Adjusters can be disappointed with us. These are the words of an Adjuster to a man in whom he dwelt: “Say to my beloved subject that I will function with wisdom and power until the very end, until the last earth struggle is over; I will be true to my personality trust. And I exhort him to survival, not to disappoint me, not to deprive me of the reward of my patient and intense struggle”. [1] Disappointments are an inevitability of life if we want to achieve courage, strength of character;a regular and commonplace feature of human existence. [2]
Only when man has become sufficiently disillusioned by the sorrowful disappointments attendant upon the foolish and deceptive pursuits of selfishness, and subsequent to the discovery of the barrenness of formalized religion, will he be disposed to turn wholeheartedly to the gospel of the kingdom, the religion of Jesus of Nazareth. [3] Disappointment and sorrow attend upon error because, not being a reality, it cannot be realized in experience. [4]
Every mortal man knows full well how love, even when once genuine, can, through disappointment, jealousy, and long-continued resentment, be eventually turned into actual hate. [5]
What a crushing thing is disappointment in the lives of those foolish persons who, in fastening their gaze on the shadowy and evanescent allurements of time, become blinded to the higher achievements. [6] God-knowing individuals are not discouraged by misfortune or downcast by disappointment. [7]
Ascendant children of time learn to feast upon uncertainty, to fatten upon disappointment, to enthuse over apparent defeat, to invigorate in the presence of difficulties, to exhibit indomitable courage in the face of immensity. [8] Friendship lessens sting of disappointments. Difficulties, sorrow, disappointment, and defeat are more painful and disheartening when borne alone. [9]
Greatest disappointment is failure in Deity adventure. But that is not the end. After a period of universal service they will return to the circle of their greatest disappointment and attempt anew the Deity adventure. [10]
Jesus warned his disciples: “each of you must sit down and count the cost of being my disciple. You will be required to face bitter persecutions and to bear witness for this gospel in the face of crushing disappointment”. [11]
Jesus subjected apostles to repeated rehearsals in disappointment and provided them with frequent and testing opportunities for choosing between the right and the wrong way of meeting spiritual trials. [12] Judas never acquired a philosophic technique for meeting disappointment. [13]
On Paradise, disappointment is never regarded as defeat; postponement is never looked upon as disgrace; the apparent failures of time are never confused with the significant delays of eternity. [14] Jesus once talked for more than an hour to the assembled groups on “The mission of adversity and the spiritual value of disappointment”. [15] The disappointments hardest to bear are those which never come. [16] To lessen the extent of the disappointment be less critical; expect less of some men. [17] Trust in God’s goodness despite bitter disappointment and crushing defeat. [18] The worst disappointment sometimes becomes the greatest blessing. [19]