The opening quote is from Jacques Brel's translation of The Impossible Dream:
"And the world will be better for this
That one man scorned and covered with scars
Still strove with his last ounce of courage
To fight the unbeatable foe
To reach the unreachable star"
- Joe Darion, The Impossible Dream (The Quest)
Except the Brel version uses a new metaphor for the passion that consumes that "one man": "brûle encore" (ie "is still burning").