So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.
– F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Great Gatsby, Chapter 9. Nick Carraway on resilience, in the closing words of the novel. Rowing against the current signifies the determination of humans to keep hoping for the future and refuse to be overwhelmed by their own mortality. Nick also suggests that the past is impossible to escape and reaching goals a constant battle against currents that beat us back.