What Francis Said

I'm in a glum mood this evening, don't ask. I need a bit of bracing:

[E]ven if the breath of hope which blows on us from that New Continent were fainter than it is and harder to perceive, yet the trial (if we would not bear a spirit altogether abject) must by all means be made. For there is no comparison betwen that which we may lose by not trying and by not succeeding; since by not trying we throw away the chance of an immense good; and by not succeeding we only incur the loss of a little human labour. But as it is, it appears to me from what has been said, and also from what has been left unsaid, that there is hope enough and to spare, not only to make a bold man try, but also to make a sober-minded and wise man believe.

--Francis Bacon

There, that feels better. It appears that I copied this out (on a 4x6 card) just around the time I was starting law school.