The moment of near despair is quite often the moment that precedes courage.
Interpretation
Despair can be a turning point that leads to acts of courage.
This quote by Christopher Hitchens suggests that moments of deep despair can serve as critical junctures in a person's life, often propelling them towards courage and bravery. It emphasizes that when one faces the darkest moments, it is frequently an opportunity for personal strength and resilience to emerge, turning that desperation into a catalyst for courageous action.
In practice
This quote can be shared during a motivational speech about overcoming challenges.
In a public dialogue with Salman in London he [Edward Said] had once described the Palestinian plight as one where his people, expelled and dispossessed by Jewish victors, were in the unique historical position of being 'the victims of the victims': there was something quasi-Christian, I thought, in the apparent humility of that statement.
What can be asserted without evidence can be dismissed without evidence.
Never ask while you are doing it if what you are doing is fun. Don't introduce even your most reliably witty acquaintance as someone who will set the table on a roar.
[E]xceptional claims demand exceptional evidence.
The worst days are when you feel foggy in the head - chemo-brain they call it. It's awful because you feel boring. As well as bored. And stupid. And resigned.
Let me tell you something: for hundreds of thousands of years, this kind of discussion would have been impossible to have, or those like us would have been having it at the risk of our lives. Religion now comes to us in this smiley-face, ingratiating way β because itβs had to give so much more ground and because we know so much more. But youβve got no right to forget the way it behaved when it was strong, and when it really did believe that it had God on its side.
The most important accomplishment, I believe, was my voting against the First World War.
I carried out my orders until arrested. I had no sense that I was spying, and I ask that this be taken into account in deciding my verdict.
Every argument for Negro suffrage is an argument for women's suffrage.
I have left my home, my family, and my job, and I am raising my voice. To do otherwise would betray those who languish in prison. I can speak when so many cannot.
I was fine being in the closet at the beginning of my career because that's what you were supposed to be - until I realized that it didn't serve anybody, and I was left feeling utterly empty. This is who I am, so I've gotta be me.
I miss singing every day. I can't sing anymore. My voice doesn't work. I have Parkinson's disease, and it sometimes takes my words away from me.
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