What’s the difference between conviction and desperation?
What are the things you can do when your back is to the wall and you have no choice? You may have a deep well of untapped energy in those moments, but the deployment of it will be hard to guide. Stress and fear will bend your vision. Sure, adrenaline can make you strong, but it can’t make you smart.
Conviction is the deep wellspring of the spirit. The things you can do not because you have no choice due to outside circumstances, but the things you can do because you have no choice due to what your soul will not abide.
If you are in touch with your conviction, desperation becomes far less likely. Conviction can be cultivated and summoned, and belongs only to those who have something to believe in. Honor in your heart and nobility of purpose will give you that well; the ignoble and the dishonorable can only ever be desperate.
The Opportunity Machine 