WIST Quotations

Watterson, Bill -- Calvin and Hobbes (1993-01-02)

Dave — Tue, 28 Apr 2026 21:36:41 +0000

CALVIN: I’ve decided to stop caring about things. If you care, you just get disappointed all the time. If you don’t care, nothing matters, so you’re never upset. From now on, my rallying cry is, “So what?!”

HOBBES: That’s a tough cry to rally around.

CALVIN: So what?!

Bill Watterson (b. 1958) American cartoonist
Calvin and Hobbes (1993-01-02)
(Source)

Adams, John -- Letter (1816-02-02) to Thomas Jefferson

Dave — Mon, 27 Apr 2026 22:20:23 +0000

We must come to the Principles of Jesus. But, when will all Men and all Nations do as they would be done by? Forgive all Injuries and love their Enemies as themselves? I leave those profound Phylosophers whose Sagacity perceives the Perfectibility of Humane Nature, and those illuminated Theologians who expect the Apocalyptic Reign, to enjoy their transporting hopes; provided always that they will not engage us in Crusades and French Revolutions, nor burn us for doubting.

John Adams (1735–1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797–1801)
Letter (1816-02-02) to Thomas Jefferson
(Source)

Hugo, Victor -- William Shakespeare, Part 1, Book 2 “Men of Genius [Les Génies], ch. 2 (1.2.2) (1864) [tr. Baillot (1864)]

Dave — Mon, 20 Apr 2026 21:26:59 +0000

That posterity may be a rising instead of a setting star is man’s consolation. Time present works for time to come. Work, then, and hope.

[Que l’avenir soit un orient au lieu d’être un couchant, c’est la consolation de l’homme. Le temps présent travaille au temps futur, donc travaillez et espérez.]

Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
William Shakespeare, Part 1, Book 2 “Men of Genius [Les Génies], ch. 2 (1.2.2) (1864) [tr. Baillot (1864)]
(Source)

Speaking of Ezekiel's message in the Bible, as one of what Hugo considered the great authors/poets of history. (Source (French)). Another translation:

It is man's consolation that the future is to be a sunrise instead of a sunset. Time presents works for time to come; work, then, and hope!
[tr. Anderson (1886)]

Russell, Bertrand -- Education and the Good Life, Part 2, ch. 5 “Play and Fancy” (1926)

Dave — Wed, 08 Apr 2026 16:26:43 +0000

It is a dangerous error to confound truth with matter-of-fact. Our life is governed not only by facts, but by hopes; the kind of truthfulness which sees nothing but facts is a prison for the human spirit. Dreams are only to be condemned when they are a lazy substitute for an effort to change reality; when they are an incentive, they are fulfilling a vital purpose in the incarnation of human ideals. To kill fancy in childhood is to make a slave to what exists, a creature tethered to earth and therefore unable to create heaven.

Bertrand Russell (1872-1970) English mathematician and philosopher
Education and the Good Life, Part 2, ch. 5 “Play and Fancy” (1926)
(Source)

On children's literature.

Shakespeare, William -- Richard II, Act 2, sc. 2, l. 82ff (2.2.82-83) (1595)

Dave — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 20:30:09 +0000

QUEEN: Uncle, for God’s sake speak comfortable words.

YORK: Should I do so, I should belie my thoughts.
Comfort’s in heaven, and we are on the Earth,
Where nothing lives but crosses, cares, and grief.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Richard II, Act 2, sc. 2, l. 82ff (2.2.82-83) (1595)
(Source)

Rickover, Hyman -- Essay (1979-05-24), Statement before the Subcommittee on Energy Research and Production, Committee on Science and Technology, US House of Representatives

Dave — Mon, 16 Feb 2026 19:36:04 +0000

Another principle for successful application of a sophisticated technology is to resist the human inclination to hope that things will work out, despite evidence or suspicions to the contrary. This may seem obvious, but it is a human factor you must be conscious of and actively guard against. It can affect you in subtle ways, particularly when you have spent a lot of time and energy on a project and feel personally responsible for it, and thus somewhat possessive. It is a common human problem and it is not easy to admit what you thought was correct did not turn out that way.

Hyman Rickover (1900-1986) Polish-American naval engineer, admiral [b. Chaim Gdala Rykower]
Essay (1979-05-24), Statement before the Subcommittee on Energy Research and Production, Committee on Science and Technology, US House of Representatives
(Source)

Bierce, Ambrose -- “Oblivion,” The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)

Dave — Tue, 06 Jan 2026 20:09:50 +0000

OBLIVION, n. The state or condition in which the wicked cease from struggling and the dreary are at rest. Fame’s eternal dumping ground. Cold storage for high hopes. A place where ambitious authors meet their works without pride and their betters without envy. A dormitory without an alarm clock.

Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Oblivion,” The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)
(Source)

Originally published in the "Cynic's Word Book" column in the New York American (1904-09-27), and the "Cynic's Dictionary" column in the San Francisco Examiner (1903-10-28).

Stevenson, Robert Louis -- Essay (1881), “Virginibus Puerisque, Part 2”

Dave — Fri, 21 Nov 2025 16:56:35 +0000

Hope is the boy, a blind, headlong, pleasant fellow, good to chase swallows with the salt; Faith is the grave, experienced, yet smiling man. Hope lives on ignorance; open-eyed Faith is built upon a knowledge of our life, of the tyranny of circumstance and the frailty of human resolution. Hope looks for unqualified success; but Faith counts certainly on failure, and takes honourable defeat to be a form of victory. Hope is a kind old pagan; but Faith grew up in Christian days, and early learnt humility.
In the one temper, a man is indignant that he cannot spring up in a clap to heights of elegance and virtue; in the other, out of a sense of his infirmities, he is filled with confidence because a year has come and gone, and he has still preserved some rags of honour. In the first, he expects an angel for a wife; in the last, he knows that she is like himself — erring, thoughtless, and untrue; but like himself also, filled with a struggling radiancy of better things, and adorned with ineffective qualities.

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) Scottish essayist, novelist, poet
Essay (1881), “Virginibus Puerisque, Part 2”
(Source)

First published in Virginibus Puerisque and Other Papers, ch. 1, part 2 (1881).

Havel, Vaclav -- Disturbing the Peace: A Conversation with Karel Hvížďala, ch. 5 “The Politics of Hope” (1986) [tr. Wilson (1990)]

Dave — Wed, 19 Nov 2025 16:49:31 +0000

Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously headed for early success, but, rather, an ability to work for something because it is good, not just because it stands a chance to succeed. The more unpropitious the situation in which we demonstrate hope, the deeper that hope is. Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.

Václav Havel (1936-2011) Czech playwright, essayist, dissident, politician
Disturbing the Peace: A Conversation with Karel Hvížďala, ch. 5 “The Politics of Hope” (1986) [tr. Wilson (1990)]
(Source)

The last two sentences are usually combined as:

Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, regardless of how it turns out.

Variant:

Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something is worth doing no matter how it turns out.

Bible, Vol. 2. New Testament -- Hebrews 11: 1 [KJV (1611)]

Dave — Tue, 18 Nov 2025 15:07:36 +0000

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

[Ἔστιν δὲ πίστις ἐλπιζομένων ὑπόστασις, πραγμάτων ἔλεγχος οὐ βλεπομένων.]

The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
Hebrews 11: 1 [KJV (1611)]
(Source)

(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:

Only faith can guarantee the blessings that we hope for, or prove the existence of the realities that at present remain unseen.
[JB (1966)]

Only faith can guarantee the blessings that we hope for, or prove the existence of realities that are unseen.
[NJB (1985)]

To have faith is to be sure of the things we hope for, to be certain of the things we cannot see.
[GNT (1992 ed.)]

Faith is the reality of what we hope for, the proof of what we don’t see.
[CEB (2011)]

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
[NRSV (2021 ed.)]

Racine, Jean -- Fragments Historiques [tr. Bund/Friswell (1871)]

Dave — Tue, 19 Aug 2025 22:50:27 +0000

The reason why the Cardinal [Mazarin] deferred so long to grant the favors he had promised, was because he was persuaded that hope was much more capable of keeping men to their duty than gratitude.

[La raison pourquoi le Cardinal différoit tant à accorder les grâces qu’il avoit promises, c’est qu’il étoit persuadé que l’espérance est bien plus capable de retenir les hommes dans le devoir que non pas la reconnoissance.]

Jean Racine (1639-1699) French dramatist
Fragments Historiques [tr. Bund/Friswell (1871)]
(Source)

(Source (French)).

This phrase is quoted by commenters on La Rochefoucauld in conjunction with his Maxim 38.

Addison, Joseph -- Essay (1711-10-09), The Spectator, No. 191

Dave — Mon, 18 Aug 2025 18:01:45 +0000

The man who will live above his present circumstances is in great danger of living in a little time much beneath them; or as the Italian proverb runs, “The man who lives by hope, will die by hunger.”

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1711-10-09), The Spectator, No. 191
(Source)

Stevenson, Robert Louis -- Essay (1878-03), “Crabbed Age and Youth,” Cornhill Magazine, Vol. 37

Dave — Fri, 08 Aug 2025 16:19:41 +0000

Undying hope is co-ruler of the human bosom with infallible credulity. A man finds he has been wrong at every preceding stage of his career, only to deduce the astonishing conclusion that he is at last entirely right.

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) Scottish essayist, novelist, poet
Essay (1878-03), “Crabbed Age and Youth,” Cornhill Magazine, Vol. 37
(Source)

Collected in Virginibus Puerisque and Other Papers, ch. 2 (1881)

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, Sr. -- Poem (1861), “The Old Player” (closing lines), Songs in Many Keys (1862)

Dave — Mon, 07 Jul 2025 17:20:43 +0000

Dream on! Though Heaven may woo our open eyes,
Through their closed lids we look on fairer skies;
Truth is for other worlds, and hope for this;
The cheating future lends the present’s bliss;
Life is a running shade, with fettered hands,
That chases phantoms over shifting sands;
Death a still spectre on a marble seat,
With ever clutching palms and shackled feet;
The airy shapes that mock life’s slender chain,
The flying joys he strives to clasp in vain,
Death only grasps; to live is to pursue, —
Dream on! there’s nothing but illusion true!

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809-1894) American poet, essayist, scholar
Poem (1861), “The Old Player” (closing lines), Songs in Many Keys (1862)
(Source)

Ingersoll, Robert Green -- Lecture (1877-06-23), “The Ghosts,” Carson Theater, Carson City, Nevada

Dave — Fri, 27 Jun 2025 19:48:23 +0000

The idea of immortality, that like a sea has ebbed and flowed in the human heart, with its countless waves of hope and fear, beating against the shores and rocks of time and fate, was not born of any book, nor of any creed, nor of any religion. It was born of human affection, and it will continue to ebb and flow beneath the mists and clouds of doubt and darkness as long as love kisses the lips of death. It is the rainbow — Hope shining upon the tears of grief.

