What you need to know is this: before a dream is realized, the Soul of the World tests everything that was learned along the way. It does not do this because it is evil, but so that we can, in addition to realizing our dreams, master the lessons we’ve learned as we’ve moved toward that dream. That’s the point which most people give up. It’s the point at which, as we say in the language of the desert, one dies of thirst just when the palm trees have appeared on the horizon… It is said that the darkest hour of the night came just before the dawn.
Paulo Coelho