我從不失去信心，我非但堅信我會走出戰俘營，並且將迎來勝利。這段戰俘營的經歷在我人生中意義非凡。（I never lost faith in the end of the story, I never doubted not only that I would get out, but also that I would prevail in the end and turn the experience into the defining event of my life, which, in retrospect, I would not trade.）[2]
当柯林斯詢问谁没有存活下來时，斯托克代尔回答：
哦，这簡單，乐观主义者嘛。 他们當中有人曾說，“我们在圣诞节前就能離開戰俘營了。”但等聖誕節過了後，他们又说，“我们在复活节前一定會被釋放。”复活节都過了，感恩节又要來了，接下來又是聖誕節。 他们最終在絕望中去世。（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.）[2]
柯林斯覺得奇怪，您這不是自相矛盾嘛，但接著斯托克代尔又回答：
这給人一個很深刻的教訓，就是決不能喪失必勝的信念，並且永远不要将必勝的信念与所面对的殘酷的现实混为一谈。（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.）[2]
