--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Affliction, like the iron-smith, shapes…" description: "\"Affliction, like the iron-smith, shapes as it smites.\" — Christian Nestell Bovee" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/777/christian-nestell-bovee-1003_affliction_affliction-like-the-iron-smith-shapes-as_2779974.png" --- # Affliction, like the iron-smith, shapes as it smites. ![“Affliction, like the iron-smith, shapes as it smites.” quote by Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/777/christian-nestell-bovee-1003_affliction_affliction-like-the-iron-smith-shapes-as_2779974.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/777/christian-nestell-bovee-1003_affliction_affliction-like-the-iron-smith-shapes-as_2779974.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/777/christian-nestell-bovee-1003_affliction_affliction-like-the-iron-smith-shapes-as_2779974.png) > “Affliction, like the iron-smith, shapes as it smites.” [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Adversity shapes character as a blacksmith shapes metal. **In simple terms:** Hardship forens character. Key Takeaway Embrace challenges. Themes resilience growth adversity Mood reflective motivational Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal development - leadership - stress management Key Concepts philosophy psychology Questions to Reflect On - What challenges have you overcome? - How do you balance hardship and well‑being? A Different Perspective Excessive hardship can cause damage rather than growth. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Affliction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affliction/) [Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings/) [Negativity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/negativity/) [Shapes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/shapes/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) ## Related quotes > [I read hard, or not at all; never skimming, never turning aside to merely inciting books; and Plato, Aristotle, Butler, Thucydides, Sterne, Jonathan Edwards,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-william-robertson/i-read-hard-or-not-at-all-never-skimming-never-turning-aside-to/) [Frederick William Robertson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-william-robertson/) > [Despair can be like an iron band constricting the heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-rgen-moltmann/despair-can-be-like-an-iron-band-constricting-the-heart/) [Jürgen Moltmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-rgen-moltmann/) > [Now you wear your skin like iron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/townes-van-zandt/now-you-wear-your-skin-like-iron/) [Townes Van Zandt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/townes-van-zandt/) > [“I wanted it-like iron.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-rhys/i-wanted-it-like-iron/) [Jean Rhys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-rhys/) > [Marvel makes you feel like 'Iron Man' will show up at your front door to kill you if you say the wrong thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-august-richards/marvel-makes-you-feel-like-iron-man-will-show-up-at-your-front-door/) [J. August Richards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-august-richards/) > [I don't think I'm going to go into Iron Man. I mean, I can't say that I won't go into something like an Iron…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katie-aselton/i-don-t-think-i-m-going-to-go-into-iron-man-i-mean-i-can-t-say-that-i/) [Katie Aselton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katie-aselton/) > [Seems like my iron play gets a little better every year. Which makes sense - I've been working hard on things with my teacher,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keegan-bradley/seems-like-my-iron-play-gets-a-little-better-every-year-which-makes/) [Keegan Bradley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keegan-bradley/) > [“I wanted to surround myself with the kind of people who could help me turn my life around; people whom I could rub up…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-thomas/i-wanted-to-surround-myself-with-the-kind-of-people-who-could-help-me/) [Eric Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-thomas/) > [Ancient stars in their death throes spat out atoms like iron which this universe had never known. ... Now the iron of old nova…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-bloom/ancient-stars-in-their-death-throes-spat-out-atoms-like-iron-which/) [Howard Bloom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-bloom/) > [My heart has become as hard as a city street, the horses trample upon it, it sings like iron, all day long and all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conrad-aiken/my-heart-has-become-as-hard-as-a-city-street-the-horses-trample-upon/) [Conrad Aiken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conrad-aiken/) > [“Might and wrong combined, like iron magnetized, are endowed with irresistible attraction.