“Well, you have to understand, it was never depressing. Because despite all those circumstances, I never ever wavered in my absolute faith that not only would I prevail—get out of this—but I would also prevail by turning it into the defining event of my life that would make me a stronger and better person. Not only that, Jim, you realize I’m the lucky one.” I said, “No, I don’t.” He said, “Yes, because I know the answer to how I would do, and you never will.” A little later in the conversation, . . . I asked him who didn’t make it out of those systemic circumstances as well as he had. He said, “Oh, it’s easy. I can tell you who didn’t make it out. It was the optimists.”