--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Sicknesses, losses, crosses, anxieties…" description: "\"Sicknesses, losses, crosses, anxieties and disappointments seem absolutely needful to keep us humble, watchful and spiritual-minde d. They are as needf..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f17/j-c-ryle-789_anxieties_sicknesses-losses-crosses-anxieties-and_2302728.png" --- # Sicknesses, losses, crosses, anxieties and disappointments… ![“Sicknesses, losses, crosses, anxieties and disappointments seem absolutely needful to keep us humble, watchful and spiritual-minde d. They are as needful as the pruning knife to the vine and the refiner’s furnace to the gold.” quote by J. C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f17/j-c-ryle-789_anxieties_sicknesses-losses-crosses-anxieties-and_2302728.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f17/j-c-ryle-789_anxieties_sicknesses-losses-crosses-anxieties-and_2302728.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f17/j-c-ryle-789_anxieties_sicknesses-losses-crosses-anxieties-and_2302728.png) > “Sicknesses, losses, crosses, anxieties and disappointments seem absolutely needful to keep us humble, watchful and spiritual-minde d. They are as needful as the pruning knife to the vine and the refiner’s furnace to the gold.” [J. C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Hardships act as tools that shape humility, vigilance, and spirituality, like a knife prunes a vine or fire refines gold. **In simple terms:** Hardships teach humility and growth. Key Takeaway Embrace challenges as opportunities for refinement. Themes humility spirituality resilience Mood reflective hopeful Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - personal crisis - career setbacks - health struggles - relationship conflicts Key Concepts refinement discipline inner growth Questions to Reflect On - How can you turn a current difficulty into a lesson? - What practices keep you grounded during trials? A Different Perspective Hardships can also cause despair if not balanced with hope. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anxieties](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anxieties/) [Anxiety](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anxiety/) [Disappointment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disappointment/) [Gold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/gold/) [Humble](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humble/) [Loss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/loss/) [Sickness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sickness/) [Spiritual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spiritual/) ## Related quotes > [The regenerated do not go to war, nor engage in strife. They are children of peace who have beat their swords into plowshares and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/menno-simons/the-regenerated-do-not-go-to-war-nor-engage-in-strife-they-are/) [Menno Simons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/menno-simons/) > [As the brain matures, one thing that happens is the pruning of the synapses. Synaptic pruning does not occur willy-nilly; it depends largely on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-marantz-henig/as-the-brain-matures-one-thing-that-happens-is-the-pruning-of-the/) [Robin Marantz Henig](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-marantz-henig/) > [Don't be afraid to write bad songs and then start over and re-evaluate. Songs are like plants, in that you grow them. Some grow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/corey-harris/don-t-be-afraid-to-write-bad-songs-and-then-start-over-and-re/) Corey Harris > [“complicated pruning techniques. In reality, roses are no more difficult to grow than any other shrub or flower. But just as other plants need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-oster/complicated-pruning-techniques-in-reality-roses-are-no-more-difficult/) [Maggie Oster](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-oster/) > [This was the first day of our beginning to take up plants: we had much pleasure in collecting them for the natives offered their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-bligh/this-was-the-first-day-of-our-beginning-to-take-up-plants-we-had-much/) [William Bligh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-bligh/) > [In the end, it was the Sunday afternoons he couldn't cope with, and that terrible listlessness that starts to set in about 2:55, when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-adams/in-the-end-it-was-the-sunday-afternoons-he-couldn-t-cope-with-and/) [Douglas Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-adams/) > [The suffering of this life not only can make our temperament more like the Divine Personality of Jesus, but it detaches us from this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mother-angelica/the-suffering-of-this-life-not-only-can-make-our-temperament-more/) [Mother Angelica](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mother-angelica/) > [A youth, like a tree, needs pruning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-wiggins/a-youth-like-a-tree-needs-pruning/) [Andrew Wiggins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-wiggins/) > [How dreadful it is that because of our wills we can never love anything without messing it around! We couldn’t even love a tree,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-townsend-warner/how-dreadful-it-is-that-because-of-our-wills-we-can-never-love/) [Sylvia Townsend Warner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-townsend-warner/) > [If anything is endemic to Wyoming it is wind. This big room of space is swept out daily, leaving a bone yard of fossils,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gretel-ehrlich/if-anything-is-endemic-to-wyoming-it-is-wind-this-big-room-of-space/) [Gretel Ehrlich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gretel-ehrlich/) > [Natural abilities are like natural plants; they need pruning by study.