I Like to Collect Quotes

"You may crush men like grapes in a wine press. You can trample all
the sweetness out of them -- stamp them down until they look like a
flat, downtrodden mass of rubbish. Do that. But don't forget one
thing: out of the smashed remains of the grape harvest, my friend,
brandy is distilled. Not much of it, but potent. And one whiff of
good brandy carries with it the character and quality of the whole
ravaged vineyard. Do you understand that? So with men. Squeeze a
nation! Smash it and flatten it and twist out of it the last drop of
its blood. But listen: out of the trodden-out debris of the people
there comes a strong and vital spirit. It is there, fermenting,
growing strong. And out of the agony of the crushed grapes, remember,
comes the glory of the wine. Out of the agony of the people comes the
glory of the nation."

Gerald Kersh, Ten Old Tigers