now upon one and now upon another. Aeschylus

Simplicity, patience, compassion. These three are your greatest treasures. Simple in actions and thoughts, you return to the source of being. Patient with both friends and enemies, you accord with the way things are. Compassionate toward yourself, you reconcile all beings in the world."…" There is no greater misfortunethan underestimating your enemy. Underestimating your enemymeans thinking that he is evil. Thus you destroy your three treasuresand become an enemy yourself. When two great forces oppose each other, the victory will goto the one that knows how to yield. Lao Tzu

Everything would turn out exactly the same, and I would return here for a second time, and then, if I was fool enough, a third time, waiting, as now, for my other to touch the canvas. And it would be progressively worse, because though I would know slightly more each time, I would still be powerless to change my fate. Perhaps I would be unaware of the previous decision, yet choose again to come back. Or worse, I would become aware that I was inadvertently repeating the same mistake for a horrific split second just after I made the decision. Infinity was terrifying. Its abyss makes my skin crawl. Wesley Stace

History is indeed more than the register of crime, folilies and misfortune of mankind. Peter Adejimi

In terms of the real quality of a human being, only when suffering comes, when pain comes, does a man stand up as a human being. You can see great human beings surface only when the society is really suffering. When India was under the oppression of British rulers, how many wonderful people stood up? Where are they now? They have just fallen back into their comforts, that's all. All those Ghandis, Patels, Tilaks are still there, but they're dormant. When pain came, they all became alive. They left everything behind and stood up as giants. Where are they now? This is the human misfortune that still there's not enough intelligence in the world that human beings will rise to their peaks when everything is well. They wait for calamities. Sadhguru

He'd once known a man who said that life hinged on the moment, that everything changed in the blink of an eye. Tesseract knew the truth of that as well as anybody. It was in those moments that he struck, after all, snatching people's lives away. He'd always known that it was only a matter of time before one of those moment's worked against him. Derek Landy

Whether fate or fortuitous, The voyage is incessant. Life is gratuitous, It's regrets recrudescent. We so blindly see adversely, Linear to some 'decree'.Sentenced by each other, To live this critically. To err is Human, Ironic that we divest. For any man who puts that past him, No misfortunes he has left. Alen Joans

I’ve found I still serve a purpose. I remind people to pray, to calculate the odds, to thank the fates, the gods, good karma, whatever it was that made this happen to me and not them. I’m in the worst sort of club. The one no one else wants to be in. Tracy Guzeman

A moment comes, and if you wish to look at yourself as human, you must take some kind of action. Otherwise, you can read the newspapers and congratulate yourself on your good fortune. Alan Furst

If the sky falls, there'll be a bigger sky behind it. Marty Rubin

Even at such a tender age, I knew that life is lived in leftovers, account ledgers, and timetables rather than in the Platonic sphere of perfect theory. I couldn't float sylphlike around Love Hall in the flowing robes of indeterminacy for the rest of my life, however much I wished there to be no change. I had to accept my responsibilities and, at least in the eyes of the world and at least for the time being, nail my colors to a mast. Unless I wished to appear a strange wonder for the rest of time, caked in circus makeup covering the truth inches beneath, the mast would be male. . Wesley Stace

A gloomy view of things is at least one misfortune you can avoid. Marty Rubin

So let those people go on weeping and wailing whose self-indulgent minds have been weakened by long prosperity, let them collapse at the threat of the most trivial injuries; but let those who have spent all their years suffering disasters endure the worst afflictions with a brave and resolute staunchness. Everlasting misfortune does have one blessing, that it ends up by toughening those whom it constantly afflicts. Seneca

Acceptance.Good and bad, Fortune and misfortune, Pleasure and pain, I want it all, Because it's mine. Innocent Mwatsikesimbe

