Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): The Tempest. Act ii. Sc. 2.

For fate has wove the thread of life with pain,

And twins ev'n from the birth are misery and man!

Alexander Pope (1688-1744): The Odyssey of Homer. Book vii. Line 263.

Cold on Canadian hills or Minden's plain,

Perhaps that parent mourned her soldier slain;

Bent o'er her babe, her eye dissolved in dew,

The big drops mingling with the milk he drew

Gave the sad presage of his future years,—

The child of misery, baptized in tears.

John Langhorne (1735-1779): The Country Justice. Part i.

Meagre were his looks,

Sharp misery had worn him to the bones.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616): Romeo and Juliet. Act v. Sc. 1.

Since trifles make the sum of human things,

And half our misery from our foibles springs.

Hannah More (1745-1833): Sensibility.

There is no greater sorrow

Than to be mindful of the happy time

In misery.

Henry W Longfellow (1807-1882): Inferno. Canto v. Line 121.

Large was his bounty, and his soul sincere,

Heaven did a recompense as largely send:

He gave to mis'ry (all he had) a tear,

He gained from Heav'n ('t was all he wish'd) a friend.

Thomas Gray (1716-1771): The Epitaph.

No greater grief than to remember days

Of joy when misery is at hand.

Dante (1265-1321): Hell. Canto v. Line 121.

And mighty poets in their misery dead.

William Wordsworth (1770-1850): Resolution and Independence. Stanza 17.

Heaven hears and pities hapless men like me,

For sacred ev'n to gods is misery.

Alexander Pope (1688-1744): The Odyssey of Homer. Book v. Line 572.

O suffering, sad humanity!

O ye afflicted ones, who lie

Steeped to the lips in misery,

Longing, yet afraid to die,

Patient, though sorely tried!

Henry W Longfellow (1807-1882): The Goblet of Life.