Admiral James Stockdale was a US Navy pilot and failed US Vice-Presidential candidate famous for spending more than seven years as a prisoner-of-war during the Vietnam Year. He was routinely tortured and beaten but somehow survived. Asked who didn’t make it, he said “Oh, that’s easy, the optimists. They were the ones who said, ‘We’re going to be out by Christmas.’ And Christmas would come, and Christmas would go…” He went on to say: “You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end – which you can never afford to lose – with the discipline to confront…

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