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, freethinker, orator
Lecture (1877-06-23), “The Ghosts,” Carson Theater, Carson City, Nevada
(Source)

Collected in The Ghosts, and Other Lectures (1878)

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, Sr. -- Speech (1859-03-10), Valedictory Address, Harvard University School of Medicine

Dave — Mon, 23 Jun 2025 19:43:49 +0000

You can never be too cautious in your prognosis, in the view of the great uncertainty of the course of any disease not long watched, and the many unexpected turns it may take.
I think I am not the first to utter the following caution : —
Beware how you take away hope from any human being. Nothing is clearer than that the merciful Creator intends to blind most people as they pass down into the dark valley. Without very good reasons, temporal or spiritual, we should not interfere with his kind arrangements. It is the height of cruelty and the extreme of impertinence to tell your patient he must die, except you are sure that he wishes to know it, or that there is some particular cause for his knowing it. I should be especially unwilling to tell a child that it could not recover; if the theologians think it necessary, let them take the responsibility. God leads it by the hand to the edge of the precipice in happy unconsciousness, and I would not open its eyes to what he wisely conceals.

Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (1809-1894) American poet, essayist, scholar
Speech (1859-03-10), Valedictory Address, Harvard University School of Medicine
(Source)

Sometimes paraphrased, "Beware how you take away hope from another human being."

Collected in The Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, Vol. 58, No. 8 (1858-03-25).

Shakespeare, William -- Richard III, Act 1, sc. 2, l. 218ff (1.2.218-219) (1592)

Dave — Mon, 02 Jun 2025 15:32:25 +0000

RICHARD: But shall I live in hope?
LADY ANNE: All men, I hope, live so.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Richard III, Act 1, sc. 2, l. 218ff (1.2.218-219) (1592)
(Source)

Bierce, Ambrose -- “Present,” The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)

Dave — Tue, 06 May 2025 22:50:09 +0000

PRESENT, n. That part of eternity dividing the domain of disappointment from the realm of hope.

Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Present,” The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)
(Source)

Originally published in the "Cynic's Word Book" column in the New York American (1906-05-30) and the "Cynic's Dictionary" column in the San Francisco Examiner (1906-06-20).

Bolt, Robert -- Lawrence of Arabia, Part 2, sc. 411 (1962) [with Michael Wilson]

Dave — Tue, 15 Apr 2025 20:36:10 +0000

FEISAL: Young men make wars — and the virtues of war are the virtues of young men — courage and hope for the future. Then old men make the peace, and the vices of peace are the vices of old men — mistrust and caution.

Robert Bolt (1924-1995) English dramatist
Lawrence of Arabia, Part 2, sc. 411 (1962) [with Michael Wilson]
(Source)

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem (1906), “Give,” st. 2, New Thought Pastels

Dave — Wed, 01 Jan 2025 19:11:53 +0000

Give words of comfort, of defence, and hope,
To mortals crushed by sorrow and by error.
And though thy feet through shadowy paths may grope,
Thou shalt not walk in loneliness or terror.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1906), “Give,” st. 2, New Thought Pastels
(Source)

Cunningham, J. V. -- “Meditation on Statistical Method,” st. 4, The Exclusions of a Rhyme (1960)

Dave — Fri, 11 Oct 2024 20:19:25 +0000

Error is boundless.
Nor hope nor doubt,
Though both be groundless,
Will average out.

J. V. Cunningham (1911-1985) American poet, literary critic, translator, teacher [James Vincent Cunningham]
“Meditation on Statistical Method,” st. 4, The Exclusions of a Rhyme (1960)
(Source)

Eliot, George -- Scenes of Clerical Life, “Janet’s Repentance,” ch. 6 (1857)

Dave — Wed, 04 Sep 2024 21:25:10 +0000

Any coward can fight a battle when he’s sure of winning; but give me the man who has pluck to fight when he’s sure of losing. That’s my way, sir; and there are many victories worse than a defeat.

George Eliot (1819-1880) English novelist [pseud. of Mary Ann Evans]
Scenes of Clerical Life, “Janet’s Repentance,” ch. 6 (1857)
(Source)

Richter, Jean-Paul -- Titan, Jubilee 6, cycle 34, “Fifth” (1803) [tr. Brooks (1863)]

Dave — Fri, 19 Jul 2024 17:26:57 +0000

What makes old age so sad is, not that our joys, but that our hopes then cease.

[Das Alter ist nicht trübe weil darin unsere Freuden, sondern weil unsere Hoffnungen aufhören.]

Jean Paul Richter (1763-1825) German writer, art historian, philosopher, littérateur [Johann Paul Friedrich Richter; pseud. Jean Paul]
Titan, Jubilee 6, cycle 34, “Fifth” (1803) [tr. Brooks (1863)]
(Source)

(Source (German))

King, Martin Luther -- Sermon (1967-12-24), “A Christmas Sermon on Peace,” Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta

Dave — Fri, 29 Mar 2024 16:25:27 +0000

Yes, I am personally the victim of deferred dreams, of blasted hopes, but in spite of that I close today by saying I still have a dream, because, you know, you can’t give up in life. If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all. And so today I still have a dream.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Sermon (1967-12-24), “A Christmas Sermon on Peace,” Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta
(Source)

Broadcast by CBC Radio as the final of King's Massey Lectures, "Conscience for Change." Collected in Conscience for Change, republished after his assassination as The Trumpet of Conscience (1968).

Kennedy, John F. -- State of the Union address (1962-01-11)

Dave — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 15:24:54 +0000

This basic clash of ideas and wills is but one of the forces reshaping our globe — swept as it is by the tides of hope and fear, by crises in the headlines today that become mere footnotes tomorrow. Both the successes and the setbacks of the past year remain on our agenda of unfinished business. For every apparent blessing contains the seeds of danger — every area of trouble gives out a ray of hope — and the one unchangeable certainty is that nothing is certain or unchangeable.

John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) American politician, author, journalist, US President (1961–63)
State of the Union address (1962-01-11)
(Source)

Cicero, Marcus Tullius -- De Senectute [Cato Maior; On Old Age], ch. 19 / sec. 68 (19.68) (44 BC) [tr. Copley (1967)]

Dave — Thu, 18 Jan 2024 22:59:14 +0000

Still you say, the young man has the hope of long life — a hope which the old cannot have. That hope is sheer wishful thinking, for what is more irrational than to count the uncertain as certain, the false as true? But the old man has nothing to look forward to at all. Even so, he is in better sort than the young, for he has obtained what the young only hope for: the young want to live a long life; the old have lived it.

[At sperat adulescens diu se victurum, quod sperare idem senex non potest. Insipienter sperat; quid enim stultius quam incerta pro certis habere, falsa pro veris? At senex ne quod speret quidem habet. At est eo meliore condicione quam adulescens, quoniam id quod ille sperat hic consecutus est: ille volt diu vivere, hic diu vixit.]

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
De Senectute [Cato Maior; On Old Age], ch. 19 / sec. 68 (19.68) (44 BC) [tr. Copley (1967)]
(Source)

(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

But ye may saye that the man adolescent & yong hopith that he shall lyve longe & aftir that a man is olde he may not have such an hope. Therfor I answere you that the yong man hopith foliously if by cause of his yong age he wenith to live long, for he is not certayn therof nor knowith not the trouthe. Now ther is nothyng more foly thene is for to have & holde the doubtuose thyngys as certayn & the fals as true & if ye oppose agenst olde age that the olde man hath nothyng in hym whereby he may hope to lyve more, I answere you, Scipion & Lelius, that by this thyng is bettir the condicion & the astate of the olde man than of the yong man, for the yong man will lyve long & the olde man hath lyved long.
[tr. Worcester/Worcester/Scrope (1481)]

But a young man hopeth to live long, which an old man may not look to do. He truly feedeth himself with a vain and a foolish, hope. For what merer folly can there be, than to accompt and repute things which be doubtful and uncertain, for infallible and certain, and things that are false, for true? An old man hath nothing to hope for; but he is therefore in far better state and case than is a young man, for he hath already enjoyed and obtained that, which the young man doth but hope for. The one desireth to live long, the other hath already lived long.
[tr. Newton (1569)]

But the young man hopes to live long, which the old man cannot. He hopes foolishly; for what is greater folly, then to account uncertain things for certain, false for true? The old man hath nothing to hope for more; therefore he is in better state then the former, seeing that what the other wisheth for, he hath obtained already; the young man would live long, the old man hath lived long.
[tr. Austin (1648), ch. 21]

But vigorous Youth may his gay thoughts erect
To many years, which Age must not expect,
But when he sees his airy hopes deceiv'd,
With grief he saies, who this would have believ'd?
We happier are then they, who but desir'd
To possess that, which we long since acquir'd.
[tr. Denham (1669)]

But Youth, you'll say perhaps, may live in Hopes of Length of Days, when we are deprived even of all Hope. A childish Hope this indeed! To hold Uncertainties for Certainties, and Falsity for Truth! Old Age, you say, has not even Hope for its Relief; but, even in that Respect, is it not far preferable to Youth, in being actually possessed of what the other only hopes for? Long Life is sure on the one side, and only wished for on the other.
[tr. Hemming (1716)]

But the young Man is in Hopes of Living long, which the Old cannot. I must tell him he hopes foolishly; for, can there be a greater Instance of Folly than to make sure of Uncertainties; or embrace Falsities for Truth? The Old Man has nothing more to hope for; then he is in a better State than the Young one, since what this hopes for, the other has already attain'd: The one is in Hopes of Living long, the other has done it.
[tr. J. D. (1744)]

It may however be said, perhaps, that Youth has Room at least to hope they have Length of Life before them, which in Old Men would be vain. But foolish is that Hope: For what can be more absurd, than to build on utter Uncertainties, and account on that for sure, which probably may never happen? And to what is alleged, that the Old Man has no Room lest for Hope, I say, Just so much the happier is his Condition, than that of the Young; because he has already attained, and is sure of what the other only wishes and hopes for: The one wishes to live long, the other is at the End of that Wish, he has got it; for he has lived long already.
[tr. Logan (1744)]

It will be replied, perhaps, that "youth may at least entertain the hope of enjoying many additional years; whereas an old man cannot rationally encourage so pleasing an expectation." But is it not a mark of extreme weakness to rely upon precarious contingencies, and to consider an event as absolutely to take place, which is altogether doubtful and uncertain? But admitting that the young may indulge this expectation with the highest reason, still the advantage evidently lies on the side of the old; as the latter is already in possession of that length of life which the former can only hope to attain.
[tr. Melmoth (1773)]

But a young man hopes that he shall live long; which same thing an old man cannot hope. He hopes absurdly. For what is sillier than to hold uncertainties for certainties, the false for true? An old man has not even what he may hope; but he is by that in a better condition than the young man, since that which the former hopes for, the latter has attained. The former wishes to live long; the latter has lived long.
[Cornish Bros. ed. (1847)]

Yet a young man hopes that he will live a long time, which expectation an old man cannot entertain. His hope is but a foolish one: for what can be more foolish than to regard uncertainties as certainties, delusions as truths? An old man indeed has nothing to hope for; yet he is in so much the happier state than a young one; since he has already attained what the other is only hoping for. The one is wishing to live long, the other has lived long.
[tr. Edmonds (1874)]

But, it is said, the young man hopes to live long, while the old man can have no such hope. The hope, at any rate, is unwise; for what is more foolish than to take things uncertain for certain, false for true? Is it urged that the old man has absolutely nothing to hope? For that very reason he is in a better condition than the young man, because what the youth hopes he has already obtained. The one wishes to live long; the other has lived long.
[tr. Peabody (1884)]

Yes, you will say; but a young man expects to live long; an old man cannot expect to do so. Well, he is a fool to expect it. For what can be more foolish than to regard the uncertain as certain, the false as true? "An old man has nothing even to hope." Ah, but it is just there that he is in a better position than a young man, since what the latter only hopes he has obtained. The one wishes to live long; the other has lived long.
[tr. Shuckburgh (1895)]

