Gordon Cheng has a helpful post giving some facts about Spurgeon's life and mind-boggling accomplishments in the midst of serious suffering. It's worth a read.
(Cf. also Piper's biographical overview on Spurgeon, preaching, and suffering, as well as Mark Driscoll's three-part overview on Spurgeon).
Update: John Piper once wrote--thanks, guys, for the reference and exact wording--about Spurgeon:
"What shall we make of such a man? Neither a god nor a goal. He should not be worshiped or envied. He is too small for the one and too big for the other." (A Godward Life, p.264)
