One alternative point of view is to see illness and emotional conflict as opportunities for deepening our humanity: not merely as learning experiences, but as occasions for substantive personal transformation. Ancient authors claimed that it is the soul that makes us human. I'd want to extend that notion and suggest that it is the soul-wrenching trials that evoke our humanity. If there is anything crucial lacking in the modern world, it is a profound appreciation for the common effort of making a beautiful life out of daily struggles.
— Thomas Moore, The Education of the Heart