Swiss-born physician Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, famous for her seminal work on the emotional progression associated with dying, also had something wonderful to say about the benefit of hardship for improving who we are.
She wrote:
"The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen." -- Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, M.D., author of "On Death and Dying."




