No Guarantees

Redacted and edited from an email to a friend:

XXXXXX,
Of course, ... there are no guarantees, but you always are doomed to failure every time when you give up and predetermine... defeat...
Our great nation and our personal liberties today would not even exist if our forefathers had succumbed to the conventional wisdom of the time, that no ragtag band of untrained and overmatched colonials could defeat Great Britain, the preeminent world power.
Don't ever let anyone persuade you to believe that you can't make a difference.
...
...
Larry

Postscript: A Psychologist colleague of mine once pointed out to me that many folks become so sure that they'll fail that they actually become prey to "learned helplessness" syndrone.