<P> "When life gives you lemons, make lemonade" is a proverbial phrase used to encourage optimism and a positive can - do attitude in the face of adversity or misfortune . Lemons suggest sourness or difficulty in life, while lemonade is a sweet drink . </P> <P> The phrase was initially coined by Christian anarchist writer Elbert Hubbard in a 1915 obituary he penned and published for dwarf actor Marshall Pinckney Wilder . The obituary, entitled The King of Jesters, praises Wilder's optimistic attitude and achievements in the face of his disabilities: </P> <P> "He was a walking refutation of that dogmatic statement, Mens sana in corpore sano . His was a sound mind in an unsound body . He proved the eternal paradox of things . He cashed in on his disabilities . He picked up the lemons that Fate had sent him and started a lemonade - stand ." </P>

Who made the quote when life gives you lemons