--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Adversity is a great teacher, but this…" description: "\"Adversity is a great teacher, but this teacher makes us pay dearly for its instruction; and often the profit we derive, is not worth the price we paid...." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/262/elizabeth-hardwick-10519_adversity_adversity-is-a-great-teacher-but-this-te_258896.png" --- # Adversity is a great teacher, but this teacher makes us… ![“Adversity is a great teacher, but this teacher makes us pay dearly for its instruction; and often the profit we derive, is not worth the price we paid.” quote by Elizabeth Hardwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/262/elizabeth-hardwick-10519_adversity_adversity-is-a-great-teacher-but-this-te_258896.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/262/elizabeth-hardwick-10519_adversity_adversity-is-a-great-teacher-but-this-te_258896.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/262/elizabeth-hardwick-10519_adversity_adversity-is-a-great-teacher-but-this-te_258896.png) > “Adversity is a great teacher, but this teacher makes us pay dearly for its instruction; and often the profit we derive, is not worth the price we paid.” [Elizabeth Hardwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hardwick/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Adversity teaches valuable lessons, but its costs often outweigh the benefits. **In simple terms:** Hardships teach, but at high cost. Key Takeaway Weigh lessons against suffering. Themes adversity learning cost Mood thoughtful somber Type philosophical reflective When to use this quote - career setbacks - personal loss - health crises - financial hardship Key Concepts resilience philosophy Questions to Reflect On - What adversity taught you most? - Can you find alternative paths to the same insight? A Different Perspective Some lessons could be learned without pain. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Adversity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adversity/) [Adversity Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adversity-great-916909/) [Education](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/education/) [Great teacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-teacher/) [Instruction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/instruction/) [Mentorship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mentorship/) [Paid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/paid/) [Pay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pay/) [Pay Dearly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pay-dearly-392670/) [Profit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/profit/) [Teacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teacher/) [Teacher Makes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teacher-makes-254695/) ## Related quotes > [A great teacher makes hard things easy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/a-great-teacher-makes-hard-things-easy/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [“adversity is a great tool to self discovery.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/adversity-is-a-great-tool-to-self-discovery/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [Adversity is great lesson which makes us fighter if we dont let down & make pledge to move forward,nothing can stop.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dranil-kr-sinha/adversity-is-great-lesson-which-makes-us-fighter-if-we-dont-let-down/) [DrAnil Kr Sinha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dranil-kr-sinha/) > [In the middle of adversity there is great opportunity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/in-the-middle-of-adversity-there-is-great-opportunity/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [Prosperity tries the fortunate, adversity the great.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rose-kennedy/prosperity-tries-the-fortunate-adversity-the-great/) [Rose Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rose-kennedy/) > [The teacher is one who makes two ideas grow where only one grew before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elbert-hubbard/the-teacher-is-one-who-makes-two-ideas-grow-where-only-one-grew-before/) [Elbert Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elbert-hubbard/) > [So a good teacher always makes you do something a little bit more than you thought that you could do.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-b-goodenough/so-a-good-teacher-always-makes-you-do-something-a-little-bit-more/) [John B. Goodenough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-b-goodenough/) > [Having a bad teacher makes me into a bad student.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/having-a-bad-teacher-makes-me-into-a-bad-student/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It's the teacher that makes the difference, not the classroom.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-morpurgo/it-s-the-teacher-that-makes-the-difference-not-the-classroom/) [Michael Morpurgo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-morpurgo/) > [Not to belittle what we do as actors, but my wife Helen is a teacher, and she makes a real difference to kids. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-o-donoghue/not-to-belittle-what-we-do-as-actors-but-my-wife-helen-is-a-teacher/) [Colin O'Donoghue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-o-donoghue/) > [That one teacher who makes you feel like a COMPLETE idiot when you get an answer wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/that-one-teacher-who-makes-you-feel-like-a-complete-idiot-when-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [My sister is a public school teacher. She makes far far less money than I do, and gets almost no public attention for her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/my-sister-is-a-public-school-teacher-she-makes-far-far-less-money/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [Success is a lousy teacher. It makes you think you know what you're doing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-gates/success-is-a-lousy-teacher-it-makes-you-think-you-know-what-you-re/) [Bill Gates](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-gates/) > [The clearer the teacher makes it, the worse it is for you. You must work things out for yourself and make the ideas your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-fogg-osgood/the-clearer-the-teacher-makes-it-the-worse-it-is-for-you-you-must/) [William Fogg Osgood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-fogg-osgood/) > [The good teacher makes the poor student good and the good student superior.