Ever worked hard for a goal, only to be denied at the end?

[Herr Mullen]

I wanted to do something to prove I was a man...

...Consult a doctor.

But really, that's awful. Good luck finding a new career though, eh? You'll find something good.

If I might invoke an Arabian parable...

A man found a collection of wild horses, and everyone said to him how lucky he was to have found such fantastic beasts. He said "Maybe yes, maybe no." He tamed them, and used them on a daily basis. One day, his son was riding one of the horses, and he was thrown off, and paralised from the waist down. Everyone said "I'm so sorry to hear about your misfortune; it must be horrible." The man said "Maybe yes, maybe no." Then, a war started, and the recuiting officers came to town, and conscripted every young man in the town except for the man's son. "How lucky you are", everyone said, "To keep your son with you, rather than have him slaughtered on the feild of battle (like ours)." The man said, "Maybe yes, maybe no."