But you will say the young
Have hope of life, which is to us denied.
A foolish hope. For what more foolish is
Than where no surety is to think things sure,
Where all is doubtful to believe them fixed?
Granted the old man cannot even hope:
'Tis all the better since he has attained
To what the young man only hopes to gain:
The one desires long life, the other's lived.
[tr. Allison (1916)]

But, you may say, the young man hopes that he will live for a long time and this hope the old man cannot have. Such a hope is not wise, for what is more unwise than to mistake uncertainty for certainty, falsehood for truth? They say, also, that the old man has nothing even to hope for. Yet he is in better case than the young man, since what the latter merely hopes for, the former has already attained; the one wishes to live long, the other has lived long.
[tr. Falconer (1923)]

There is a crucial difference between a young man and an old one: the one hopes for a long life yet to come, and the other knows that his time is nearly up. But a hope is only a hope: what is more foolish than to confuse what is uncertain with what is certain, and what is false with what is true? The young man who lives in a state of great expectations is much worse off than the old man who looks forward to nothing. One can only dream of what the other has accomplished: one wants to live a long time, but the other already has.
[tr. Cobbold (2012)]

But, you say, that is not the point. The point is that a young person can reasonably hope to live a long time and an old one cannot. What an unwise hope. I mean, what is more follish than to value uncertainty above certainty? Look at life this way, what the young person only hopes for (and the hope is uncertain, as we have seen), the old person already has. The one hopes to live a long time, the other has already done so.
[tr. Gerberding (2014)]

But they say a young man hopes in a long lease
Of life while an old man awaits its surcease.
Taking certain for uncertain is a wish,
Like taking false for true, completely foolish.
But, they add, even at the end of the rope
An old man is in a better shape than a young man
For he has already fulfilled his life’s hope.
One wants the long life the other had in full measure,
ut dear gods what is “long” in man’s nature?
[tr. Bozzi (2015)]

But you may argue that young people can hope to live a long time, whereas old people cannot. Such hope is not wise, for what is more foolish than to mistake something certain for what is uncertain, or something false for what is true? You might also say8 that an old man has nothing at all to hope for. But he in fact possesses something better than a young person. For what youth longs for, old age has attained. A young person hopes to have a long life, but an old man has already had one.
[tr. Freeman (2016)]

But the young person hopes to live for a long time, a very hope which the old person cannot hold. They hope unwisely for what is more foolish than to take uncertainty for certainty and falsehood for truth. They claim also that the old person has nothing to hope for. But the elderly are in a better place than the young because the young merely hope for what the elderly have obtained and the one wishes to live long, while the other has already done so.
[tr. @sentantiq (2021)]

McLaughlin, Mignon -- The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 5 (1963)

Dave — Thu, 04 Jan 2024 15:35:42 +0000

Hope is the feeling we have that the feeling we have is not permanent.

Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983) American journalist and author
The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 5 (1963)
(Source)

Colton, Charles Caleb -- Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 37 (1820)

Dave — Wed, 20 Dec 2023 17:21:23 +0000

Ambition is to the mind, what the cap is to the falcon; it blinds us first, and then compels us to tower, by reason of our blindness. But alas, when we are at the summit of a vain ambition, we are also at the depth of real misery. We are placed where time cannot improve, but must impair us; where chance and change cannot befriend, but may betray us; in short, by attaining all we wish, and gaining all we want, we have only reached a pinnacle, where we have nothing to hope, but every thing to fear.

Charles Caleb "C. C." Colton (1780-1832) English cleric, writer, aphorist
Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 37 (1820)
(Source)

Baudelaire, Charles -- Le Spleen de Paris (Petits Poèmes en Prose), No. 28 “The Counterfeit Money [La Fausse Monnaie]” (1869) [tr. Shipley (1919)]

Dave — Mon, 25 Sep 2023 23:40:25 +0000

There is no sweeter pleasure than to surprise a man by giving him more than he expected.

[Il n’est pas de plaisir plus doux que de surprendre un homme en lui donnant plus qu’il n’espère.]

Charles Baudelaire (1821-1867) French poet, essayist, art critic
Le Spleen de Paris (Petits Poèmes en Prose), No. 28 “The Counterfeit Money [La Fausse Monnaie]” (1869) [tr. Shipley (1919)]
(Source)

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

There is no sweeter pleasure than to surprise a man by giving him more than he expects.
[tr. Varèse (1970)]

There is no sweeter pleasure than surprising a man by giving him more than he hopes for.
[tr. Kaplan (1989)]

Shakespeare, William -- King Lear, Act 2, sc. 2, l. 188 (2.2.188) (1606)

Dave — Mon, 14 Aug 2023 20:28:25 +0000

KENT: Fortune, good-night. Smile once more; turn thy wheel.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
King Lear, Act 2, sc. 2, l. 188 (2.2.188) (1606)
(Source)

Turner, Tina -- Happiness Becomes You, ch. 8 (2020)

Dave — Mon, 17 Jul 2023 22:34:14 +0000

When you live with a joyful sense of purpose, when you infuse your life with a greater purpose beyond your individual self, every aspect of your karma can become a brilliant facet of your mission. You can transform sorrow and adversity of any sort into joy, stability, health, and prosperity. By changing poison into medicine and accomplishing your inner revolution, you can use every experience of karma to encourage others who suffer from the same problems that you overcame.

You can become an ambassador of hope, an essential and radiant treasure of humanity, in which you recognize that all who have ever lived are members of your extended family.

As you continue to spread light in this way, actively doing good in the world, that energy will come back to you in abundant positivity. When you refuse to perpetuate any bad that has been done to you, you can free yourself from the chains of negativity.

Tina Turner (1939-2023) American singer, songwriter, actress [b. Anna Mae Bullock]
Happiness Becomes You, ch. 8 (2020)
(Source)

Child, Lydia Maria -- Letter to John Fraser (1868)

Dave — Tue, 06 Jun 2023 20:10:48 +0000

All who strive to live for something beyond mere selfish aims find their capacities for doing good very inadequate to their aspirations. They do so much less than they want to do, and so much less than they, at the outset, expected to do, that their lives, viewed retrospectively, inevitably look like failure.

Lydia Maria Child (1802-1880) American abolitionist, activist, journalist, suffragist
Letter to John Fraser (1868)
(Source)

Euripides -- Bacchæ [Βάκχαι], l. 902ff (Stasimon 3, Epode) [Chorus/Χορός] (405 BC) [tr. Vellacott (1973)]

Dave — Tue, 23 May 2023 16:53:35 +0000

Blest is the man who cheats the stormy sea
And safely moors beside the sheltering quay;
So, blest is he who triumphs over trial.
One man, by various means, in wealth or strength
Outdoes his neighbour; hope in a thousand hearts
Colours a thousand different dreams; at length
Some find a dear fulfilment, some denial.
But this I say,
That he who best
Enjoys each passing day
Is truly blest.

[εὐδαίμων μὲν ὃς ἐκ θαλάσσας
ἔφυγε χεῖμα, λιμένα δ᾽ ἔκιχεν:
εὐδαίμων δ᾽ ὃς ὕπερθε μόχθων
ἐγένεθ᾽: ἑτέρᾳ δ᾽ ἕτερος ἕτερον
ὄλβῳ καὶ δυνάμει παρῆλθεν.
μυρίαι δ᾽ ἔτι μυρίοις
εἰσὶν ἐλπίδες: αἳ μὲν
τελευτῶσιν ἐν ὄλβῳ
βροτοῖς, αἳ δ᾽ ἀπέβησαν:
τὸ δὲ κατ᾽ ἦμαρ ὅτῳ βίοτος
εὐδαίμων, μακαρίζω.]

Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Bacchæ [Βάκχαι], l. 902ff (Stasimon 3, Epode) [Chorus/Χορός] (405 BC) [tr. Vellacott (1973)]
(Source)

(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:

Blest is the man who 'scapes the stormy wave.
And in the harbour finds repose:
He too is blest, 'midst dangers brave,
Who soars above the malice of his foes:
And now these, now those possess
Superior talents or success;
Distinct their aims; but hope each bosom fires.
There are, a rich encrease who find,
The vows of some are scatter'd in the wind:
But in my judgement blest are they
Who taste, tho' only for the day.
The joys their soul desires.
[tr. Wodhull (1809)]

Happy is he who has fled a storm on the sea, and reached harbor. Happy too is he who has overcome his hardships. One surpass another in different ways, in wealth or power. There are innumerable hopes to innumerable men, and some result in wealth to mortals, while others fail. But I call him blessed whose life is happy day today.
[tr. Buckley (1850)]

Who hath 'scaped the turbulent sea,
And reached the haven, happy he!
Happy he whose toils are o'er
In the race of wealth and power!
This one her, and that one there,
Passes by, and everywhere
Still expectant thousands over
Thousands hopes are seen to hover,
Some to mortals end in bliss;
Some have already fled away:
Happiness alone is his
That happy is to-day.
[tr. Milman (1865)]

Happy he, who from the storm,
Has the breaker escaped, and the harbour has reached;
Happy he who after toil
Is the victor, for many the ways in which man
Wins him power, and wins him wealth.
Thousand-fold ever to thousands of men,
Hope follows upon hope,
With some it grows unceasingly,
With some it wastes to nothingness.
But he whose life is ever fresh,
Lives in unbroken happiness.
[tr. Rogers (1872), l. 865ff.]

Happy is he who hath escaped the wave from out the sea, and reached the haven; and happy he who hath triumphed o’er his troubles; though one surpasses another in wealth and power; yet there be myriad hopes for all the myriad minds; some end in happiness for man, and others come to naught; but him, whose life from day to day is blest, I deem a happy man.
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]

Blest who from ravening seas
Hath 'scaped to haven-peace,
Blest who hath triumphed in endeavour's toil and throe.
This man to higher height
Attains, of wealth, of might,
Than that; yet myriad hopes in myriad hearts still glow:
To fair fruition brought
Are some, some come to nought:
Happy is he whose bliss from day to day doth grow.
[tr. Way (1898)]

Happy he, on the weary sea
Who hath fled the tempest and won the haven.
Happy whoso hath risen, free,
Above his striving. For strangely graven
Is the orb of life, that one and another
In gold and power may outpass his brother.
And men in their millions float and flow
And seethe with a million hopes as leaven;
And they win their Will, or they miss their Will,
And the hopes are dead or are pined for still;
But whoe'er can know,
As the long days go,
That To Live is happy, hath found his Heaven!
[tr. Murray (1902)]

-- Blessèd is he who escapes the storm at sea,
who comes home to his harbor.
-- Blessèd is he who emerges from under affliction.
-- In various ways one man outraces another in the race for wealth and power.
-- Ten thousand men possess ten thousand hopes.
-- A few bear fruit in happiness; the others go awry.
-- But he who garners day by day the good of life, he is happiest. Blessèd is he.
[tr. Arrowsmith (1960)]

Happy the man who from the sea
escapes the storm and finds harbor;
happy he who has surmounted
toils; and in different ways one surpasses another
in prosperity and power.
Besides this, for countless men there are countless
hopes -- some of them
reach to the end in prosperity
for mortals, and others depart;
but him whose life day by day
is happy do I count blessed.
[tr. Kirk (1970)]

