The fates oppose it.

No slave, to lazy ease resign'd,
E'er triumphed over noble foes;
The monarch, Fortune, most is kind
To him who bravely dares oppose. [ Cervantes ]

Water its living strength first shows.
When obstacles its course oppose. [ Goethe ]

Toss'd on a sea of troubles, soul, my soul,
Thyself do thou control;
And to the weapons of advancing foes
A stubborn breast oppose. [ Archilochus ]

It is no shame to yield to him that we must not oppose. [ Proverb ]

To make a young couple love each other, it is only necessary to oppose and separate them. [ Goethe ]

Learn good-humor, never to oppose without just reason; abate some degree of pride and moroseness. [ Dr. Watts ]

To great evils one must oppose great virtues; and also to small, which is the harder task of the two. [ Carlyle ]

Oppose kindness to perverseness. The heavy sword will not cut soft silk; by using sweet words and gentleness you may lead an elephant with a hair. [ Saadi ]

In times of danger it is proper to be alarmed until danger be near at hand; but when we perceive that danger is near, we should oppose it as if we were not afraid. [ Hitopadesa ]

Vanity is so frequently the apparent motive of advice, that we, for the most part, summon our powers to oppose it without any very accurate inquiry whether it is right. [ Dr. Johnson ]

When women oppose themselves to the projects and ambition of men, they excite their lively resentment; if in their youth they meddle with political intrigues, their modesty must suffer. [ Mme. de Stael ]