Long-term human optimism in the face of short-term reality

An interesting bit on the late Admiral Jim Stockdale, Vietnam prisoner of war.

Asked: "Who didn’t make it out?"

"The optimists. They were the ones who said we’re going to be out by
Christmas. And, Christmas would come and Christmas would go. Then
they’d say, We’re going to be out by Easter. And Easter would come, and
Easter would go. And then Thanksgiving, and then it would be Christmas
again. Then they died of a broken heart.

"You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end –
which you can never afford to lose – with the discipline to confront
the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be."

Words to live and trade by, I think.