Thoughts of a Philosophical Fighter Pilot (Hoover Institution Press Publication Book 431)

by James B. Stockdale

A fifth requirement of a good leader is a philosophical outlook. At least he should understand and be able to compassionately explain, when necessary, that there is no evidence that the way of the world assures the punishment of evil or the reward of virtue. The leader gives forethought to coping with undeserved reverses. As he is expected to handle fear with courage, so also is he expected to handle calamity with emotional stability or—as Plato might say—with endurance of the soul. Humans seem to have an inborn need to believe that virtue will be rewarded and evil punished. Often, when they come face to face with the fact that this is not always so, they are crushed. The only way I know to handle failure is to gain historical perspective, to think about people who have successfully lived with failure. A verse from the Book of Ecclesiastes perfectly describes the world to which I returned from prison: “I returned and saw that the race is not always to the swift nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise nor riches to men of understanding, nor favors to men of skill, but time and chance happeneth to them all.”