I'm not exactly a huge fan of St. Augustine (354-430). Among his dubious gifts to civilization are the concept of a "just war", his belief that battle is glorious while running a business is depraved, and he steered the Christian church toward a belief that sexual desire is sinful (after decades of personal debauchery - recall his prayer: "Grant me chastity...but not yet").
But as perhaps the first religious philosopher, St. Augustine had a few positive ideas. One is the quote below that I recently ran across. It sums up The Challenge Dividend beautifully:
"To be under pressure is inescapable. Pressure takes place through all the world: war, siege, the worries of state. We all know men who grumble under these pressures, and complain. They are cowards. They lack splendor. But there is another sort of man who is under the same pressure, but does not complain. For it is friction which polishes him. It is pressure which refines and makes him noble."
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