Horace Adversity

In all parts of life there are periods of adversity that we must face, the real challenge however, is what and how we gain from conquering those trials. Roman poet Horace reasons that “Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant.” The meaning of this quotation is that difficult circumstances are often impetus which propels people to great achievements. When we are stretched to the limit, we often find we have inner resources which we are not aware of possessing. While this is often times the case, there are some instances where adversity resulted in nothing but misery and in some cases, death. Adversity has the effect of stimulating hidden characteristics but only in those capable

Helen Keller, for instance, overcame the adversity of being blind, deaf, and mute to become one of the twentieth century’s leading humanitarians, as well as co-founder of the ACLU. Two years after she was born, she lost her ability to see and converse with others. Her teacher helped her make tremendous progress with her ability to communicate and in 1904, Keller graduated college. Instead of allowing these disabilities to hold her back from achieving greatness in her life, she was able to push through the challenges and come out on top. Another excellent example is my cousin Kaylee. She was diagnosed with a tumor in her left shoulder when she was fourteen years old. Whether she is in the hospital all day or hanging out with her friends in school, she never lets her illness stop her from striving to do her best. She was told a year ago that she would not be able to play volleyball again, considering it frequently involves moving her shoulder. Instead of giving up on her desire to play sports, she continued to do exactly what her doctors recommended in order to have the slightest chance of playing again. A year has passed and she is playing volleyball again with her best friends. Kaylee’s strength and determination became evident when times were tough. When we as human beings feel passionate about achieving a goal, we may learn something new of ourselves, often times a new trait that we did not

My grandmother is a prime example of being unable to overcome adversity. Throughout her childhood, she was abused by her father. During the course of her life she kept very busy, which helped her keep her mind off of the rough times she faced. As she got older, her anxiety became overwhelming. My grandmother has battled her childhood memories her whole life, but she is beginning to lose the battle as time goes on. Even though some people try their hardest to overcome their hardships, sometimes it is just not enough. For this reason, I believe Horace’s assertion that adversity can have an impacting effect on character does stand true, but only if that specific person is strong enough to uncover those hidden aspects of themselves. Rather than saying talents will be uncovered through adversity, stating it with less specifications would have made his claim more