if there is a purpose to life's cruelties and tragedies, it is to make of you a better person.

it can be likened to stripping the faded and peeling paint from an antique piece of fine cabinetry to reveal the magnificence of the natural wood grain underneath.

this lends credence to the assertion that the only truly strong and quality people are those that have been fire-hardened and polished by adversity (cartaphilus)