Quote Origin: Adversity Is the Trial of Principle; Without It, One Hardly Knows Whether One Is an Honest Person

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Henry Fielding? Charles Grandison? Samuel Richardson? Anonymous?

Facing adversity by climbing a cliff. Image from Unsplash

Question for Quote Investigator: To avoid a major hardship an individual will sometimes abandon an ethical principle or a close friend.  Experiencing a setback reveals a person’s inner strengths and weaknesses.  Here are three versions of a pertinent saying:

(1) Adversity is the trial of principle; without it, one hardly knows whether one is an honest person.

(2) Adversity is the trial of principle; without it, a man hardly knows whether he is an honest man.

(3) Adversity is the trial of principle. Without it a man hardly knows whether he is honest or not.

This statement is usually credited to the 19th century English writer Henry Fielding. However, I am skeptical of this attribution because I cannot find a solid citation. Would you please help me to find the correct creator?

Reply from Quote Investigator: In 1753 the prominent English writer Samuel Richardson published an epistolary novel titled “The History of Sir Charles Grandison”. Richardson was responding to the popular and scandalous novel “The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling” by Henry Fielding. Censorious readers believed that Fielding’s main character, Tom Jones, was morally defective.

Richardson’s main character, Sir Charles Grandison, was intended to embody the highest moral principles. A letter from Grandison presented one of his precepts: Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1

Adversity is the trial of principle; Without it, a man hardly knows whether he is an honest man.

Thus, the quotation should be credited to Samuel Richardson and not to his literary rival Henry Fielding.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

In 1755 Richardson published a book containing excerpts from three of his novels titled “A Collection of the Moral and Instructive Sentiments, Maxims, Cautions, and Reflexions, Contained in the Histories of Pamela, Clarissa, and Sir Charles Grandison”. The following entry was included:2

Adversity is the trial of principle: Without it, a man hardly knows whether he is an honest man, iv. 196. [v. 67].

In 1827 the “Vermont Chronicle” of Bellows Falls, Vermont printed a filler item containing the quotation with an attribution to the fictional character who wrote the letter containing the statement in Richardson’s novel:3

Adversity is the trial of principle. Without it a man hardly knows whether he is an honest man.—Sir Charles Grandison.

In 1838 the “Vicksburg Daily Register” of Mississippi printed the saying as a filler item without an attribution:4

Adversity.—Adversity is the trial of principle.—Without it a man hardly knows whether he is an honest man.

In 1853 “The World’s Laconics: Or The Best Thoughts of the Best Authors” compiled by Tryon Edwards included a slightly different phrasing with an ascription to “Fielding”, i.e., Henry Fielding:5

ADVERSITY TRIES US.—Adversity is the trial of principle. Without it a man hardly knows whether he is honest or not.
—Fielding.

In September 1863 “The Richmond Palladium” of Indiana printed the saying with an attribution to Fielding.6

In 1869 the textbook “An English Grammar” by G. P. Quackenbos included a variant of the saying without an attribution:7

“Adversity is the touch-stone of principle. Without it, a man hardly knows whether he is honest or not.” Here a semicolon may be substituted for the period after principle. If the propositions are connected by the conjunction for, a semicolon must be used: “Adversity is the touch-stone of principle; for without it,” &c.

In 1908 “A Dictionary of Thoughts: Being a Cyclopedia of Laconic Quotations from the Best Authors of the World, Both Ancient and Modern” compiled by Tryon Edwards included the quotation with an ascription to Fielding:8

In 1977 “Peter’s Quotations: Ideas for Our Time” included the following entry:9

Adversity is the trial of principle. Without it a man hardly knows whether he is honest or not. —Henry Fielding (1707-1754)

In 1997 “The Forbes Book of Business Quotations” contained the following entry:10

Adversity is the trial of principle. Without it, a man hardly knows whether he is honest or not.
Henry Fielding

In conclusion, Samuel Richardson deserves credit for this quotation. It appeared in his 1753 novel “The History of Sir Charles Grandison” where it was employed by the title character. The quotation was incorrectly reassigned to Richardson’s literary competitor Henry Fielding by 1853.

Image Notes: Picture of a climber ascending a cliff from NEOM at Unsplash. The image has been cropped and resized.

Acknowledgement: Great thanks to Bob Warner whose inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration.

  1. 1754 (First published 1753), The History Of Sir Charles Grandison In A Series of Letters by the Editor of Pamela and Clarissa (Samuel Richardson), Volume 5 of 7, Third Edition, Letter 12, From: Sir Charles Grandison, To: Mr. Grandison, Location: Bologna, Date: June 4, Start Page 66, Quote Page 67, Printed for S. Richardson, London. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
  2. 1755, A Collection of the Moral and Instructive Sentiments, Maxims, Cautions, and Reflexions, Contained in the Histories of Pamela, Clarissa, and Sir Charles Grandison (Written by Samuel Richardson), Section: A Collection of the Moral and Instructive Sentiments Contained in the History of Sir C. Grandison, Topic: Adversity, Calamity, Misfortune, Disappointment, Quote Page 222, Printed for S. Richardson, London. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
  3. 1827 April 13, Vermont Chronicle, Summary (Filler Item), Quote Page 3, Column 5, Bellows Falls, Vermont. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
  4. 1838 May 11, Vicksburg Daily Register, (Filler item), Quote Page 2, Column 3, Vicksburg, Mississippi. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
  5. 1853, The World’s Laconics: Or The Best Thoughts of the Best Authors, Compiled by Everard Berkeley (Pseudonym of Tryon Edwards), Topic: Adversity, Quote Page 14, Published by M. W. Dodd, New York. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
  6. 1853 September 2, The Richmond Palladium, (Filler item), Quote Page 2, Column 2, Richmond, Indiana. (Newspapers_com) ↩︎
  7. 1869, An English Grammar by G. P. Quackenbos, Lesson 93: Punctuation, Quote Page 261, D. Appleton and Company, New York. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
  8. 1908, A Dictionary of Thoughts: Being a Cyclopedia of Laconic Quotations from the Best Authors of the World, Both Ancient and Modern, Compiled by Tryon Edwards, Topic: Adversity, Quote Page 6, F. B. Dickerson Company, Detroit, Michigan. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
  9. 1977, Peter’s Quotations: Ideas for Our Time, Compiled by Laurence J. Peter, Section: Fortune / Misfortune, Quote Page 206, William Morrow and Company, New York. (Verified with hardcopy) ↩︎
  10. 1997, The Forbes Book of Business Quotations: 14,173 Thoughts on the Business of Life, Edited by Ted Goodman, Topic: Adversity, Quote Page 33, Column 2, Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