Happy he from the sea escaping
out of the storm, arriving at anchorage;
happy he fleeing labour's straining;
in many manners may men surpass other men
in prosperity and in power.
Thousand-fold upon thousand-fold
hopes come crowding upon us,
and some finally prosper
for mortals, some are vanish'd:
who day by day has a livelihood of happiness, he is blessed
[tr. Neuburg (1988)]

Happy the man who withstands
life's assaults.
Somehow, in some way, some man surpasses some other
in position and fortune.
For millions of men there are millions of hopes.
For some, these ripen into happiness,
for others into nothing.
Count lucky the man who is happy on this one day.
[tr. Cacoyannis (1982)]

That man is blessed who fled the storm
At sea and reached the bay.
And he is blessed who rose above
His toil. In various ways
One man outstrips in wealth and power
Another: countless men
Have countless hopes: some end in joy,
But others drift way.
The man who day to day has luck
In life -- that man I bless.
[tr. Blessington (1993)]

Happy the man who escapes
the storm at sea and reaches harbor.
Happy, too, is he who overcomes
his toils. And in different ways one man
surpasses another in prosperity and power.
Besides, countless are the hopes
of countless men, Some of those hopes
end in prosperity for mortals, others vanish.
But I count him blessed whose life,
from day to day, is happy.
[tr. Esposito (1998)]

Happy the man who has come away
safe on the beach from a storm at sea,
happy the man who has risen above
trouble and toil. Many are the ways
one man may surpass another
in wealth or power,
and beyond each hope there beckons another
hope without number.
Hope may lead a man to wealth,
hope may pass away;
but I admire a man when he
is happy in an ordinary life.
[tr. Woodruff (1999)]

Happy is he who escapes
A storm at sea and finds safe harbor.
Happy is he who has risen above
Great toils. In different ways,
Some persons outdo others
In their wealth and power.
And hopes are as many as those who hope --
Some will end in rich reward, others in nothing.
But those whose lives are happy
Day by day -- those
I call the blesséd.
[tr. Gibbons/Segal (2000)]

Blessed is he that out of the sea
escapes the storm and wins the harbor;
blessed he who triumphs over
trouble: one man surpasses another
in respect to wealth or power.
Furthermore, in countless hearts
there live countless hopes, some
ending in good fortune,
though some vanish away.
But the man whose life today is happy,
him I count blessed.
[tr. Kovacs (2002)]

Joy of the storm endured,
And the harbour safely reached.
Joy of hardship overcome.
Joy of striving for wealth and power.
Joy of hope. Joy of dreams,
Fulfilled or unfulfilled.
And most blessed they who takes their joy
In the simple detail of the day by day --
[tr. Teevan (2002)]

Happy is the man who has escaped the storms of life’s angry seas and found a harbour; and happy is the man who have endured those storms.
Men are infinite in number and their hopes have no end and some of these hopes bring joy to some and nothing to others.
I say blessed is the man whose life has been happy -- so far.
These are useful pieces of advice. True wisdom.
[tr. Theodoridis (2005)]

Blessed is the one who's fled the
Storm at sea and come to harbour;
And happy is he who rises above
Hardships; for one may sur-
Pass another in wealth or in power,
But these are a lot hopes to a lot of
Different people; and many end in
Happiness while others fail mis’rably
But the one who's happy day-to-day,
Is the one who's truly blessed.
[tr. Valerie (2005)]

Whoever has escaped a storm at sea
is a happy man in harbour,
whoever overcomes great hardship
is likewise another happy man.
Various men outdo each other
in wealth, in power,
in all sorts of ways.
The hopes of countless men
are infinite in number.
Some make men rich;
some come to nothing,
So I consider that man blessed
who lives a happy life
existing day by day.
[tr. Johnston (2008), l. 1106ff]

Lucky is the man who escapes a storm at sea
and finds his way home to safe harbour --
the man delivered from hardship.
We all compete for wealth and power,
and for every thousand hearts a thousand hopes.
Some wither, some bear fruit.
But the one who lives from day to day,
finding good where he can:
he is happy --
he is a lucky man.
[tr. Robertson (2014)]

Fortunate is the one who flees
The swell of the sea and returns to harbor.
Fortunate is the one who survives through troubles.
One is greater than another in different things,
He surpasses in fortune and power --
But in numberless hearts still
Are numberless hopes: some result
In good fortune, but other mortal dreams
Just disappear.
Whoever has a happy life to-day,
I consider fortunate.
[tr. @sentantiq (2018)]

Happy is the one who escapes a sea-storm
and comes home to the harbor.
And happy is the one who stands against their hardships.
Happy are they who endure.
One man may exceed another, in his own way.
In wealth.
In power.
Countless hopes for yet-more-countless people.
Sometimes hope wins out, gives us riches --
And sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes we fail.
But the one who can live in spite of this,
who is happy day to day.
That one is blessed.
[tr. Pauly (2019)]

Blessed is the one who finds a harbour safe from the winter sea. Blessed is the one who travels beyond affliction. Blessed is the one who wins great joy. Numberless more have their dreams. Some hopes are fulfilled, some vanish. Whoever lives happily from day to day I bless.
[tr. Behr/Foster (2019)]

Fortunate [eudaimōn] is he who has fled a storm on the sea and reached harbor. Eudaimōn too is he who has overcome his toils. Different people surpass others in various ways, be it in wealth [olbos] or in power. Mortals have innumerable hopes, and some come to telos in prosperity [olbos], while others fail. I deem him blessed whose life is eudaimōn day by day.
[tr. Buckley/Sens/Nagy (2020)]

McLaughlin, Mignon -- The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 5 (1963)

Dave — Mon, 06 Mar 2023 15:32:10 +0000

Hope is the feeling we have that the feeling we have is not permanent.

Mignon McLaughlin (1913-1983) American journalist and author
The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 5 (1963)
(Source)

This phrase is often cited to Jean Kerr. That's because she paraphrases it in her play, Finishing Touches, Act 3 (1974):

FELICIA: Do you know the book The Neurotic's Notebook? There's a line in it I say to myself when I get discouraged. It goes: "Hope is the feeling you have that the feeling you have isn't permanent."

Morris, William -- Signs of Change, ch. 6 (1888)

Dave — Wed, 16 Nov 2022 15:28:58 +0000

Worthy work carries with it the hope of pleasure in rest, the hope of the pleasure in our using what it makes, and the hope of pleasure in our daily creative skill. All other work but this is worthless; it is slaves’ work — mere toiling to live, that we may live to toil.

William Morris (1834-1896) British textile designer, writer, socialist activist
Signs of Change, ch. 6 (1888)
(Source)

Jefferson, Thomas -- Letter (1817-06-14) to François de Marbois

Dave — Mon, 24 Oct 2022 15:23:56 +0000

My theory has always been that if we are to dream, the flatteries of hope are as cheap, and pleasanter than the gloom of despair.

Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
Letter (1817-06-14) to François de Marbois
(Source)

Johnson, Samuel -- Letter (1 Jun 1762)

Dave — Thu, 04 Aug 2022 20:48:22 +0000

Hope is itself a species of happiness, and, perhaps, the chief happiness which this world affords: but, like all other pleasures immoderately enjoyed, the excesses of hope must be expiated by pain; and expectations improperly indulged must end in disappointment.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Letter (1 Jun 1762)
(Source)

Lewis, John -- Stump speech

Dave — Wed, 27 Jul 2022 19:43:11 +0000

Do not get lost in a sea of despair. You must not become bitter or hostile; be hopeful and optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year. It is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble. We will find a way to make a way out of no way.

John Lewis (1940-2020) American politician and civil rights leader
Stump speech

Lewis used variations of these phrases regularly through his career. Several abridged combinations showed up in social media:

Ours is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year--it is the struggle of lifetime. We must build a world at peace with itself.
[Twitter (14 Jul 2016)]

Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.
[Twitter (27 Jun 2018)]

Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Do not become bitter or hostile. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble. We will find a way to make a way out of no way.
[Twitter (16 Jul 2019)]

Heschel, Abraham -- “What Ecumenism Is” (1963)

Dave — Fri, 10 Jun 2022 16:47:20 +0000

A religious man is a person who holds God and man in one thought at one time, at all times, who suffers in himself harm done to others, whose greatest passion is compassion, whose greatest strength is love and defiance of despair.

Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907-1972) Polish-American rabbi, theologian, philosopher
“What Ecumenism Is” (1963)
(Source)

Collected in Susanna Heschel, ed., Moral Grandeur and Spiritual Audacity (1996). In other essays in the book, he uses the first clause ("a person who holds God and man in one thought, at one time, at all times") as a definition of a "prophet."

Craik, Dinah -- Christian’s Mistake, ch. 2 (1865)

Dave — Fri, 06 May 2022 14:36:41 +0000

“Faith, hope, and charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.”

There is a deeper meaning in this text than we at first see. Of “these three,” two concern ourselves; the third concerns others. When faith and hope fail, as they do sometimes, we must try charity, which is love in action. We must speculate no more on our duty, but simply do it. When we have done it, however blindly, perhaps Heaven will show us the reason why.

Dinah Craik (1826-1887) English novelist and poet [b. Dinah Maria Mulock]
Christian’s Mistake, ch. 2 (1865)
(Source)

A reference to the Bible, 1 Cor. 13:13, the "Three Theological Virtues."

Laing, R. D. -- The Politics of Experience, ch. 1 (1967)

Dave — Fri, 15 Apr 2022 22:31:03 +0000

Yet, if nothing else, each time a new baby is born there is a possibility of reprieve. Each child is a new being, a potential prophet, a new spiritual prince, a new spark of light precipitated into the outer darkness. Who are we to decide that it is hopeless?

R. D. Laing (1927-1989) Scottish psychiatrist [Ronald David Laing]
The Politics of Experience, ch. 1 (1967)
(Source)

Shain, Merle -- Hearts That We Broke Long Ago, ch. 11 (1983)

Dave — Fri, 15 Apr 2022 17:01:55 +0000

Cynicism is a form of cowardice, a failure of courage to hope.

Merle Shain (1935-1989) Canadian journalist and author
Hearts That We Broke Long Ago, ch. 11 (1983)
(Source)

Macaulay, Rose -- The Valley Captives (1911)

Dave — Thu, 24 Mar 2022 14:24:23 +0000

The very utterness of the crash and ruin, the desperation of the case, might be its hope. On ruins one can begin to build. Anyhow, looking out from ruins one clearly sees; there are no obstructing walls.

Rose Macaulay (1881-1958) English writer
The Valley Captives (1911)

Virgil -- The Aeneid [Ænē̆is], Book 1, l. 207 (1.207) [Aeneas] (29-19 BC) [tr. West (1990)]

Dave — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 21:13:28 +0000

Your task is to endure and save yourselves for better days.

[Durate, et vosmet rebus servate secundis.]