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marva-collins/the-good-teacher-makes-the-poor-student-good-and-the-good-student/) [Marva Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marva-collins/) ## More by Elizabeth Hardwick > [“Leonard Woolf’s endurance of Virginia’s famous frigidity is, we must suppose after the fact, altogether to his credit. Their honeymoon did not bring the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hardwick/leonard-woolf-s-endurance-of-virginia-s-famous-frigidity-is-we-must/) [Elizabeth Hardwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hardwick/) > [“The Brontë sisters have a renewed hold upon our imagination. They were gifted, well-educated, especially self-educated, and desperate. Their seriousness and poverty separated them…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hardwick/the-bront-sisters-have-a-renewed-hold-upon-our-imagination-they-were/) [Elizabeth Hardwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hardwick/) > [Biographers, the quick in pursuit of the dead, research, organize, fill in, contradict, and make in this way a sort of completed picture puzzle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hardwick/biographers-the-quick-in-pursuit-of-the-dead-research-organize-fill/) [Elizabeth Hardwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hardwick/) > [I have come to the belief that there is not merely an accidental relationship between bad writing and routine sociological research, but a wonderfully…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hardwick/i-have-come-to-the-belief-that-there-is-not-merely-an-accidental/) [Elizabeth Hardwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hardwick/) > [“The large, gaping flaws in the construction of the stories--mad wives in the attic, strange apparitions in Belgium--are a representation of the life she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hardwick/the-large-gaping-flaws-in-the-construction-of-the-stories-mad-wives/) [Elizabeth Hardwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hardwick/) > [The greatest gift is a passion for reading.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hardwick/the-greatest-gift-is-a-passion-for-reading/) [Elizabeth Hardwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hardwick/) > [History ... with its long, leisurely, gentlemanly labors, the books arriving by post, the cards to be kept and filed, the sections to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hardwick/history-with-its-long-leisurely-gentlemanly-labors-the-books-arriving/) [Elizabeth Hardwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hardwick/) > [Sex, without society as its landscape, has never been of much interest to fiction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hardwick/sex-without-society-as-its-landscape-has-never-been-of-much-interest/) [Elizabeth Hardwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hardwick/) > [Self-love is an idolatry. Self-hatred is a tragedy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hardwick/self-love-is-an-idolatry-self-hatred-is-a-tragedy/) [Elizabeth Hardwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hardwick/) > [“The greatest gift is a passion for reading. It is cheap, it consoles, it distracts, it excites, it gives you knowledge of the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hardwick/the-greatest-gift-is-a-passion-for-reading-it-is-cheap-it-consoles-it/) [Elizabeth Hardwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hardwick/) > [Houses of evil similarity appeared like rows of disciplined, humiliated orphans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hardwick/houses-of-evil-similarity-appeared-like-rows-of-disciplined/) [Elizabeth Hardwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hardwick/) > [Gertrude Stein, all courage and will, is a soldier of minimalism. Her work, unlike the resonating silences in the art of Samuel Beckett, embodies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hardwick/gertrude-stein-all-courage-and-will-is-a-soldier-of-minimalism-her/) [Elizabeth Hardwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hardwick/) > [“In those years I did not care to enjoy sex, only to have it. That is what seeing Alex again on Fifth Avenue brought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hardwick/in-those-years-i-did-not-care-to-enjoy-sex-only-to-have-it-that-is/) [Elizabeth Hardwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hardwick/) > [The private and serious drama of guilt is not often a useful one for fiction today and its disappearance, following perhaps the disappearance from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hardwick/the-private-and-serious-drama-of-guilt-is-not-often-a-useful-one-for/) [Elizabeth Hardwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hardwick/) > [Books give not wisdom where none was before. But where some is, there reading makes it more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hardwick/books-give-not-wisdom-where-none-was-before-but-where-some-is-there/) [Elizabeth Hardwick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hardwick/) [Explore all 65 Elizabeth Hardwick quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hardwick/) ## More Adversity quotes > [We love playing together and we love adversity. You know, back-to-back, the two best teams in the East.