What does this quote mean?

“Courage cannot be cast down by adversity.”

Courage is defined by what survives difficulty: adversity may create pressure, but it does not have to decide the person’s response.

Source note: The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus, saying 595, D. Lyman Jr. translation (1856).

“These are the times that try men's souls.”

Crisis reveals commitment because principles become costly to maintain precisely when fear, fatigue, and uncertainty make retreat easier.

Source note: Opening of The American Crisis No. I; Paine addresses perseverance during a difficult stage of the American Revolution.

“We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed.”

Pressure is acknowledged without allowing pressure to become the whole story; difficulty and endurance are held together.

Source note: 2 Corinthians 4:8 in the King James Version; opening contrast in a sequence about affliction and endurance.

“For sometimes it is an act of bravery even to live.”

Enduring a difficult period can itself require courage when continuing responsibly is harder than dramatic gestures or escape.

Source note: Letter 78 discusses illness, endurance, and the courage required to continue living under hardship.

“For manliness gains much strength by being challenged.”

Difficulty can exercise courage the way resistance exercises a muscle, giving strength an opportunity to become practiced rather than theoretical.

Source note: Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 13, section 3, Richard M. Gummere translation.

“No scar is dishonorable which is a mark of our courage.”

A visible consequence of hardship need not be shameful when it records endurance or brave action rather than failure of character.

Source note: The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus, saying 586, D. Lyman Jr. translation (1856).