there was one group that had the most trouble in the prison. “It was the optimists,” he said, “. . . 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. And they died of a broken heart.” But Stockdale persevered and did make it out. He quenched his desires and focused exclusively on what he did control: himself.
