"My mother used to tell me, when I was small, that if I studied jujitsu with the local barber who taught in the loft over his shop, I would be able to throw a big man with only one finger.

'How many big men have only one finger, Mother?' I asked, being literal to the quick. But when I understood what she meant I was not surprised, since I had realized even earlier than that, that adversity has it compensations, that in falling, and in failing, we rise."

"Winter's Tale" (Mark Helprin)