When you suffer,
think not on how
you can escape suffering,
but concentrate your efforts
on what kind of
inner moral and spiritual
perfection this suffering requires.
All the misfortunes of mankind collectively and individually
are not useless;
they bring people and individuals
and nations in different ways
closer to the purpose
which is set before them:
the appearance of God,
for every person in himself,
and in all mankind.
Leo Tolstoy