To me, it is a different and more elegant expression of AFOG.

Humans tend to be at their best when striving against difficulties. Perfectly safe, controlled circumstances can produce the real world equivalent of the roly poly people in Wall E.

Marina, what does AFOG mean?

Difficulty slims down the competition. Einstein didn’t mean that “in the middle of difficulty lies free shinys”, but it is true that the reward will be divided among fewer people. So there is opportunity for the determined.

@peyton_farquhar Another F’ing Opportunity for Growth.

To respond with another quip:

Necessity is the Mother of Invention.

For example, this current economic crisis is a great opportunity to try out new economic theories (Keynesian) since the old ones haven’t served us as well as we would have liked.

@Jayne: What are “free shinys”?

@gailcalled: Shinies, perhaps? This would be a colloquial abbreviation of the more formal ‘shiny objects’, the ultimate award for any endeavor and, of course, the quintessential distraction.

Thanks. I missed seeing that pic, thank heavens. (Where is Sarah these days, anyway?)

He means if it a really difficult problem he might be the only one to solve it thereby giving him a monopoly and sole credit for the discovery.

Hopefully she’s somewhere in here. Its in Russia, so it can’t be too far from her house…

Another version floating around is “In adversity lies opportunity.”

To me it means that when things are really bad, there is always a choice to make them better. That somewhere within the tangeled mess there is always hope.