26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed. It is the will to prepare to win that is important. Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.
People are like stained-glass windows.
They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in, their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within. Confidence is contagious. So is lack of confidence. The sin of pride may be a small or a great thing in someone's life, and hurt vanity a passing pinprick, or a self-destroying or ever murderous obsession. You're not supposed to be so blind with patriotism that you can't face reality.