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-hawthorne/might-and-wrong-combined-like-iron-magnetized-are-endowed-with/) [Nathaniel Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-hawthorne/) > [“Love is like chains of unbreakable steel. Love is like iron weights, heavier than the world. Love can crush just as surely as it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-norman-lippert/love-is-like-chains-of-unbreakable-steel-love-is-like-iron-weights/) [G. Norman Lippert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-norman-lippert/) > [“I hate being fat. I hate the way people look at me, or don't. I hate being a joke; I hate the disorienting limbo…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lindy-west/i-hate-being-fat-i-hate-the-way-people-look-at-me-or-don-t-i-hate/) [Lindy West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lindy-west/) > [“Demons don’t like iron. Or any metal really. Leave it at that. It hurts them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johnny-worthen/demons-don-t-like-iron-or-any-metal-really-leave-it-at-that-it-hurts/) [Johnny Worthen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johnny-worthen/) > [I don't feel insecure about any of this work anymore. Maybe I don't have what I had when I was younger. I'm not really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-norton/i-don-t-feel-insecure-about-any-of-this-work-anymore-maybe-i-don-t/) [Edward Norton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-norton/) ## More by Christian Nestell Bovee > [What is taken from the fortune, also, may haply be so much lifted from the soul. The greatness of a loss, as the proverb…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/what-is-taken-from-the-fortune-also-may-haply-be-so-much-lifted-from/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [The next best thing to being witty one's self, is to be able to be able to quote another's wit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/the-next-best-thing-to-being-witty-one-s-self-is-to-be-able-to-be/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [There are ceremonious bows that repel one like a cudgel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/there-are-ceremonious-bows-that-repel-one-like-a-cudgel/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [There are some weaknesses that are peculiar and distinctive to generous characters, as freckles are to a fair skin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/there-are-some-weaknesses-that-are-peculiar-and-distinctive-to/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [A genuine passion is like a mountain stream; it admits of no impediment; it cannot go backward; it must go forward.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/a-genuine-passion-is-like-a-mountain-stream-it-admits-of-no/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [Our courage is greater to dare a visible than an imagined danger. A visible danger rouses our energies to meet or avert it; a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/our-courage-is-greater-to-dare-a-visible-than-an-imagined-danger-a/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [A good thought is indeed a great boon, for which God is to be first thanked; next he who is the first to utter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/a-good-thought-is-indeed-a-great-boon-for-which-god-is-to-be-first/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [We should not so much esteem our poverty as a misfortune, were it not that the world treats it so much as a crime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/we-should-not-so-much-esteem-our-poverty-as-a-misfortune-were-it-not/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [He has but one great fear that fears to do wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/he-has-but-one-great-fear-that-fears-to-do-wrong/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [Six traits of effective leaders: 1. Make others feel important 2. Promote a vision 3. Follow the golden rule 4. Admit mistakes 5. Criticize…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/six-traits-of-effective-leaders-1-make-others-feel-important-2/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [In a contest with a weaker party it is more honorable to yield than to force concession. Magnanimity becomes the strong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/in-a-contest-with-a-weaker-party-it-is-more-honorable-to-yield-than/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [Wit is better as a seasoning than as a whole dish by itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/wit-is-better-as-a-seasoning-than-as-a-whole-dish-by-itself/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [To cultivate a garden is. . . to go hand in hand with Nature in some of her most beautiful processes, to learn something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/to-cultivate-a-garden-is-to-go-hand-in-hand-with-nature-in-some-of/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [It is with a company as it is with a punch, everything depends upon the ingredients of which it in composed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/it-is-with-a-company-as-it-is-with-a-punch-everything-depends-upon/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [It is not the number of facts he knows, but how much of a fact he is himself, that proves the man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/it-is-not-the-number-of-facts-he-knows-but-how-much-of-a-fact-he-is/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) [Explore all 310 Christian Nestell Bovee quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) ## More Affliction quotes > [I don't feel insecure about any of this work anymore. Maybe I don't have what I had when I was younger. I'm not really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-norton/i-don-t-feel-insecure-about-any-of-this-work-anymore-maybe-i-don-t/) [Edward Norton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-norton/) > [Every man will have his own criterion in forming his judgment of others. I depend very much on the effect of affliction. I