believe that giving up is the same thing as being realistic.

Your feelings are valid. Feeling like giving up means you still have a small amount of motivation to carry on. As someone who was once in that position, I’d advise them to measure where they are now compared to where they were in the past. The growth, no matter how small, shows their dreams are still valid. Build a solid foundation, block out the noise from naysayers and enjoy the ride.

My role in life is to give people hope, because if you run out of hope, we may as well give up.

If you accept that you can die at any time - then you might not be as ambitious as you are

It is better to risk starving to death then surrender. If you give up on your dreams, what's left?