Sumit Paul-Choudhury , The Guardian; ‘I became an optimist the night my wife died’: a science writer on loss and letting go of rationalism
"Everything that Shackleton achieved, he achieved with and because of those he had taken with him – 27 men chosen from more than 5,000 applicants. What did he look for? “The quality I look for most is optimism,” he said, “especially optimism in the face of reverses and apparent defeat. Optimism is true moral courage.”
Not many of us will have our mettle tested as Shackleton and his team did. But we all have our reckonings with life and death sooner or later, or other adversities that make us reappraise the world and question the future. It’s at such times that optimism can be hardest to secure, but also most valuable. Optimism, far from leading us to passively await our fates, can help us to actively explore our limitations – and transcend them."
