A well-known excerpt from
Mengzi
（The Jesuits called him Mencius）
孟子 告子 下凡十六章之十五
Mengzi says:
“
Sage King Shun used to be a farmer; Fu Yue, the celebrated minister, rose to high ranks from construction jobs; Jiao Ge, the industrious minister, rose to high ranks from work between fisheries and salt mines; Guan Yi Wu, who advised the Duke of Qi to dominance, used to be a warden; Sun Shu Ao, the Chancellor of Chu as well as an excellent military commander and hydraulic engineer, lived hand to mouth by the beach; Bai Li Xi, the dearly loved minister, used to make an ordinary living at the market.
Therefore, when heaven intends to bestow a major task unto a certain person, it will challenge that person’s will, exhaust her muscles and bones, starve her body and skin, make it so that there isn’t enough resources for her endeavors, disrupt her plans and habits. Her honest nature gets practice and exercise; her will is strengthened. She will gain abilities that she did not possess before.
A person will first make mistakes constantly, then she gets to correct them; she will first be full of worry and struggles, then she gets to rise above; she ought to wear the worry on her face and express her struggles via her voice, then other people get to make sense of her. A country, without wise advisors inside and worthy opponents and problems to avoid or solve outside, are prone to perishing.
So now we know, problems and worries are good for life, contentment and settling for status quo are good for death.
”
孟子曰：
“
舜发于畎亩之中，傅说举于版筑之间，胶鬲举于鱼盐之中，管夷吾举于士，孙叔敖举于海，百里奚举于市。
故天将降大任于是人也，必先苦其心志，劳其筋骨，饿其体肤，空乏其身行，拂乱其所为，所以动心忍性，曾益其所不能。
人恒过，然后能改；困于心，衡于虑，而后作；征于色，发于声，而后喻。入则无法家拂士，出则无敌国外患者，国恒亡。然后知生于忧患而死于安乐也。
”