consider…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-cecil/every-man-will-have-his-own-criterion-in-forming-his-judgment-of/) [Richard Cecil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-cecil/) > [WHANGDEPOOTENAWAH, n. In the Ojibwa tongue, disaster; an unexpected affliction that strikes hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/whangdepootenawah-n-in-the-ojibwa-tongue-disaster-an-unexpected/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [There is nothing in afflictions which ought to disturb our joy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calvin/there-is-nothing-in-afflictions-which-ought-to-disturb-our-joy/) [John Calvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calvin/) > [Come, then, affliction, if my Father wills, and be my frowning friend. A friend that frowns is better than a smiling enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-macdonald/come-then-affliction-if-my-father-wills-and-be-my-frowning-friend-a/) [George MacDonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-macdonald/) > [Henceforth, I'll bear Affliction till it do cry out itself, 'Enough, enough, and die.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/henceforth-i-ll-bear-affliction-till-it-do-cry-out-itself-enough/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [New materials are one of the great afflictions of contemporary art. Some artists confuse new materials with new ideas.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sol-lewitt/new-materials-are-one-of-the-great-afflictions-of-contemporary-art/) [Sol LeWitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sol-lewitt/) > [Aimee Parkison offers a distinct new voice to contemporary fiction. Her seductive stories explore childhood as a realm of sorrows, and reveal the afflictions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-anshaw/aimee-parkison-offers-a-distinct-new-voice-to-contemporary-fiction/) [Carol Anshaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-anshaw/) > [May I strike my heart's keys clearly, and may none fail because of slack, uncertain, or fraying strings. May the tears that stream down…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rainer-maria-rilke/may-i-strike-my-heart-s-keys-clearly-and-may-none-fail-because-of/) [Rainer Maria Rilke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rainer-maria-rilke/) > [We are infinitely more than our limitations and afflictions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeffrey-r-holland/we-are-infinitely-more-than-our-limitations-and-afflictions/) [Jeffrey R. Holland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeffrey-r-holland/) > [God measures out affliction to our need.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/saint-john-chrysostom/god-measures-out-affliction-to-our-need/) [Saint John Chrysostom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/saint-john-chrysostom/) > [Afflictions make the heart more deep, more experimental, more knowing and profound, and so, more able to hold, to contain, and beat more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bunyan/afflictions-make-the-heart-more-deep-more-experimental-more-knowing/) [John Bunyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bunyan/) > [Religion prescribes to every miserable man the means of bettering his condition; nay, it shows him that the bearing of his afflictions as he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/religion-prescribes-to-every-miserable-man-the-means-of-bettering-his/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [Short-term amnesia is not the worst affliction if you have an Irish flair for the sauce.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-mailer/short-term-amnesia-is-not-the-worst-affliction-if-you-have-an-irish/) [Norman Mailer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-mailer/) > [Revolution will free society of its afflictions, while science will free the individual of his.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/revolution-will-free-society-of-its-afflictions-while-science-will/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) [Browse all 598 Affliction quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affliction/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Affliction, like the iron-smith, shapes as it smites.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Christian Nestell Bovee" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/affliction-like-the-iron-smith-shapes-as-it-smites/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Affliction" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/affliction-like-the-iron-smith-shapes-as-it-smites/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/777/christian-nestell-bovee-1003_affliction_affliction-like-the-iron-smith-shapes-as_2779974.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/777/christian-nestell-bovee-1003_affliction_affliction-like-the-iron-smith-shapes-as_2779974.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/777/christian-nestell-bovee-1003_affliction_affliction-like-the-iron-smith-shapes-as_2779974.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Affliction, like the iron-smith, shapes as it smites.” — Christian Nestell Bovee", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Christian Nestell Bovee", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Affliction, like the iron-smith, shapes as...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/affliction-like-the-iron-smith-shapes-as-it-smites/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/affliction-like-the-iron-smith-shapes-as-it-smites/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```