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/natural-abilities-are-like-natural-plants-they-need-pruning-by-study/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The vinedresser is never nearer the branches then when he is pruning them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-jeremiah/the-vinedresser-is-never-nearer-the-branches-then-when-he-is-pruning/) [David Jeremiah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-jeremiah/) > [“they climbed their ladders to wheedle and prune the trees into holiness”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherynne-m-valente/they-climbed-their-ladders-to-wheedle-and-prune-the-trees-into/) [Catherynne M. Valente](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherynne-m-valente/) > [I pluck up the good lissome herbs of sentences by pruning, eat them by reading, digest them by musing, and lay them up at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-i/i-pluck-up-the-good-lissome-herbs-of-sentences-by-pruning-eat-them-by/) [Elizabeth I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-i/) > [. . . what a burning shame it is that many of the pieces on the subject of slavery and the slave trade, contained…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-purvis/what-a-burning-shame-it-is-that-many-of-the-pieces-on-the-subject-of/) [Robert Purvis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-purvis/) ## More by J. C. Ryle > [When a person’s tongue is extensively wrong, it is absurd, no less than unscriptural, to say that their heart is right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-ryle/when-a-person-s-tongue-is-extensively-wrong-it-is-absurd-no-less-than/) [J. C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/) > [Love should be the silver thread that runs through all your conduct.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-ryle/love-should-be-the-silver-thread-that-runs-through-all-your-conduct/) [J. C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/) > [Amidst the flood of dangerous reading, I plead for my Master's book; I call upon you not to forget the book of the soul.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-ryle/amidst-the-flood-of-dangerous-reading-i-plead-for-my-master-s-book-i/) [J. C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/) > [Persecution, in short, is like the goldsmith's stamp on real silver and gold - it is one of the marks of a converted man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-ryle/persecution-in-short-is-like-the-goldsmith-s-stamp-on-real-silver-and/) [J. C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/) > [The parent who tries to train without setting a good example is building with one hand, and pulling down with the other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-ryle/the-parent-who-tries-to-train-without-setting-a-good-example-is/) [J. C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/) > [We are all naturally self-righteous. It is the family disease of all the children of Adam.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-ryle/we-are-all-naturally-self-righteous-it-is-the-family-disease-of-all/) [J. C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/) > [Sunday morning, before we go to hear the Word of God preached...let us not rush into God’s presence careless, reckless, and unprepared, as if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-ryle/sunday-morning-before-we-go-to-hear-the-word-of-god-preached-let-us/) [J. C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/) > [The true secret of spiritual strength is self-distrust and deep humilty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-ryle/the-true-secret-of-spiritual-strength-is-self-distrust-and-deep/) [J. C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/) > [That Bible is read best, which is practised most.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-ryle/that-bible-is-read-best-which-is-practised-most/) [J. C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/) > [O Christian, look up and take comfort. Jesus has prepared a place for you, and those who follow Him shall never perish, neither shall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-ryle/o-christian-look-up-and-take-comfort-jesus-has-prepared-a-place-for/) [J. C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/) > [Let your Christianity be so unmistakable, your eye so single, your heart so whole, your walk so straightforward, that all who see you may…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-ryle/let-your-christianity-be-so-unmistakable-your-eye-so-single-your/) [J. C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/) > [Let it be a settled principle ...that men's salvation, if saved, is wholly of God; and that man's ruin, if lost, is wholly of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-ryle/let-it-be-a-settled-principle-that-men-s-salvation-if-saved-is-wholly/) [J. C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/) > [That Bible is read best - which is practiced most!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-ryle/that-bible-is-read-best-which-is-practiced-most/) [J. C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/) > [If we would know whether our faith is genuine, we do well to ask ourselves how we are living.