At the University of Lausanne in 1932, Baron Pierre de Coubertin delivered a speech at an event commemorating his 70^th birthday.  Although he had retired from the IOC seven years earlier, he still held the ceremonial title of Life President and was held in high esteem by the people of Lausanne.  As he looked at the European horizon, he saw dark clouds gathering, perhaps the signals of the global economic depression then unfolding or more prophetically anticipating the conflicts that would lead to another world war within the decade.  Either way, the Baron offered his audience an optimistic view that the crisis would pass, the darkness would lift and the future would be bright once again.  This was the expression of a genuine belief cultivated across a life of struggle, during which his Olympic triumphs always seemed to rise from dark and bitter battles. 

“Certainly the mist which is about to rise on your path, my dear young friends, is singularly opaque, dark and menacing ... Far be it from me to ignore its disturbing form and even its very real dangers. But never mind, plunge through the mist, and I tell you again, you will find fresh sunlit life on the other side. Courage, therefore, and hope! Indomitable courage and tenacious hope.”