I have had dreams and I have had nightmares, but I have conquered

In the chronicles of human courage, few voices ring with such purity of purpose as that of Jonas Salk, the physician-scientist who gave the world the first safe vaccine against polio. Of his long struggle and triumph, he once said: “I have had dreams and I have had nightmares, but I have conquered my nightmares because of my dreams.” In this single utterance lies the essence of the human spirit — that within every heart, darkness and light dwell together, and that the power to overcome despair is born not of denial, but of vision.

The origin of this quote lies in Salk’s own journey through years of uncertainty and relentless labor. In the mid-twentieth century, when the world trembled before the terror of polio, fear stalked the homes of millions. Children were stricken without warning; some were left paralyzed, others confined to the mechanical prison of the iron lung. It was a time of collective nightmare, when science itself seemed powerless to protect the innocent. Yet within this shadowed hour, Salk carried a dream — a vision of immunity, of freedom, of a world where fear would no longer dictate the lives of children. It was that dream which sustained him through the sleepless nights of failure, through the skepticism of peers, and through the loneliness that only those who bear the burden of great hope can know.

To say that he conquered his nightmares is to say that he did not flee them. He faced them, armed not with comfort, but with conviction. His dream was the weapon that turned despair into discipline, fear into focus. Just as the fire of dawn conquers the darkness not by fighting it, but by illuminating it, Salk’s vision revealed that nightmares lose their power when met with a purpose greater than fear. In his victory, humanity glimpsed one of the oldest truths: that suffering, when transformed by dreams, becomes not destruction, but creation.

This wisdom reaches back to the ancients, for the same truth was known to those who walked before us. Consider Odysseus, who endured storms and monsters not by denying his fear, but by holding fast to the dream of home. His journey across perilous seas mirrors Salk’s voyage through the unknown realms of science: each faced the abyss, yet pressed on, guided by a light that neither tempest nor doubt could extinguish. Dreams, in their highest form, are not fantasies of ease — they are anchors of the soul, holding us steady when the winds of life howl fiercest.

But Salk’s words also teach us humility, for they remind us that no one escapes the nightmare. To dream is to invite struggle, for all visions of greatness call forth their opposites — resistance, doubt, and fear. Yet this is the very alchemy of greatness: the dream refines the nightmare, and the nightmare tests the dream. Without fear, courage cannot exist; without darkness, the stars cannot shine. The wise therefore do not curse their nightmares; they learn from them, using them as the forge that tempers their will.

In this way, Salk’s life becomes not just a story of scientific triumph, but a parable for the spirit. The dream that drives a person forward is the same light that keeps humanity alive through every age of uncertainty. Whether one builds vaccines, writes symphonies, raises children, or tends a small garden, it is the dream — the vision of a better tomorrow — that gives meaning to the struggle. To live without dreams is to yield to the nightmare; to live with them is to transform the world.

So let this be the lesson carried into the hearts of all who listen: Do not flee your nightmares — conquer them through your dreams. When fear rises, let purpose rise higher. When despair whispers, answer with vision. Each of us, like Salk, is given a choice: to let the darkness define us, or to let our light dissolve it. Cultivate your dream with patience. Hold it close when the night is long, and feed it with faith when doubt surrounds you. For it is through the steady flame of dreams that the dawn is born — and in that dawn, even the deepest nightmare must fade.

Thus spoke Jonas Salk, and through his words, the ancient wisdom lives again: that it is not the absence of fear that makes one strong, but the presence of a dream greater than fear itself.