Epictetus, Golden Sayings 157

It is the critical moment that shows the man. 

So when the crisis is upon you, remember that God, like a trainer of wrestlers, has matched you with a rough and stalwart antagonist. 

"To what end?" you ask. 

That you may prove the victor at the Great Games. Yet without toil and sweat this may not be! 

IMAGE: Cesare Fracanzano, Two Wrestlers (c. 1637)