All things are difficult before they are easy.
—Thomas Fuller
If the road is easy, you’re likely going the wrong way.
—Terry Goodkind in The Sword of Truth
A gentle heart is tied with an easy thread.
—George Herbert
This is what the world honors: wealth, eminence, long life, a good name. This is what the world finds happiness in: a life of ease, rich food, fine clothes, beautiful sights, sweet sounds. People who can't get these things fret a great deal and are afraid, wear themselves out rushing around on business, spend night and day scheming and scrutinizing. Man lives his life in company with worry, and if he lives a long time, then he has spent that much time worrying. This is a callous way to treat the body.
—Chuang Tzu
Well, while I'm here I'll do the work and what's the work? To ease the pain of living. Everything else, drunken dumb show.
—Allen Ginsberg
For a list of all the ways technology has failed to improve the quality of life, please press 3.
—Alice Kahn
Painting is easy when you don't know how, but very difficult when you do.
—Edgar Degas