James Stockdale, on his 7 years as a POW of North Vietnam, in the "Hanoi Hilton".
Q: "Who didn't make it out?"
A: "Oh, that's easy. The optimists"
Q: "The optimists? I don't understand."
A: "The optimists. Oh, 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. And they died of a broken heart"
