--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Great and frequent reverses can crush and…" description: "\"Great and frequent reverses can crush and mar our bliss both by the pain they cause and by the hindrance they offer to many activities. Yet nevertheles..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b30/aristotle-78_activity_great-and-frequent-reverses-can-crush-an_2629201.jpg" --- # Great and frequent reverses can crush and mar our bliss… ![“Great and frequent reverses can crush and mar our bliss both by the pain they cause and by the hindrance they offer to many activities. Yet nevertheless even in adversity nobility shines through, when a man endures repeated and severe misfortune with patience, not owing to insensibility but from…” quote by Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b30/aristotle-78_activity_great-and-frequent-reverses-can-crush-an_2629201.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b30/aristotle-78_activity_great-and-frequent-reverses-can-crush-an_2629201.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b30/aristotle-78_activity_great-and-frequent-reverses-can-crush-an_2629201.jpg) > “Great and frequent reverses can crush and mar our bliss both by the pain they cause and by the hindrance they offer to many activities. Yet nevertheless even in adversity nobility shines through, when a man endures repeated and severe misfortune with patience, not owing to insensibility but from generosity and greatness of soul.” [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Enduring hardship with patience and generosity reveals true nobility, showing greatness of character beyond mere resilience. **In simple terms:** Patience and generosity show inner greatness. Key Takeaway Cultivate generosity when facing repeated setbacks. Themes virtue resilience patience Mood reflective inspirational Type philosophical advice When to use this quote - personal crises - long‑term illness - financial loss - career setbacks Key Concepts nobility generosity character development Questions to Reflect On - What can you give others while you suffer? - How does generosity change your perception of adversity? A Different Perspective Patience alone isn’t enough without compassionate action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adversity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adversity/) [Bliss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bliss/) [Crush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crush/) [Generosity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/generosity/) [Greatness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/greatness/) [Happiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/happiness/) [Insensibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/insensibility/) [Mars](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mars/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Misfortunes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/misfortunes/) [Nobility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nobility/) [Pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pain/) [Patience](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/patience/) [Shining](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shining/) [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) ## Related quotes > [“Even in adversity, nobility shines through, when a man endures repeated and severe misfortune with patience, not owing to insensibility but from generosity and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/even-in-adversity-nobility-shines-through-when-a-man-endures-repeated/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Fortune knocks but once, but misfortune has much more patience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurence-j-peter/fortune-knocks-but-once-but-misfortune-has-much-more-patience/) [Laurence J. Peter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurence-j-peter/) > [For it is owing to their wonder that men both now begin and at first began to philosophize... They were pursuing science in order…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/for-it-is-owing-to-their-wonder-that-men-both-now-begin-and-at-first/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Laws, when good, should be supreme; and that the magistrate or magistrates should regulate those matters only on which the laws are unable to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/laws-when-good-should-be-supreme-and-that-the-magistrate-or/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [To strive with difficulties, and to conquer them, is the highest human felicity; the next is, to strive, and deserve to conquer: but he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-johnson/to-strive-with-difficulties-and-to-conquer-them-is-the-highest-human-2/) [Samuel Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-johnson/) > [ \[S\]uppose the mind of \[a\] friend of humanity were clouded over with his own grief, extinguishing all sympathetic participation in the fate of others;… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/immanuel-kant/s-uppose-the-mind-of-a-friend-of-humanity-were-clouded-over-with-his/) [Immanuel Kant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/immanuel-kant/) > [Happy are men who yet before they are killed Can let their veins run cold.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilfred-owen/happy-are-men-who-yet-before-they-are-killed-can-let-their-veins-run/) [Wilfred Owen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilfred-owen/) > [As I crawled out of the abyss of combat and over the rail of the Sea Runner, I realized that compassion for the sufferings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/as-i-crawled-out-of-the-abyss-of-combat-and-over-the-rail-of-the-sea/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Could he not find in his heart the generosity to acknowledge that there is a small nation that stood alone not for one year…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eamon-de-valera/could-he-not-find-in-his-heart-the-generosity-to-acknowledge-that/) [Eamon de Valera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eamon-de-valera/) > [White men should exhibit the same insensibility to moral tortures that red men do to physical torments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theophile-gautier/white-men-should-exhibit-the-same-insensibility-to-moral-tortures/) [Theophile Gautier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theophile-gautier/) > [Insensibility, of all kinds, and on all occasions, most moves my imperial displeasure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/insensibility-of-all-kinds-and-on-all-occasions-most-moves-my/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I, who cannot stay in my chamber for a single day without acquiring some rust,... confess that I am astonished at the power of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/i-who-cannot-stay-in-my-chamber-for-a-single-day-without-acquiring-2/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [Be free from grief not through insensibility like the irrational animals, nor through want of thought like the foolish, but like a man of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/epictetus/be-free-from-grief-not-through-insensibility-like-the-irrational/) [Epictetus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/epictetus/) > [I have walked with people whose eyes are full of light but who see nothing in sea or sky, nothing in city streets, nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/i-have-walked-with-people-whose-eyes-are-full-of-light-but-who-see/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [ \[Christianity\] neither enjoins the nastiness of the Cynic, nor the insensibility of the Stoic. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-berkeley/christianity-neither-enjoins-the-nastiness-of-the-cynic-nor-the/) [George Berkeley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-berkeley/) ## More by Aristotle > [The knowledge of the soul admittedly contributes greatly to the advance of truth in general, and, above all, to our understanding of Nature, for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-knowledge-of-the-soul-admittedly-contributes-greatly-to-the/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Young men have strong passions and tend to gratify them indiscriminately. Of the bodily desires, it is the sexual by which they are most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/young-men-have-strong-passions-and-tend-to-gratify-them/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [The body is at its best between the ages of thirty and thirty-five; the mind is at its best about the age of forty-nine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/the-body-is-at-its-best-between-the-ages-of-thirty-and-thirty-five/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [The ensouled is distinguished from the unsouled by its being alive. 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It's a great activity, it's a great sport.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-mitrione/fighting-s-fun-man-it-s-a-great-activity-it-s-a-great-sport/) [Matt Mitrione](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-mitrione/) > [There were books everywhere in my house. Books were very present. I just loved books. I never understood reading as anything but a pleasurable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-lucas/there-were-books-everywhere-in-my-house-books-were-very-present-i/) [Lisa Lucas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-lucas/) > [For war to man, like childbirth to women, is simplifying in its emotions and activities. All the real problems of life can be put…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pearl-s-buck/for-war-to-man-like-childbirth-to-women-is-simplifying-in-its/) [Pearl S. 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