"People are capable of more than they know," Sam agreed, nodding. "Though I think that what they are when they're under pressure, when things get difficult, when they find the courage and the strength not to break... I think that's in some ways more incredible than the things that they push themselves to be."
Under pressure, he'd broken. He'd slipped up. But there were better moments to come. And bad moments, too: not worse than what he'd already done, or at least they wouldn't be of his doing in quite the same way (the things he'd done soulless were somewhat his doing and yet not quite, all at once). But the good things gave him hope, and the fact that even after what he'd been through he'd gotten back to the person he was here gave him even more hope.
He chuckled, looking down at his drink. "This might sound really weird to you," he said. "But he's an angel."