Virgil (70-19 BC) Roman poet [b. Publius Vergilius Maro; also Vergil]
The Aeneid [Ænē̆is], Book 1, l. 207 (1.207) [Aeneas] (29-19 BC) [tr. West (1990)]
(Source)

(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

Live, and preserve yourselves for better chance.
[tr. Ogilby (1649)]

Endure the hardships of your present state;
Live, and reserve yourselves for better fate.
[tr. Dryden (1697)]

Bear up, and live for happier days.
[tr. Conington (1866)]

Be firm,
And keep your hearts in hope of brighter days.
[tr. Cranch (1872), l. 263ff]

Keep heart, and endure till prosperous fortune come.
[tr. Mackail (1885)]

Abide, endure, and keep yourselves for coming days of joy.
[tr. Morris (1900)]

Bear up; reserve you for a happier day.
[tr. Taylor (1907), l. 238]

Have patience all!
And bide expectantly that golden day.
[tr. Williams (1910)]

Endure, and keep yourselves for days of happiness.
[tr. Fairclough (1916)]

Endure, and keep yourself for better days.
[tr. Humphries (1951)]

Hold on, and find salvation in the hope of better things!
[tr. Day Lewis (1952)]

Hold out, and save yourselves for kinder days.
[tr. Mandelbaum (1971)]

Be patient:
Save yourselves for more auspicious days.
[tr. Fitzgerald (1981), ll. 282-83]

Endure,
and preserve yourselves for happier days.
[tr. Kline (2002)]

Endure, and save yourselves for happier times.
[tr. Lombardo (2005)]

Bear up.
Save your strength for better times to come.
[tr. Fagles (2006)]

Hold on.
Save your strength for better days to come.
[tr. Bartsch (2021)]

Aristotle -- Attributed in Diogenes Laërtius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers [Vitae Philosophorum], Book 5, sec. 11 [tr. Yonge (1853)]

Dave — Tue, 10 Aug 2021 14:37:34 +0000

On another occasion the question was put to him, what hope is? and his answer was, “The dream of a waking man.”

[ἐρωτηθεὶς τί ἐστιν ἐλπίς, “ἐγρηγορότος,” εἶπεν, “ἐνύπνιον.”]

Aristotle (384-322 BC) Greek philosopher
Attributed in Diogenes Laërtius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers [Vitae Philosophorum], Book 5, sec. 11 [tr. Yonge (1853)]
(Source)

(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:

He was asked to define hope, and he replied, "It is a waking dream."
[tr. Hicks (1925), sec. 18]

When asked what hope is, he said “It is dreaming while awake.”
[tr. @sentantiq (2016), 5.21]

When asked to define hope, he said, "It is a waking dream."
[tr. Mensch (2018)]

Milne, A. A. -- House at Pooh Corner, ch. 8 “Piglet Does a Very Grand Thing” (1928)

Dave — Mon, 26 Jul 2021 22:37:00 +0000

“Supposing a tree fell down, Pooh, when we were underneath it?”
“Supposing it didn’t,” said Pooh after careful thought.
Piglet was comforted by this.

A. A. Milne (1882-1956) English poet and playwright [Alan Alexander Milne]
House at Pooh Corner, ch. 8 “Piglet Does a Very Grand Thing” (1928)
(Source)

Orwell, George -- “Can Socialists Be Happy?” Tribune (1943-12-20) [as John Freeman]

Dave — Wed, 07 Jul 2021 21:18:09 +0000

Men use up their lives in heart-breaking political struggles, or get themselves killed in civil wars, or tortured in the secret prisons of the Gestapo, not in order to establish some central-heated, air-conditioned, strip-lighted Paradise, but because they want a world in which human beings love one another instead of swindling and murdering one another. And they want that world as a first step. Where they go from there is not so certain, and the attempt to foresee it in detail merely confuses the issue.

George Orwell (1903-1950) English journalist, essayist, writer [pseud. of Eric Arthur Blair]
“Can Socialists Be Happy?” Tribune (1943-12-20) [as John Freeman]
(Source)

Addison, Joseph -- (Attributed)

Dave — Mon, 14 Jun 2021 17:10:29 +0000

If you wish to succeed in life, make perseverance your bosom friend, experience your wise counselor, caution your elder brother, and hope your guardian genius.

Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
(Attributed)

Broadly attributed to Addison, but possibly a 19th Century creation. The earliest found appearance is in 1854, and the earliest attribution to Addison in in 1862.

Hinshelwood, Cyril -- “Classics among the intellectual disciplines,” Presidential Address to the Classical Association, Hull, UK (1959-04-09)

Dave — Mon, 19 Apr 2021 18:10:37 +0000

A common fallacy in much of the adverse criticism to which science is subjected today is that it claims certainty, infallibility and complete emotional objectivity. It would be more nearly true to say that it is based upon wonder, adventure and hope.

Cyril Norman Hinshelwood (1897-1967) British chemist and Nobel laureate
“Classics among the intellectual disciplines,” Presidential Address to the Classical Association, Hull, UK (1959-04-09)

Quoted in the Sunday Times (1959-05-17), and in E. J. Bowen's obituary of Hinshelwood, in Chemistry in Britain, Vol. 3 (1967), p. 534.

Elizabeth II -- Address to the Nation (5 Apr 2020)

Dave — Wed, 17 Mar 2021 18:26:40 +0000

We should take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will return: we will be with our friends again; we will be with our families again; we will meet again.

Elizabeth II (b. 1926) Queen of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth realms
Address to the Nation (5 Apr 2020)
(Source)

On the COVID-19 Pandemic. The last line is an allusion to the famous WWII song.

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem (1892), “Insight,” An Erring Woman’s Love

Dave — Mon, 26 Oct 2020 16:43:51 +0000

And however dark the skies may appear,
And however souls may blunder,
I tell you it all will work out clear,
For good lies over and under.

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (1850-1919) American author, poet, temperance advocate, spiritualist
Poem (1892), “Insight,” An Erring Woman’s Love
(Source)

Pratchett, Terry -- Discworld No. 4, Mort (1987)

Dave — Tue, 13 Oct 2020 16:08:51 +0000

He’d been wrong, there was a light at the end of the tunnel, and it was a flamethrower.

Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) English author
Discworld No. 4, Mort (1987)
(Source)

Paddleford, Clementine -- A Flower for My Mother (1958)

Dave — Mon, 28 Sep 2020 15:00:23 +0000

Never grow a wishbone, daughter, where your backbone ought to be.

Clementine Paddleford (1898-1967) American food writer
A Flower for My Mother (1958)
(Source)

Quoting her mother.

Cicero, Marcus Tullius -- Epistulae ad Atticum [Letters to Atticus], Book 9, Letter 10, sec. 3 (9.10.3) (49 BC) [tr. Shackleton Bailey (1968), # 177]

Dave — Mon, 31 Aug 2020 20:30:59 +0000

There is said to be hope for a sick man, as long as there is life.

[Ut aegroto dum anima est, spes esse dicitur.]

Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Epistulae ad Atticum [Letters to Atticus], Book 9, Letter 10, sec. 3 (9.10.3) (49 BC) [tr. Shackleton Bailey (1968), # 177]
(Source)

Cicero says this was his feeling of hope for how things would turn out, as long as Pompey was in Italy -- which he had just evacuated from. Cicero makes it clear this is a common phrase at the time, usually expressed more straightforwardly as "While there is life there is hope" [Dum anima est, spes est.]

(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

But as we say of sick people, "while there is life there is hope."
[tr. Jeans (1880), # 63]

As in the case of a sick man one says, "While there is life there is hope."
[tr. Shuckburgh (1900), # 364]

As a sick man is said to have hope, so long as he has breath.
[tr. Winstedt (Loeb) (1913)]

Ciardi, John -- “Of Time and Chances: A Parental Reverie,” Saturday Review (1972-03-18)

Dave — Wed, 15 Jul 2020 16:35:48 +0000

Every parent is at some time the father of the unreturned prodigal, with nothing to do but keep his house open to hope.

John Ciardi (1916-1986) American poet, writer, critic
“Of Time and Chances: A Parental Reverie,” Saturday Review (1972-03-18)
(Source)

Nash, Ogden -- “Good-bye, Old Year, You Oaf, or Why Don’t They Pay the Bonus?” (1935)

Dave — Fri, 10 Jul 2020 17:44:49 +0000

Man is a victim of dope
In the incurable form of hope.

Ogden Nash (1902-1971) American poet
“Good-bye, Old Year, You Oaf, or Why Don’t They Pay the Bonus?” (1935)
(Source)

Hugo, Victor -- Poem (1836), “In the Church of * [Dans l’eglise de *],” Songs of Dusk [Les chants du crepuscule], # 33 sec. 6

Dave — Fri, 07 Feb 2020 22:51:42 +0000

Be like the bird, who
Halting in his flight
On limb too slight
Feels it give way beneath him,
Yet sings
Knowing he hath wings.

[Soyez comme l’oiseau, posé pour un instant
Sur des rameaux trop frêles,
Qui sent ployer la branche et qui chante pourtant,
Sachant qu’il a des ailes!]

Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
Poem (1836), “In the Church of *** [Dans l’eglise de ***],” Songs of Dusk [Les chants du crepuscule], # 33 sec. 6
(Source)

Full French poem. Other translations:

Be like the bird that, on a bough too frail
To bear him, gaily sings!
He carols -- thought he slender branches fail:
He knows that he has wings.
[Source]

Be like the bird that seeks its short repose
And dauntless sings
Upon that bending twig, because it knows
That it has wings.
[Source]

Be like that bird, that halting in her flight
A while on boughs too slight;
Feels them give way beneath her,
And yet sings, yet sings,
Knowing that she hath wings.
[Laura Sedgwick Collins, 1890s song, "Be Like That Bird"]

Thou art like the bird
That alights and sings
Though the frail spray bends --
For he knows he has wings.
[tr. Kemble (Butler)]

Be as a bird that --
Pausing in its flight --
Alights upon a branch too slight
And feeling that it bends beneath it
Sings -- knowing it has wings.
[Source]

Coelho, Paulo -- The Alchemist, ch. 1 (1988)

Dave — Mon, 03 Feb 2020 21:36:27 +0000

It’s the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting.

Paulo Coelho (b. 1947) Brazilian spiritual writer
The Alchemist, ch. 1 (1988)
(Source)

Forster, E. M. -- “What I Believe,” The Nation (16 Jul 1938)

Dave — Fri, 20 Sep 2019 21:46:30 +0000

The people I respect most behave as if they were immortal and as if society was eternal. Both assumptions are false: both of them must be accepted as true if we are to go on eating and working and loving, and are to keep open a few breathing-holes for the human spirit. No millennium seems likely to descend upon humanity; no better and stronger League of Nations will be instituted; no form of Christianity and no alternative to Christianity will bring peace to the world or integrity to the individual; no “change of heart” will occur. And yet we need not despair, indeed, we cannot despair; the evidence of history shows us that men have always insisted on behaving creatively under the shadow of the sword; that they have done their artistic and scientific and domestic stuff for the sake of doing it, and that we had better follow their example under the shadow of the aeroplanes.

E. M. Forster (1879-1970) English novelist, essayist, critic, librettist [Edward Morgan Forster]
“What I Believe,” The Nation (16 Jul 1938)
(Source)

Gaiman, Neil -- Blog entry (2001-12-31), “As I Was Saying”

Dave — Mon, 12 Feb 2018 17:50:26 +0000

May your coming year be filled with magic and dreams and good madness. I hope you read some fine books and kiss someone who thinks you’re wonderful, and don’t forget to make some art — write or draw or build or sing or live as only you can. And I hope, somewhere in the next year, you surprise yourself.

Neil Gaiman (b. 1960) British author, screenwriter, fabulist
Blog entry (2001-12-31), “As I Was Saying”
(Source)

Dickinson, Emily -- “Hope is the thing with feathers”

Dave — Fri, 03 Nov 2017 17:53:14 +0000

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all.

Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) American poet
“Hope is the thing with feathers”
(Source)

Ouida -- A Village Commune, ch. 20 (1881)

Dave — Mon, 11 Sep 2017 23:56:48 +0000

Take hope from the heart of man and you make him a beast of prey.

Ouida (1839-1908) English novelist [pseud. of Maria Louise Ramé]
A Village Commune, ch. 20 (1881)
(Source)

Cowper, William -- “Hope, like the short-lived ray that gleams awhile”

Dave — Wed, 02 Aug 2017 00:28:12 +0000

Absence from whom we love is worse than death,
And frustrate hope severer than despair.

William Cowper (1731-1800) English poet
“Hope, like the short-lived ray that gleams awhile”
(Source)

Levi, Primo -- The Drowned and the Saved, ch. 6 “The Intellectual at Auschwitz” (1986) [tr. Rosenthal (1888)]

Dave — Fri, 16 Jun 2017 20:48:29 +0000

The aims of life are the best defense against death, and not only in the Lager.

Primo Levi (1919-1987) Italian Jewish chemist and writer
The Drowned and the Saved, ch. 6 “The Intellectual at Auschwitz” (1986) [tr. Rosenthal (1888)]
(Source)

Zinn, Howard -- Essay (2004-09-02), “The Optimism of Uncertainty,” The Nation

Dave — Tue, 29 Nov 2016 05:33:08 +0000

An optimist isn’t necessarily a blithe, slightly sappy whistler in the dark of our time. To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacriﬁce, courage, kindness. What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity to do something. If we remember those times and places — and there are so many — where people have behaved magniﬁcently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.
And if we do act, in however small a way, we don’t have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future is an inﬁnite succession of presents, and to live now as we think human beings should live, in deﬁance of all that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.

Howard Zinn (1922-2010) American historian, academic, author, social activist
Essay (2004-09-02), “The Optimism of Uncertainty,” The Nation
(Source)

Adopted from Zinn's essay of the same name in Paul Loeb (ed.), The Impossible Will Take a Little While (2004). See also Zinn, "A Marvelous Victory" (2004-02-23).

King, Martin Luther -- “Where Do We Go From Here?” Southern Christian Leadership Conference Presidential Address (16 Aug 1967)

Dave — Sat, 29 Oct 2016 04:51:27 +0000

I must confess, my friends, the road ahead will not always be smooth. There will be still rocky places of frustration and meandering points of bewilderment. There will be inevitable setbacks here and there. There will be those moments when the buoyancy of hope will be transformed into the fatigue of despair. Our dreams will sometimes be shattered and our ethereal hopes blasted. We may again with tear-drenched eyes have to stand before the bier of some courageous civil rights worker whose life will be snuffed out by the dastardly acts of bloodthirsty mobs. Difficult and painful as it is, we must walk on in the days ahead with an audacious faith in the future.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“Where Do We Go From Here?” Southern Christian Leadership Conference Presidential Address (16 Aug 1967)
(Source)

Adams, John -- Letter (1776-07-03) to Abigail Adams

Dave — Thu, 29 Sep 2016 03:08:11 +0000

But I must submit all my Hopes and Fears, to an overruling Providence, in which, unfashionable as the Faith may be, I firmly believe.

John Adams (1735–1826) American lawyer, Founding Father, statesman, US President (1797–1801)
Letter (1776-07-03) to Abigail Adams
(Source)

On the approval of the resolution for Independence, approved the day before, and his worries over the the future held for the new United States.

Brockenbrough, Martha -- Facebook (9 Aug 2016)

Dave — Thu, 18 Aug 2016 00:27:06 +0000

Maybe this is the chief thing the dog knows better than we do. There isn’t enough time in life to do anything but love and do our work with joy. We should sleep when we’re tired. Run with abandon. Always be happy to see each other. And never stop believing we will, someday, catch the squirrel.

Martha Brockenbrough (b. 1970) American writer
Facebook (9 Aug 2016)
(Source)

King, Stephen -- “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption” (1982)

Dave — Thu, 04 Aug 2016 00:17:00 +0000

Remember, Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.

Stephen King (b. 1947) American author
“Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption” (1982)

Brooks, Mel -- The Twelve Chairs, “Hope for the Best, Expect the Worst” (1970)

Dave — Thu, 21 Jul 2016 01:55:22 +0000

Hope for the best.
Expect the worst.
The world’s a stage.
We’re unrehearsed.

Mel Brooks (b. 1926) American comedic actor, writer, producer [b. Melvyn Kaminsky]
The Twelve Chairs, “Hope for the Best, Expect the Worst” (1970)
(Source)

(Source (Audio)). More information on composition of the song here and here.

See also Shakespeare and O'Casey.

Hanson, Erin -- “There is freedom waiting for you”

Dave — Wed, 04 May 2016 14:42:10 +0000

There is freedom waiting for you,
On the breezes of the sky,
And you ask “What if I fall?”
Oh but my darling,
What if you fly?

Erin Hanson (b. 1996) Australian poet
“There is freedom waiting for you”
(Source)

Tennyson, Alfred, Lord -- The Foresters, Act 1, sc. 3 [Robin] (1892)

Dave — Thu, 31 Dec 2015 17:22:14 +0000

Hope
Smiles from the threshold of the year to come
Whispering “it will be happier.”

Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809-1892) English poet
The Foresters, Act 1, sc. 3 [Robin] (1892)
(Source)

Kerr, Jean -- Poor Richard, Act 1 (1965)

Dave — Mon, 12 Oct 2015 12:32:18 +0000

SYDNEY: You don’t seem to realize that a poor person who is unhappy is in a better position than a rich person who is unhappy. Because the poor person has hope. He thinks money would help.

Jean Kerr (1922-2003) American author and playwright [b. Bridget Jean Collins]
Poor Richard, Act 1 (1965)

Henderson, Sara -- The Strength in Us All (1994)

Dave — Tue, 29 Sep 2015 13:35:22 +0000

Don’t wait for a light to appear at the end of the tunnel, stride down there … and light the bloody thing yourself.

Sara Henderson (1936-2005) Australian pastoralist and author
The Strength in Us All (1994)

Lewis, Sinclair -- Main Street, ch. 16 [Carol] (1920)

Dave — Tue, 08 Sep 2015 13:48:52 +0000

I think perhaps we want a more conscious life. We’re tired of drudging and sleeping and dying. We’re tired of seeing just a few people able to be individualists. We’re tired of always deferring hope till the next generation. We’re tired of hearing politicians and priests and cautious reformers (and the husbands!) coax us, “Be calm! Be patient! Wait! We have the plans for a Utopia already made; just wiser than you.” For ten thousand years they’ve said that. We want our Utopia now — and we’re going to try our hands at it.

Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951) American novelist, playwright
Main Street, ch. 16 [Carol] (1920)
(Source)

Greenberg, Drew Z. -- Firefly, 1×05 “Safe” (8 Nov 2002)

Dave — Thu, 21 May 2015 12:03:35 +0000

ZOE: You sanguine about the kind of reception we’re apt to receive on an Alliance ship, Cap’n?

MAL: Absolutely. [Pause] What’s “sanguine” mean?

ZOE: “Sanguine”. Hopeful. Plus, point of interest: it also means “bloody”.

MAL: Well, that pretty much covers all the options, don’t it?

Drew Z. Greenberg (contemp.) TV producer and writer
Firefly, 1×05 “Safe” (8 Nov 2002)

Hemingway, Ernest -- Letter (1926)

Dave — Thu, 14 May 2015 13:06:09 +0000

The real reason for not committing suicide is because you always know how swell life gets again after hell is over.

Ernest Hemingway (1899-1961) American writer
Letter (1926)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- You Learn By Living (1960)

Dave — Wed, 22 Apr 2015 12:30:11 +0000

Surely, in the light of history, it is more intelligent to hope rather than to fear, to try rather than not to try. For one thing we know beyond all doubt: Nothing has ever been achieved by the person who says, “It can’t be done.”

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
You Learn By Living (1960)

Wilde, Oscar -- An Ideal Husband, Act 2 (1895)

Dave — Tue, 14 Apr 2015 11:59:50 +0000

When the gods wish to punish us, they answer our prayers.

Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) Irish poet, wit, dramatist
An Ideal Husband, Act 2 (1895)

Keller, Helen -- “Optimism” (1903)

Dave — Mon, 16 Mar 2015 12:00:45 +0000

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement; nothing can be done without hope.

Helen Keller (1880-1968) American author and lecturer
“Optimism” (1903)
(Source)

Bible, Vol. 2. New Testament -- Romans 8: 22-25 [CEB (2011)]

Dave — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 21:01:05 +0000

We know that the whole creation is groaning together and suffering labor pains up until now. And it’s not only the creation. We ourselves who have the Spirit as the first crop of the harvest also groan inside as we wait to be adopted and for our bodies to be set free. We were saved in hope. If we see what we hope for, that isn’t hope. Who hopes for what they already see? But if we hope for what we don’t see, we wait for it with patience.

[οἴδαμεν γὰρ ὅτι πᾶσα ἡ κτίσις συστενάζει καὶ συνωδίνει ἄχρι τοῦ νῦν· οὐ μόνον δέ, ἀλλὰ καὶ αὐτοὶ τὴν ἀπαρχὴν τοῦ πνεύματος ἔχοντες, ἡμεῖς καὶ αὐτοὶ ἐν ἑαυτοῖς στενάζομεν υἱοθεσίαν ἀπεκδεχόμενοι, τὴν ἀπολύτρωσιν τοῦ σώματος ἡμῶν. τῇ γὰρ ἐλπίδι ἐσώθημεν· ἐλπὶς δὲ βλεπομένη οὐκ ἔστιν ἐλπίς· ὃ γὰρ βλέπει τίς ἐλπίζει; εἰ δὲ ὃ οὐ βλέπομεν ἐλπίζομεν, δι᾽ ὑπομονῆς ἀπεκδεχόμεθα.]

The Bible (The New Testament) (AD 1st - 2nd C) Christian sacred scripture
Romans 8: 22-25 [CEB (2011)]
(Source)

(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:

For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
[KJV (1611)]

From the beginning till now the entire creation, as we know, has been groaning in one great act of giving birth; and not only creation, but all of us who possess the first-fruits of the Spirit, we too groan inwardly as we wait for our bodies to be set free. For we must be content to hope that we shall be saved -- our salvation is not in sight, we should not have to be hoping for it if it were -- but, as I say, we must hope to be saved since we are not saved yet -- it is something we must wait for with patience.
[JB (1966)]

We are well aware that the whole creation, until this time, has been groaning in labour pains. And not only that: we too, who have the first-fruits of the Spirit, even we are groaning inside ourselves, waiting with eagerness for our bodies to be set free. In hope, we already have salvation; in hope, not visibly present, or we should not be hoping -- nobody goes on hoping for something which is already visible. But having this hope for what we cannot yet see, we are able to wait for it with persevering confidence.
[NJB (1985)]

For we know that up to the present time all of creation groans with pain, like the pain of childbirth. But it is not just creation alone which groans; we who have the Spirit as the first of God's gifts also groan within ourselves as we wait for God to make us his children and set our whole being free. For it was by hope that we were saved; but if we see what we hope for, then it is not really hope. For who of us hopes for something we see? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
[GNT (1992 ed.)]

We know that the whole creation has been groaning together as it suffers together the pains of labor, and not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the first fruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly while we wait for adoption, the redemption of our bodies. For in hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what one already sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.
[NRSV (2021 ed.)]

