“Who would attain to summits still and fair,
Must nerve himself through valleys of despair.”

“For those of you who tried, but didn't make it,
Settle down — it's never what you think.
The summit doesn't differ from the deep, dark valley,
And the valley doesn't differ from the kitchen sink.”

“A man of humanity is one who, in seeking to establish himself, finds a foothold for others and who, in desiring attaining himself, helps others to attain.”

“He who would accomplish little need sacrifice little; he who would achieve much must sacrifice much. He who would attain highly must sacrifice greatly.”

“Life is like topography, Hobbes. There are summits of happiness and success, flat stretches of boring routine and valleys of frustration and failure.”

“None without hope e'er lov'd the brightest fair,
But love can hope where reason would despair.”

“Lucidity's task: to attain a correct despair, an Olympian ferocity.”

“Life was created in the valleys. It blew up onto the hills on the old terrors, the old lusts, the old despairs. That's why you must walk up the hills so you can ride down.”

“In a world filled with hate, we must still dare to hope. In a world filled with anger, we must still dare to comfort. In a world filled with despair, we must still dare to dream. And in a world filled with distrust, we must still dare to believe.”

“Who seeing the fair ship
That swept through the bright waves.
Would dream that tyrants trod her deck,
And that her freight was slaves!”