According to Islam, whenever we are struck by illness or misfortune or someone hurts us, there is a higher purpose behind it, which we may not understand at the time, ’ one of them said to me. ‘That’s where trust comes in. Through suffering, God helps us to better ourselves and make good our mistakes. It is a form of purification and also God’s way of testing the strength of our faith and the goodness of our character.’ Another lady suggested I look on the bright side.‘ Suffering draws us closer to God and that is our aim in life, ’ she said. Then she quoted Rumi who had said, ‘It is pain that draws man to his Lord, because when he is well, he doesn’t remember the Lord.’ I tried to look at the positive and believe that there was a higher, spiritual perspective on what I had just been through, and all the advice I was given helped me a lot. But it took quite a while for my heart to catch up with my mind. Kristiane Backer

Opportunity...it often comes disguised in the form of misfortune or temporary defeat. Napoleon Hill

Obsessing over something that has jarred your world is called coping. Richelle E. Goodrich

You may think you've hit rock bottom in your life but guess what–there's more crud underneath those rocks. Richelle E. Goodrich

It would be ridiculous to hold your breath and blame others for your inability to breathe. In the same sense, it is ridiculous to live an unaligned life and blame God for your misfortune. Steve Maraboli

I'm as lucky as a bed of oysters on cioppino night. Nenia Campbell

If all our misfortunes were laid in one common heap, whence every one must take an equal portion, most people would be contented to take their own and depart. Solon

Here's a new 'Blessing' for our ti Vera Nazarian

The skies give no warning when they fall. Marty Rubin

Today, a couple with 'just married' tags collided head-on with a hearse carrying two coffins in the back, both of a married couple that had previouslydied in a car accident. Anthony Liccione

When we are rich and famous and powerful, we do not want to die. On the other hand, if we are miserable and suffering, we want to die and leave it all. But can joy or misery last forever? There is a saying, "All celebrations must end sometime." Any wish to live forever or die immediately is often a whim of the moment. How do we know that, although we are happy now, we may not be sad the next day, or sad now but may be happy soon? Given that good and ill, fortune and misfortune come in their own way, we should not cling to life or embrace death. Life and death will come of their own. Why be greedy about life and afraid of death? . Liezi

It is frequently a misfortune to have very brilliant men in charge of affairs. They expect too much of ordinary men. Thucydides

There is no reason why an individual, who has the misfortune to become insane, should, on that account, be deprived of any comfort or even luxury... Thomas Story Kirkbride

We can only feel sorry for ourselves when our misfortunes are still supportable. Once this limit is crossed, the only way to bear the unbearable is to laugh at it. Marjane Satrapi

Do not feel sorry for the bad luck of people, because behind everyone’s misery is their own stupidity and laziness. M.F. Moonzajer

Our worst misfortunes never happen, and most miseries lie in anticipation. Unknown

You stand the risk of misfortunes, because you refused to take risks. So life demands risks. Sunday Adelaja

She couldn’t help but wonder at the events of recent days, and at how–even in the face of such misfortune, there was so much good, Tamera Alexander

From the third case, she took yet more books, but these were the traveling books that she had brought for her new ward: they were at once sterner and more reassuring that the others. She cared for for these, too- they were books after all, and she would sooner have her own spine broken than manhandle a book - but not with the same devotion, and they were placed in a neat pile on the floor. Wesley Stace

Not everything that happens in your life has to hit you like a hurricane. Joyce Rachelle

The snag in this business of falling in love, aged relative, is that the parties of the first part so often get mixed up with the wrong parties of the second part, robbed of their cooler judgement by the party of the second part's glamour. Put it like this: the male sex is divided into rabbits and non-rabbits and the female sex into dashers and dormice, and the trouble is that the male rabbit has a way of getting attracted by the female dasher (who would be fine for the non-rabbit) and realizing too late that he ought to have been concentrating on some mild, gentle dormouse with whom he could settle down peacefully and nibble lettuce. P.g. Wodehouse

They must take me for a fool, or even worse, a lunatic. And no wonder , for I am so intensely conscious of my misfortune and my misery is so overwhelming that I am powerless to resist it and am being turned into stone, devoid of all knowledge or feeling. Unknown

You will have many enemies, but even your foes will love you. Life will bring you many misfortunes, but you will find your happiness in them, and will bless life and will make others bless it--which is what matters most. Fyodor Dostoyevsky