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-ryle/if-we-would-know-whether-our-faith-is-genuine-we-do-well-to-ask/) [J. C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/) > [To be born again is, as it were, to enter upon a new existence, to have a new mind, a new heart, new views,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-c-ryle/to-be-born-again-is-as-it-were-to-enter-upon-a-new-existence-to-have/) [J. C. Ryle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/) [Explore all 369 J. C. Ryle quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-c-ryle/) ## More Anxieties quotes > [That's one of the reasons I wanted to be an actor, to be like them. And there they were at my table, all talking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gavin-macleod/that-s-one-of-the-reasons-i-wanted-to-be-an-actor-to-be-like-them-and/) [Gavin MacLeod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gavin-macleod/) > [“\[4It is hard to be carefree when you have many anxieties. But the more you have, the more necessary it is to feel carefree…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brenda-ueland/4it-is-hard-to-be-carefree-when-you-have-many-anxieties-but-the-more/) [Brenda Ueland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brenda-ueland/) > [“... We have to constantly confront our deepest anxieties, our emptiness, our despair, our doubts; and there is nowhere for us to escape and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-batchelor/we-have-to-constantly-confront-our-deepest-anxieties-our-emptiness/) [Stephen Batchelor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-batchelor/) > [I don't really have a lot of anxieties.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shannon-walker/i-don-t-really-have-a-lot-of-anxieties/) [Shannon Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shannon-walker/) > [In sharp contrast to the idea that this stage of life is enviable, we hear high levels of anxiety about getting old, anxieties about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rowan-williams/in-sharp-contrast-to-the-idea-that-this-stage-of-life-is-enviable-we/) [Rowan Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rowan-williams/) > [I think people respond to dystopian stories because they're ways of acting out anxieties that we have and fears that we have about the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/i-think-people-respond-to-dystopian-stories-because-they-re-ways-of/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [Drugs pull you down and shut the lid on life. Pot opens everything up. All the anxieties, the creepy crawly blues,it all just drifts…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-monroe/drugs-pull-you-down-and-shut-the-lid-on-life-pot-opens-everything-up/) [Marilyn Monroe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilyn-monroe/) > [In nearly everything I write, I am like a ventriloquist, throwing my voice into my characters, animating them by the slightest twitch as I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/in-nearly-everything-i-write-i-am-like-a-ventriloquist-throwing-my/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) > [“She believed that people revealed themselves most when they were vaguely anxious, and few things brought out nonspecific anxieties like being in the presence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/she-believed-that-people-revealed-themselves-most-when-they-were/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [Everyone has the same anxieties about dating.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coleen-nolan/everyone-has-the-same-anxieties-about-dating/) [Coleen Nolan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/coleen-nolan/) > [In the daytime, we can be busy and fine, and then suddenly, the moment you're asleep, things come back - whether it's your ex…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/griff/in-the-daytime-we-can-be-busy-and-fine-and-then-suddenly-the-moment/) [Griff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/griff/) > [Don't even feel like drinking, or even gettin high Cause all that's gonna do really, is accelerate The anxieties that I wish I could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bobby/don-t-even-feel-like-drinking-or-even-gettin-high-cause-all-that-s/) Bobby > [I love to make songs out of some of those shadows - you know, some of the things you lie awake thinking about, social…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-berninger/i-love-to-make-songs-out-of-some-of-those-shadows-you-know-some-of/) [Matt Berninger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-berninger/) > [When I looked further into my mother's history, I realised that her anxieties and her neuroses could be accounted for by facts from a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-rhys-davies/when-i-looked-further-into-my-mother-s-history-i-realised-that-her/) [John Rhys-Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-rhys-davies/) > [“Some people feel guilty about their anxieties and regard them as a defect of faith. I don't agree at all. They are afflictions, not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis-2/some-people-feel-guilty-about-their-anxieties-and-regard-them-as-a/) [C.S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis-2/) [Browse all 123 Anxieties quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anxieties/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Sicknesses, losses, crosses, anxieties and disappointments seem absolutely needful to keep us humble, watchful and spiritual-minde d. They are as needful as the pruning knife to the vine and the refiner’s furnace to the gold.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "J. C. 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