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Essay (1961-04), “What Has Happened to the American Dream?” Atlantic Monthly

Dave — Wed, 28 Jan 2015 13:15:05 +0000

Man cannot live without hope. If it is not engendered by his own convictions and desires, it can easily be fired from without, and by the most meretricious and empty of promises.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Essay (1961-04), “What Has Happened to the American Dream?” Atlantic Monthly
(Source)

(Source (Alternate)). On the effectiveness of Soviet propaganda in the Third World.

Johnson, Samuel -- Comment (22 Sep 1777)

Dave — Tue, 13 Jan 2015 14:48:20 +0000

Talking of the danger of being mortified by rejection, when making approaches to the acquaintance of the great, I observed, “I am, however, generally for trying, ‘Nothing venture, nothing have.'” JOHNSON. “Very true, sir; but I have always been more afraid of failing, than hopeful of success.”

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Comment (22 Sep 1777)
(Source)

In Boswell, The Life of Samuel Johnson (1791) See Heywood.

Hayden, Teresa Nielsen -- “On Time” (1995)

Dave — Fri, 29 Aug 2014 13:53:54 +0000

I wouldn’t want to live in Tomorrowland, where the social patterns and infrastructure are all so spiff and modern and rational and well-designed that any remaining problems must needs be insoluble, and so a cause for despair.

Teresa Nielsen Hayden (b. 1956) American editor, writer, essayist
“On Time” (1995)
(Source)

Bierce, Ambrose -- “Religion,” The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)

Dave — Fri, 14 Mar 2014 12:08:20 +0000

RELIGION, n. A daughter of Hope and Fear, explaining to Ignorance the nature of the Unknowable.

Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Religion,” The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)
(Source)

Originally published in The Devil's Dictionary [A-Z] as Vol. 7 of his Collected Works.

Jerome, Jerome K. -- “Dreams” (1886)

Dave — Thu, 01 Nov 2012 13:09:36 +0000

How dull, how impossible life would be without dreams — waking dreams, I mean — the dreams that we call “castles in the air,” built by the kindly hands of Hope! Were it not for the mirage of the oasis, drawing his footsteps ever onward, the weary traveler would lie down in the desert sand and die. It is the mirage of distant success, of happiness that, like the bunch of carrots fastened an inch beyond the donkey’s nose, seems always just within our reach, if only we will gallop fast enough, that makes us run so eagerly along the road of Life.

Jerome K. Jerome (1859-1927) English writer, humorist [Jerome Klapka Jerome]
“Dreams” (1886)
(Source)

La Rochefoucauld, Francois -- Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶38 (1665-1678) [tr. Kronenberger (1959)]

Dave — Mon, 08 Oct 2012 13:28:41 +0000

We make promises to the extent that we hope, and keep them to the extent that we fear.

[Nous promettons selon nos espérances, et nous tenons selon nos craintes.]

François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶38 (1665-1678) [tr. Kronenberger (1959)]
(Source)

Present from the 1st edition in 1665. See also Racine.

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

Our Promises are always made with a reflection on our Hopes, and perform'd according to our fears.
[tr. Davies (1669), ¶16]

We promise in proportion to our Hopes,
and we keep in proportion to our Fears
[tr. Stanhope (1694), ¶39]

We promise in proportion to our Hopes, and we keep our Word in proportion to our Fears.
[tr. Stanhope (1706), ¶39]

We promise according to our hopes, and perform according to our fears.
[pub. Donaldson (1783), ¶357; [ed. Lepoittevin-Lacroix (1797); ed. Gowens (1851), ¶39]

We promise according to our hopes; we perform according to our fears.
[ed. Carville (1835), ¶463; tr. Bund/Friswell (1871)]

Promises are measured by hope; performances by fear.
[tr. Heard (1917)]

Our promises are measured by our hopes; our performances by our fears.
[tr. Stevens (1939)]

Our promises are made in hope, and kept in fear.
[tr. FitzGibbon (1957)]

Our promises are made in proportion to our hopes, but kept in proportion to our fears.
[tr. Tancock (1959)]

We make promises according to our hopes, and keep them according to our fears.
[tr. Whichello (2016)]

Hoffer, Eric -- Passionate State of Mind, Aphorism 166 (1955)

Dave — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 11:45:56 +0000

To have a grievance is to have a purpose in life. A grievance can almost serve as a substitute for hope; it not infrequently happens that those who hunger for hope give their allegiance to him who offers them a grievance.

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
Passionate State of Mind, Aphorism 166 (1955)
(Source)

Kennedy, John F. -- Speech, National Industrial Conference Board (13 Feb 1961)

Dave — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 20:46:44 +0000

For I can assure you that we love our country, not for what it was, though it has always been great — not for what it is, though of this we are deeply proud — but for what it someday can, and, through the efforts of us all, someday will be.

John F. Kennedy (1917-1963) American politician, author, journalist, US President (1961–63)
Speech, National Industrial Conference Board (13 Feb 1961)
(Source)

Berry, Wendell -- Essay (1990), “A Poem of Difficult Hope,” What Are People For? (1990)

Dave — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:42:22 +0000

Much protest is naive; it expects quick, visible improvement and despairs and gives up when such improvement does not come. Protesters who hold out for longer have perhaps understood that success is not the proper goal. If protest depended on success, there would be little protest of any durability or significance. History simply affords too little evidence that anyone’s individual protest is of any use. Protest that endures, I think, is moved by a hope far more modest than that of public success: namely, the hope of preserving qualities in one’s own heart and spirit that would be destroyed by acquiescence.

Wendell Berry (b. 1934) American farmer, educator, poet, conservationist
Essay (1990), “A Poem of Difficult Hope,” What Are People For? (1990)
(Source)

Ingersoll, Robert Green -- “What Must We Do To Be Saved?” Sec. 11 (1880)

Dave — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 15:07:45 +0000

As long as we love we will hope to live, and when the one dies that we love we will say: “Oh, that we could meet again,” and whether we do or not it will not be the work of theology. It will be a fact in nature. I would not for my life destroy one star of human hope, but I want it so that when a poor woman rocks the cradle and sings a lullaby to the dimpled darling, she will not be compelled to believe that ninety-nine chances in a hundred she is raising kindling wood for hell.

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, freethinker, orator
“What Must We Do To Be Saved?” Sec. 11 (1880)
(Source)

Browning, Robert -- “A Death in the Desert,” l. 586, Dramatis Personae (1864)

Dave — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 14:03:40 +0000

Man partly is and wholly hopes to be.

Robert Browning (1812-1889) English poet
“A Death in the Desert,” l. 586, Dramatis Personae (1864)

Tolkien, J.R.R. -- The Lord of the Rings, Vol. 3: The Return of the King, Book 6, ch. 2 “The Land of Shadow” (1954)

Dave — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 12:43:26 +0000

There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.

J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) English writer, fabulist, philologist, academic [John Ronald Reuel Tolkien]
The Lord of the Rings, Vol. 3: The Return of the King, Book 6, ch. 2 “The Land of Shadow” (1954)
(Source)

Tolkien, J.R.R. -- The Lord of the Rings, Vol. 1: The Fellowship of the Ring, Book 2, ch. 2 “The Council of Elrond” [Gandalf] (1954)

Dave — Tue, 24 May 2011 16:31:29 +0000

Despair is only for those who see the end beyond all doubt. We do not.

J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973) English writer, fabulist, philologist, academic [John Ronald Reuel Tolkien]
The Lord of the Rings, Vol. 1: The Fellowship of the Ring, Book 2, ch. 2 “The Council of Elrond” [Gandalf] (1954)
(Source)

Schweitzer, Albert -- Out of My Life and Thought, An Autobiography, Epilogue (1933) [tr. Campion]

Dave — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 13:23:03 +0000

To the question whether I am a pessimist or an optimist, I answer that my knowledge is pessimistic, but my willing and hoping are optimistic.

Albert Schweitzer (1875-1965) Alsatian philosopher, physician, philanthropist, polymath
Out of My Life and Thought, An Autobiography, Epilogue (1933) [tr. Campion]

See also Gramsci.

King, Martin Luther -- Strength to Love, ch. 10 “Shattered Dreams,” sec. 2 (1963)

Dave — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 13:52:39 +0000

We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope. Only in this way shall we live without the fatigue of bitterness and the drain of resentment.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Strength to Love, ch. 10 “Shattered Dreams,” sec. 2 (1963)
(Source)

Eldridge, Paul -- Maxims for a Modern Man, #144 (1965)

Dave — Mon, 07 Feb 2011 15:47:45 +0000

In youth our judgments are obscured by our hopes; in age, by our regrets.

Paul Eldridge (1888-1982) American educator, novelist, poet
Maxims for a Modern Man, #144 (1965)
(Source)

Fuller, Thomas (1654) -- Gnomologia: Adages and Proverbs (compiler), # 3555 (1732)

Dave — Wed, 03 Nov 2010 13:37:38 +0000

No condition so low but may have Hopes; none so high but may have Fears.

Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Gnomologia: Adages and Proverbs (compiler), # 3555 (1732)
(Source)

Bacon, Francis -- Apothegms, # 36 (1624)

Dave — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 12:15:31 +0000

Hope is a good breakfast, but it is a bad supper.

Francis Bacon (1561-1626) English philosopher, scientist, author, statesman
Apothegms, # 36 (1624)

Steel, Ronald -- “The Vanishing Campaign Biography,” New York Times (5 Aug 1984)

Dave — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 16:32:28 +0000

We are not a cynical people. The will to believe lingers on. We like to think that heroes can emerge from obscurity, as they sometimes do; that elections do matter, even though the process is at least part hokum; that through politics we can change our society and maybe even find a cause to believe in.

Ronald Steel (b. 1931) American writer, historian, and professor
“The Vanishing Campaign Biography,” New York Times (5 Aug 1984)

Carlyle, Thomas -- Past and Present, Book 3, ch. 11 “Labour” (1843)

Dave — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 14:16:27 +0000

Every noble work is at first impossible. In very truth, for every noble work the possibilities will lie diffused through Immensity; inarticulate, undiscoverable except to faith.

Thomas Carlyle (1795-1881) Scottish essayist and historian
Past and Present, Book 3, ch. 11 “Labour” (1843)
(Source)

Fuller, Thomas (1654) -- Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 1, # 878 (1725)

Dave — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 14:07:16 +0000

Pray for thy Enemy, for if thou beest a good Man thyself, thou canst not but rejoice to see thy worst Enemy become a good Man, too.

Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 1, # 878 (1725)
(Source)

Ingersoll, Robert Green -- “What Must We Do to Be Saved?” Sec. 11 (1880)

Dave — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 12:29:32 +0000

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, freethinker, orator
“What Must We Do to Be Saved?” Sec. 11 (1880)
(Source)

Stevenson, Robert Louis -- Essay (1881), “Virginibus Puerisque, Part 2”

Dave — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 16:03:12 +0000

Havel, Vaclav -- Speech, Salzburg Festival (26 Jul 1990)

Dave — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 17:57:55 +0000

Isn’t it the moment of most profound doubt that gives birth to new certainties? Perhaps hopelessness is the very soil that nourished human hope; perhaps one could never find sense in life without first experiencing its absurdity.

Václav Havel (1936-2011) Czech playwright, essayist, dissident, politician
Speech, Salzburg Festival (26 Jul 1990)
(Source)

Butler, Samuel -- The Note-Books of Samuel Butler, ch. 21 “Faith” (1912)

Dave — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 12:36:33 +0000

You can do very little with faith, but you can do nothing without it.

