"smooth sailing never made a skillful sailor"
To me it means that if we were to not have hard ships we wouldn't gain the skills and knowledge to be successful. We wouldn't be able to be thankful for the "smooth sailing" times in our life, since we need opposition in our lives. Without opposition we wouldn't know what happy really is. We will have times when life is more relaxed and calm and other times when life is more chaotic and stressful.
So I asked some people what this quote meant to them. here are some of the responses I received.
"To me it means we have to go through hard things to learn how to be better at them. If we didn't ever struggle with anything, we wouldn't learn. Such is life. Going through hard trials makes me a better person. I can relate better to someone after going through something they struggled with too, therefore making me more empathetic and less judgmental." -Kristin
"Unless you go through struggles, you will never know or understand what we are meant to know and understand." - Mary
" Knowledge is acquired, skills developed, talents grown by experiencing difficulties, challenges in life. If you didn't struggle, you wouldn't understand. When Lorraine hatched ducks and geese we learned this lesson. When the first egg started to hatch, kids crowded into her tiny bedroom to watch. It was taking a long time, so a few children helped the young bird by breaking away the shell. Once emerged, the bird was weak and soon died. Struggling to get out of the shell made the bird stronger so he could live. Without the struggle, the bird was weak and died." - Sylvia
