Essay on Sweet are the Uses of Adversity: The proverb ‘Sweet are the uses of adversity’ was written by Shakespeare in his famous play As You Like it. Banished from the Court by his ungrateful brother, a noble lives a simple life in the forest in the company of nature and finds solace in simple things, such as brooks and trees. His life is free from intrigues, extroversion and hypocrisy of the court. The word ‘uses’ in the proverb suggests that adversity benefits only those who are capable of making use of it, who are inclined to learn lessons from it. We know well that poverty and hardships can drive many men to degradation and despair, but the wise and the brave make use of their adversity and rise in life to become great.
Essay on Sweet are the Uses of Adversity
The proverb ‘Sweet are the uses of adversity’ was written by Shakespeare in his famous play As You Like it. Banished from the Court by his ungrateful brother, a noble lives a simple life in the forest in the company of nature and finds solace in simple things, such as brooks and trees. His life is free from intrigues, extroversion and hypocrisy of the court.
The word ‘uses’ in the proverb suggests that adversity benefits only those who are capable of making use of it, who are inclined to learn lessons from it. We know well that poverty and hardships can drive many men to degradation and despair, but the wise and the brave make use of their adversity and rise in life to become great.
Adversity can be in the form of failure, poverty, misfortune or other difficulties of life. Every person is bound to experience adversity at some or the other time in his life. It happens only very rarely that good fortune smiles on a person all through his life. Adversity, when faced, should become a silver lining to learn lessons from it, and enrich oneself spiritually. When we are successful and prosperous we tend to be self-centred, callous and insensitive, but when we experience failure, our heart go out to the oppressed, the down-trodden and the unfortunate people in the world. Many of the great writers and artists had to struggle against poverty and neglect, and this fact largely explains the breadth of their outlook, sympathy for the weak and the poor.
If we read the biographies of great men, we find that adverse circumstances enabled them to give evidence of qualities for which they have become famous. In fact, it was adversity which gave them an opportunity to excel in life. They trials and tribulations of life bring out best in men. A man in easy circumstances may seem to lack moral or spiritual worth, but once he fall on evil days, he may reveal sterling qualities life courage, integrity and patience.
In prosperity a person has numerous friends. Most of them are fair weather friends. They profess to be true friends in order to secure their own advancement, but when the moment of adversity is confronted, they fly away never to turn back. While a true friend remains loyal all through life, whether he lives in luxury or poverty. Adversity helps a person distinguish between true and false friends. Thus, though adversity is bitter, its uses are sweet.
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