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-nash/we-love-playing-together-and-we-love-adversity-you-know-back-to-back/) [Steve Nash](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-nash/) > [When we have public success we also have private struggles.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deion-sanders/when-we-have-public-success-we-also-have-private-struggles/) [Deion Sanders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deion-sanders/) > [“The threats that resurfaced in the past 10 years were not an aberration. Al Qaeda and terrorism or one such threat, but it was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-friedman/the-threats-that-resurfaced-in-the-past-10-years-were-not-an/) [George Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-friedman/) > [He who is content with what has been done is an obstacle in the path of progress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/he-who-is-content-with-what-has-been-done-is-an-obstacle-in-the-path/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [“Friction is necessary. Ease of life leads to complacency and the atrophy of the human will and spirit. Within our struggles lives our strength,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-versey/friction-is-necessary-ease-of-life-leads-to-complacency-and-the/) [Jason Versey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-versey/) > [“Every adversity is just another opportunity to excel a little more.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-templet/every-adversity-is-just-another-opportunity-to-excel-a-little-more/) [Michel Templet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-templet/) > [“Just because she doesn't talk about it, doesn't mean she isn't feeling it. She hurts, but she won't wear it on her sleeve. She…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfa-h/just-because-she-doesn-t-talk-about-it-doesn-t-mean-she-isn-t-feeling/) [Alfa H](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfa-h/) > [Every trial endured and weathered in the right spirit makes a soul nobler and stronger than it was before.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-buckham-kennedy/every-trial-endured-and-weathered-in-the-right-spirit-makes-a-soul/) [James Buckham Kennedy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-buckham-kennedy/) > [Honesty, by evil fortune tried, Finds in adversity the seed of praise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/honesty-by-evil-fortune-tried-finds-in-adversity-the-seed-of-praise/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [“Struggles are not associated to a particular people or creed, everyone struggles, not for the same reasons, but each has a personal struggle at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wayne-chirisa/struggles-are-not-associated-to-a-particular-people-or-creed-everyone/) [Wayne Chirisa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wayne-chirisa/) > [“Watch a man in times of adversity to discover what kind of man he is; for then at last words of truth are drawn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucretius/watch-a-man-in-times-of-adversity-to-discover-what-kind-of-man-he-is/) [Lucretius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucretius/) > [God often hides His blessing in trouble or trial, which makes it all the sweeter when it comes our way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/god-often-hides-his-blessing-in-trouble-or-trial-which-makes-it-all/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [“Life is not about less mistakes but about more trials”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/s-e-sever/life-is-not-about-less-mistakes-but-about-more-trials/) [S.E. SEVER](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/s-e-sever/) > [Show your contempt for the problem and your concern for the person.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-rohn/show-your-contempt-for-the-problem-and-your-concern-for-the-person/) [Jim Rohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-rohn/) > [When everything feels like an uphill struggle, just think of the view from the top.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-everything-feels-like-an-uphill-struggle-just-think-of-the-view/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 5,001 Adversity quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/adversity/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Adversity is a great teacher, but this teacher makes us pay dearly for its instruction; and often the profit we derive, is not worth the price we paid.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Elizabeth Hardwick" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hardwick/adversity-is-a-great-teacher-but-this-teacher-makes-us-pay-dearly-for/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Adversity" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hardwick/adversity-is-a-great-teacher-but-this-teacher-makes-us-pay-dearly-for/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/262/elizabeth-hardwick-10519_adversity_adversity-is-a-great-teacher-but-this-te_258896.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/262/elizabeth-hardwick-10519_adversity_adversity-is-a-great-teacher-but-this-te_258896.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/262/elizabeth-hardwick-10519_adversity_adversity-is-a-great-teacher-but-this-te_258896.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Adversity is a great teacher, but this teacher makes us pay dearly for its instruction; and often the profit…” — Elizabeth Hardwick", "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": "Elizabeth Hardwick", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-hardwick/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Adversity is a great teacher, but...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hardwick/adversity-is-a-great-teacher-but-this-teacher-makes-us-pay-dearly-for/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-hardwick/adversity-is-a-great-teacher-but-this-teacher-makes-us-pay-dearly-for/#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 } } ] } ```