I'm not much into boxing, but I always liked the Rocky series of movies. Although the films may seem a bit cartoonish, to me the narrative was really about overcoming odds, never giving up, exposing your own vulnerability and taking risk to achieve something great, and so on. When we saw the last Rocky movie a couple of years ago, this scene above really stood out to me. I know it is simple and may seem like Hollywood cheesiness to some people, but if every student graduating high school had at least this much wisdom, the world would be a better place. Moaning, complaining, and pessimism get us no where. I mentioned before over on the PZ website about the Japanese concept of "bambaru" - of never giving up, of sticking to something no matter how bad it gets. It is OK to fail so long as one does their absolute best and makes no excuses. It's OK to fall a thousand times so long as we get up each time. Persistence is key, in fact -- and Dan Pink talked about this in his book--persistence often trumps talent. Here is the quote from the movie below:

"The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place... and I don´t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently, if you let it. You, me or nobody, is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard you hit... It's about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward... how much you can take, and keep moving forward. That´s how winning is done. Now, if you know what you worth, go out and get what you worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hits. And not pointing fingers saying: You ain´t what you wanna be because of him or her or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain´t you! You´re better than that!" — Rocky Balboa

This slide features a very similar idea to the Rocky quote. 七転び八起き (Nana korobi ya oki) speaks to the concept of bending but not breaking and of never giving up or making excuses. Seems like a good and simple code by which to live.