“I whipped the sea when it defied me. They called it madness. I called it refusing to accept limits.”
— Xerxes I
Reported by Herodotus in 'Histories' (Book 7, 480 BCE). When storms destroyed his bridge, Xerxes ordered the Hellespont lashed.
I stood watching my engineers bridge the Hellespont. 'Impossible,' they said. When a storm destroyed it, I ordered the sea whipped. Madness? Maybe. But the moment you accept 'impossible,' you're defeated. I rebuilt that bridge and marched across. Did I conquer Greece? No. But I proved the only real limits are the ones you accept. When they tell you it can't be done, build your bridge anyway. And if it falls, build it again.