Kerry closed his Northeastern address with the story of American aviators during World War II who were tasked with 'flying the hump' — carrying supplies from India to China over the Himalayas in untested planes with no charts, higher than any aviator had previously flown. More than a thousand pilots were lost over four years, but they kept the supply lines open and helped win the war. He used this story to make the point that none of those pilots failed, because each pushed as far as their capabilities allowed. Kerry then quoted Nelson Mandela's famous observation about impossible tasks being completed, encouraging graduates to search for the greatness within themselves while pushing for the outermost horizons. It was a fitting capstone for a speech that urged graduates to resist the temptation of isolationism and engage with the world's most daunting challenges.