One side of the coin

I prefer the other side of the coin but this is an interesting point of view (also remember “Heaven” has a different meaning in China):

“Thus, when Heaven is going to confer a great responsibility on someone, it first makes his mind endure suffering. It makes his sinews and bones experience toil, and his body to suffer hunger. It inflicts him with poverty and knocks down everything he tries to build.
In this way Heaven stimulates his mind, stabilizes his temper and develops his weak points. People will always err, but it is only after making mistakes that they can correct themselves. Only when you have been mentally constricted can you become creative. It will show in your face and be heard in your voice, such that you will affect others. In your own state, if you don’t have legal specialists and impartial advisors, and outside your state, you don’t have enemy states to harass you, your own state will certainly fall to ruin. From this we can know that life is stimulated from adversity and anxiety, and death results from relaxation and pleasure.”

– Mencius

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