The Stockdale Paradox

James Stockdale was a prisoner of the Vietnam War for seven years before being released on February 12, 1973. He later received the Medal of Honor.

The Stockdale Paradox was coined by author and researcher, James C. Collins during a conversation he had with Stockdale. When Collins asked which prisoners didn't make it out of Vietnam, Stockdale replied:

Oh, that's easy, 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. This is a very important lesson.

You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end — which you can never afford to lose — with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.

- James Stockdale, United States Navy Admiral

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