In 1998, a journalist asked Czech president Vaclav Havel if he was optimistic or pessimistic about the war in Bosnia. “I am not optimistic,” Havel replied, “because I do not believe that everything will turn out well. And I am not pessimistic, because I do not believe that everything will turn out badly. I have hope. Hope is as important as life itself. Without hope we will never reach our dreams.”
