With this optimistic sentiment, Swedish diplomat Alva Myrdal assures us that even in the face of extreme difficulty, resilience and tenacity are innate qualities of the human spirit. Myrdal was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1982 for her distinguished work with the nuclear disarmament movement, which sought to convince the United States and Soviet Union to abandon their nuclear weapons during the Cold War. Her work and words show that it is always possible for hope, virtue, and peace to triumph.

Charlotte Brontë’s semi-autobiographical novel “Villette” (1853) is laden with themes of loneliness and grief. As its protagonist Lucy Snowe navigates personal hardships — the loss of family and friends, isolation in a new place, and heartbreak — she finds herself tempted to despair. Like Snowe, Brontë experienced her own familial losses and arduous experiences. And while this introspective and emotionally raw novel doesn’t deliver an idealized happy ending, it offers its own kind of resolve: a bittersweet recognition that even the darkest times are often illuminated by glimpses of light, both those we hold inside ourselves and those the world shows us if we remain open to seeing them.