In spite of discouragement and adversity, those who are happiest

In a voice filled with calm strength and gentle truth, Joseph B. Wirthlin once said, “In spite of discouragement and adversity, those who are happiest seem to have a way of learning from difficult times, becoming stronger, wiser and happier as a result.” These words are not merely an observation of human endurance; they are a hymn to the indomitable spirit that rises when life seems determined to break it. Wirthlin speaks of the alchemy of the soul—that mysterious process by which sorrow becomes wisdom, and pain, when embraced with faith and humility, becomes the teacher of joy.

The origin of this quote lies in Wirthlin’s life and ministry as a leader who endured trials with grace and saw in them not punishment, but preparation. He lived by the conviction that adversity is not the enemy of happiness but its sculptor. His words reflect a truth known to the ancients: that character is forged not in ease, but in struggle. As iron sharpens iron, so too does hardship refine the human heart. To learn from difficult times is to transform life’s blows into blessings, to gather strength from the very stones that were meant to make us stumble.

The great men and women of history understood this principle. Consider the story of Nelson Mandela, who spent twenty-seven years in prison, stripped of freedom, dignity, and comfort. Yet when he emerged, he did not carry bitterness in his heart but wisdom and compassion in his eyes. He once said that he learned patience from suffering, and peace from solitude. Mandela’s joy was not the shallow pleasure of a carefree life—it was the deep happiness born of conquering despair. He had learned, as Wirthlin taught, that those who find meaning in their trials grow not only stronger, but nobler.

To become stronger and wiser is the divine reward of endurance. The ancients compared it to the way fire purifies gold: the metal does not complain as it burns, for it knows the flames are not its destruction but its perfection. So too with the human spirit—the fires of adversity do not consume those who face them with faith; they reveal their hidden purity. When Wirthlin speaks of happiness arising from hardship, he does not mean the easy laughter of fleeting comfort, but the serene joy of one who has looked into the storm and found peace within it.

There is also a tender wisdom in his words about learning. For learning is the secret path from pain to growth. Many suffer, but not all are transformed. The happiest are those who choose to see in their suffering a lesson, not a curse. They ask not “Why me?” but “What can I learn from this?” Like a sailor who learns to read the stars in the darkness, they navigate their trials not by sight, but by trust. In doing so, they emerge from hardship not only healed, but enlightened.

We can also find this truth in the quiet courage of everyday souls—the mother who works through exhaustion to feed her children, the student who fails yet continues to strive, the elder who bears loss with grace. Each of them has learned that life’s sorrows, when faced with patience and gratitude, become the soil from which wisdom grows. These are the heroes of perseverance, who teach us that happiness is not the absence of pain, but the victory of spirit over circumstance.

Let this wisdom, then, be passed down as a sacred teaching: adversity is the anvil upon which happiness is forged. Do not flee from hardship, for it may be the very instrument of your becoming. When the days are dark, remember that the stars cannot be seen without the night. When the path is steep, know that strength grows only through climbing. Take every wound as a teacher, every failure as a step, and every sorrow as a seed from which joy will one day bloom.

For as Joseph B. Wirthlin reminds us, happiness is not found by avoiding the storms of life, but by learning to dance in the rain. The heart that learns from pain becomes wise; the soul that forgives adversity becomes free. And the one who endures with faith and love will find, at the journey’s end, that the very trials that once broke them have become the foundation of their joy.