There is a saying in Tibetan, 'Tragedy should be utilized as a source of strength.' No matter what sort of difficulties, how painful experience is, if we lose our hope, that's our real disaster.

The quote distinguishes between external misfortune and the internal collapse that turns hardship into “real disaster.” “Utilized as a source of strength” implies an active practice: suffering can be transformed into patience, empathy, and moral courage rather than bitterness. The Dalai Lama’s emphasis on hope is not mere optimism but a disciplined refusal to let pain dictate one’s values or purpose. In this view, tragedy becomes instructive material for spiritual and psychological training; losing hope is catastrophic because it forecloses action, compassion, and the possibility of meaning-making. The line thus encapsulates a core Buddhist-inflected ethic of transforming affliction into the path.