"A man who has no endurance soon falls apart. But someone who wears the shield of endurance finds that life's constant battering only makes him stronger." ~Osho

I have heard... 

A man was passing a blacksmith's shop. He heard the sound of a hammer constantly banging on the anvil, so he peered inside the shop. He saw many broken and twisted hammers lying in a corner; only time and use could have done that to them. The man asked the blacksmith, "How many anvils did you need to reduce those hammers to such a state?"

The blacksmith started laughing and said,"Only one, my friend. A single anvil breaks hundreds of hammers because the hammers strike and the anvil endures."

It is true that the man who wins in the end is the one who accepts all life's poundings with patience. He too hears a lot of banging in his life, just like the noise of a hammer falling on the anvil, but eventually the hammer breaks and the anvil remains, safe and sound. 

 

-Excerpt from Osho 'Life is A Soap Bubble'