Fire is the test of gold; adversity, of strong men.

Hard conditions reveal what a person is made of rather than making them that way. The qualities were already there; pressure simply removes the room to perform and leaves whatever is underneath. That is worth separating from the idea that difficulty is good for you. Trouble mostly costs people things, and what it shows is not payment for the loss.

If you have come through something hard, look at what you did without deciding to. That is the material you were working with all along. And when you watch someone else in a bad stretch, judge them gently, because you are seeing them without their usual cover.