It is wise to keep in mind that neither success nor failure is

Host: The rain had just stopped, leaving the city in a faint mist, like a ghost that refused to fade. The streetlights flickered on one by one, casting long, liquid reflections on the pavement. Inside a small, dim café, the air was thick with the scent of coffee and wet asphalt. Jack sat by the window, his coat still dripping, his eyes sharp and distant, like steel observing the storm’s aftermath. Across from him, Jeeny held her cup with both hands, her fingers trembling slightly as if holding something more fragile than porcelain — perhaps hope itself.

Host: The neon from the sign outside painted their faces — blue, then red, then pale white — like a heartbeat flickering between life and memory.

Jeeny: “Roger Babson once said, ‘It is wise to keep in mind that neither success nor failure is ever final.’ Do you ever think about that, Jack?”

Jack: (leaning back, exhaling smoke) “I think about how people use quotes like that to comfort themselves when things fall apart. Success may not be final, sure — but neither is failure temporary. Sometimes, failure just is. It stays with you.”

Jeeny: (softly) “No, it doesn’t have to. Failure shapes, but it doesn’t define. Look at history — at those who fell and rose again. Lincoln lost multiple elections before he became President. If he had believed his failure was final, we might still be a nation divided.”

Host: A faint hum of the espresso machine filled the pause. Outside, a car horn echoed, distant, swallowed by the night.

Jack: “You’re romanticizing it. For every Lincoln, there are a thousand nameless people who failed and never came back. You just don’t hear their stories. History only remembers the ones who got lucky.”

Jeeny: (meeting his gaze) “Luck? You think it’s all chance?”

Jack: “Mostly. The world isn’t a moral system; it’s a machine. It doesn’t care who you are or what you believe. Sometimes, you just end up on the wrong side of the wheel.”

Jeeny: “Then why do you still fight it? Why do you still wake up and go to work, if it’s all just a machine?”

Jack: (smirking faintly) “Because I can