Seize the day, put no trust in the morrow! [Carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero.] — Horace. Roman lyric poet (65–8 BC)
He who postpones the hour of living rightly is like the rustic who waits for the river to run out before he crosses.
Adversity has the effect of eliciting talents, which in prosperous circumstances would have lain dormant.