Dad's job as a defense lawyer requires that he spend a lot of time investing hope in people that would commonly be deemed 'hopeless.' Dad said recently that he has two pillars that guide his work.
(1) It is always possible for someone to change, even if it is only one client in one thousand, you never know which one it will be. You work diligently, knowing that very few will change, but that one in one thousand is still worth the effort.
(2) The truth will always conquer.
In Dad's office for many years was a small piece of paper with the words, "There is no saint without a past and no sinner without a future."