Osip Mandelstam was one of the most important Russian poets of the 20th century. As a young man, he became one of the founders of the Acmeist school of poetry, which championed clarity and concreteness as a reaction to the vagueness and pretension of the then-predominant Russian symbolism. The Soviet regime, however, soon grew suspicious of the Acmeists. After Mandelstam wrote a scathing attack on Stalin in 1933, he was arrested and sent into exile with his wife. He served his sentence but was soon rearrested and sentenced to five years in a labor camp, dying in transit. His widow managed to keep his poetry alive, and today he remains one of the most widely read poets in Russia. This quote comes from his poetry and reminds us that although we may feel lost or stuck at times, the time will come when we will rise again.

Cheryl Strayed, author of the memoir “Wild,” built her writing around the idea that hardship can become a source of strength and self‑knowledge. This advice appears in “Tiny Beautiful Things,” a compilation of her online “Dear Sugar” advice columns, in which she urges readers to face painful experiences honestly rather than avoiding them or feeling shame. Strayed emphasizes that claiming our difficult and traumatic experiences as part of our story allows us to use them for growth and insight. “Feed it to yourself even if it feels impossible to swallow,” she continues. “Let it nurture you, because it will.”