Samuel Butler (1835-1902) English novelist, satirist, scholar
The Note-Books of Samuel Butler, ch. 21 “Faith” (1912)

Full text.

Twain, Mark -- Mark Twain’s Notebook, 1879 [ed. Paine (1935)]

Dave — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 11:57:48 +0000

Religion consists in a set of things which the average man thinks he believes and wishes he was certain of.

Mark Twain (1835-1910) American writer [pseud. of Samuel Clemens]
Mark Twain’s Notebook, 1879 [ed. Paine (1935)]

Stevenson, Robert Louis -- Essay (1878-04), “Æs Triplex,” Cornhill Magazine, Vol. 37

Dave — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 09:47:45 +0000

All who have meant good work with their whole hearts, have done good work, although they may die before they have the time to sign it. Every heart that has beat strong and cheerfully has left a hopeful impulse behind it in the world, and bettered the tradition of mankind. And even if death catch people, like an open pitfall, and in mid-career, laying out vast projects, and planning monstrous foundations, flushed with hope, and their mouths full of boastful language, they should be at once tripped up and silenced: is there not something brave and spirited in such a termination? And does not life go down with a better grace, foaming in full body over a precipice, than miserably straggling to an end in sandy deltas?

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) Scottish essayist, novelist, poet
Essay (1878-04), “Æs Triplex,” Cornhill Magazine, Vol. 37
(Source)

Collected in Virginibus Puerisque and Other Papers (1881).

Rickover, Hyman -- Speech (1981-11-05), “Doing a Job,” Egleston Medal Award Dinner, Columbia School of Engineering and Applied Science, New York

Dave — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 10:23:27 +0000

It is a human inclination to hope things will work out, despite evidence or doubt to the contrary. A successful manager must resist this temptation. This is particularly hard if one has invested much time and energy on a project and thus has come to feel possessive about it. Although it is not easy to admit what a person once thought correct now appears to be wrong, one must discipline himself to face the facts objectively and make the necessary changes — regardless of the consequences to himself. The man in charge must personally set the example in this respect. He must be able, in effect, to “kill his own child” if necessary and must require his subordinates to do likewise.

Hyman Rickover (1900-1986) Polish-American naval engineer, admiral [b. Chaim Gdala Rykower]
Speech (1981-11-05), “Doing a Job,” Egleston Medal Award Dinner, Columbia School of Engineering and Applied Science, New York
(Source)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Column (1939-10-16), “My Day”

Dave — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:29:51 +0000

Will we ever learn to use reason instead of force in the world, and will people ever be wise enough to refuse to follow bad leaders or to take away the freedom of other people?

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) First Lady of the US (1933–1945), politician, diplomat, activist
Column (1939-10-16), “My Day”
(Source)

Ingersoll, Robert Green -- Speech (1882-01-08), “At a Child’s Grave,” Congressional Cemetery, Washington, D. C.

Dave — Sat, 08 Mar 2008 10:56:40 +0000

Why should we fear that which will come to all that is? We cannot tell, we do not know, which is the greater blessing — life or death. We do not know whether the grave is the end of this life, or the door of another, or whether the night here is not somewhere else at dawn. Neither can we tell which is the more fortunate — the child dying in its mother’s arms, before its lips have learned to form a word, or he who journeys all the length of life’s uneven road, painfully taking the last slow steps with staff and crutch.

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, freethinker, orator
Speech (1882-01-08), “At a Child’s Grave,” Congressional Cemetery, Washington, D. C.
(Source)

Eulogy at the burial of Harry Miller.

Ingersoll, Robert Green -- Speech (1882-01-08), “At a Child’s Grave,” Congressional Cemetery, Washington, D. C.

Dave — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 11:32:53 +0000

The dead do not suffer. And if they live again, their lives will surely be as good as ours. We have no fear. We are all children of the same mother, and the same fate awaits us all. We, too, have our religion, and it is this: Help for the living, Hope for the dead.

Ingersoll, Robert Green -- Lecture (1872-01-29), “The Gods,” Fairbury Hall, Fairbury, Illinois

Dave — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 10:49:02 +0000

While utterly discarding all creeds, and denying the truth of all religions, there is neither in my heart nor upon my lips a sneer for the hopeful, loving and tender souls who believe that from all this discord will result a perfect harmony, that every evil will in some mysterious way become a good, and that above and over all there is a being who, in some way, will reclaim and glorify every one of the children of men.
But for those who heartlessly try to prove that salvation is almost impossible, that damnation is almost certain, that the highway of the universe leads to hell, who fill life with fear and death with horror, who curse the cradle and mock the tomb, it is impossible to entertain other than feelings of pity, contempt and scorn.

Robert Green Ingersoll (1833-1899) American lawyer, freethinker, orator
Lecture (1872-01-29), “The Gods,” Fairbury Hall, Fairbury, Illinois
(Source)

Collected in The Gods and Other Lectures (1876)

Augustine of Hippo -- (Spurious)

Dave — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 15:23:37 +0000

Hope has two beautiful daughters. Their names are anger and courage; anger at the way things are, and courage to see that they do not remain the way they are.

Augustine of Hippo (354-430) Christian church father, philosopher, saint [b. Aurelius Augustinus]
(Spurious)

Widely attributed to Augustine, but not recognizably found in his works. For more information, see: St. Augustine and the daughters of hope | They didn't say it.

Johnson, Samuel -- The Rambler, #2 (24 Mar 1750)

Dave — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 15:23:11 +0000

The mind is never satisfied with the objects immediately before it, but is always breaking away from the present moment, and losing itself in schemes of future felicity …. The natural flights of the human mind are not from pleasure to pleasure, but from hope to hope.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
The Rambler, #2 (24 Mar 1750)
(Source)

Bacon, Francis -- Instauratio Magna, Part 2 “Novum Organum” [The New Organon],” Book 1, Aphorism # 114 (1620) [tr. Spedding (1858)]

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

For there is no comparison between that which we may lose by not trying and by not succeeding; since by not trying we throw away the chance of an immense good; by not succeeding we only incur the loss of a little human labour. But as it is, it appears to me from what has been said, and also from what has been left unsaid, that there is hope enough and to spare, not only to make a bold man try, but also to make a sober-minded and wise man believe.

[Non enim res pari periculo non tentatur, et no succedit; cum in illo ingentis boni, in hoc exiguae humanae operae, jactura vertatur. Verum ex dictis, atque etiam ex non dictis, visum est nobis spei abunde subesse, non tantum homini strenuo ad experiendum, sed etiam prudenti et sobrio ad credendum.]

Francis Bacon (1561-1626) English philosopher, scientist, author, statesman
Instauratio Magna, Part 2 “Novum Organum” [The New Organon],” Book 1, Aphorism # 114 (1620) [tr. Spedding (1858)]
(Source)

(Source (Latin)). Alternate translations:

For the risk attending want of success is not to be compared with that of neglecting the attempt; the former is attended with the loss of a little human labour, the latter with that of an immense benefit. For these and other reasons, it appears to us that there is abundant ground to hope, and to induce not only those who are sanguine to make experiment, but even those who are cautious and sober to give their assent.
[tr. Wood (1831)]

For it is not a case where there is an equal risk in not trying and not succeeding; since in the former instance we risk a huge advantage; in the latter a little human labour is thrown away. But from what has been said, and also from what has not been said, it seems to us that there is abundant ground of hope, not only to justify a stout-hearted man in trying, but even a prodent and sober man in believing.
[tr. Johnson (1859)]

For the danger of not trying and the danger of not succeeding are not equal, since the former risks the loss of great good, the latter of a little human effort. But from what we have said and from other things which we have not said, it has seemed to us that we have abundance of hope, whether we are men who press forward to meet new experiences, or whether we are careful and slow to believe.
[tr. Silverthorne (2000) "The Great Renewal"]

The loss that may come from not trying is much greater than what may come from trying and not succeeding: by not trying we throw away the chance of an immense good; by not succeeding we only incur the loss of a little human labour. But from what I have said (and from some things that I haven’t said) it seems to me that there is more than enough hope not only to get a vigorous man to try but also to make a sober-minded and wise man believe that he will succeed.
[tr. Bennett (2017)]

Shakespeare, William -- Measure for Measure, Act 3, sc. 1, l. 2ff (3.1.2-3) (1604)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

CLAUDIO: The miserable have no other medicine
But only hope.

William Shakespeare (1564-1616) English dramatist and poet
Measure for Measure, Act 3, sc. 1, l. 2ff (3.1.2-3) (1604)
(Source)

~Proverbs and Sayings -- Chinese proverb

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Happiness is someone to love, something to do, and something to hope for.

Proverbs, Sayings, and Adages
Chinese proverb

Also attributed to T. Bodett, S. Freud, A. Chalmers.

Emerson, Ralph Waldo -- “The Young American,” lecture, Mercantile Library Association, Boston (1844-02-07)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 19:00:00 +0000

Every observation of history inspires a confidence that we shall not go far wrong; that things will mend.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) American essayist, lecturer, poet
“The Young American,” lecture, Mercantile Library Association, Boston (1844-02-07)
(Source)

Straczynski, J. Michael "Joe" -- rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated, “ATTN JMS: Warner Bros” (8 Dec 1996)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

So we’re just in this maze for now, trying to figure out if that glint in the distance is daylight, or a Minotaur with an Uzi.

J. Michael (Joe) Straczynski (b. 1954) American screenwriter, producer, author [a/k/a "JMS"]
rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated, “ATTN JMS: Warner Bros” (8 Dec 1996)
(Source)

WIST Quotations

Watterson, Bill -- Calvin and Hobbes (1993-01-02)

Adams, John -- Letter (1816-02-02) to Thomas Jefferson

Hugo, Victor -- William Shakespeare, Part 1, Book 2 “Men of Genius [Les Génies], ch. 2 (1.2.2) (1864) [tr. Baillot (1864)]

Russell, Bertrand -- Education and the Good Life, Part 2, ch. 5 “Play and Fancy” (1926)

Shakespeare, William -- Richard II, Act 2, sc. 2, l. 82ff (2.2.82-83) (1595)

Rickover, Hyman -- Essay (1979-05-24), Statement before the Subcommittee on Energy Research and Production, Committee on Science and Technology, US House of Representatives

Bierce, Ambrose -- “Oblivion,” The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)

Stevenson, Robert Louis -- Essay (1881), “Virginibus Puerisque, Part 2”

Havel, Vaclav -- Disturbing the Peace: A Conversation with Karel Hvížďala, ch. 5 “The Politics of Hope” (1986) [tr. Wilson (1990)]

Bible, Vol. 2. New Testament -- Hebrews 11: 1 [KJV (1611)]

Racine, Jean -- Fragments Historiques [tr. Bund/Friswell (1871)]

Addison, Joseph -- Essay (1711-10-09), The Spectator, No. 191

Stevenson, Robert Louis -- Essay (1878-03), “Crabbed Age and Youth,” Cornhill Magazine, Vol. 37

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, Sr. -- Poem (1861), “The Old Player” (closing lines), Songs in Many Keys (1862)

Ingersoll, Robert Green -- Lecture (1877-06-23), “The Ghosts,” Carson Theater, Carson City, Nevada

Holmes, Oliver Wendell, Sr. -- Speech (1859-03-10), Valedictory Address, Harvard University School of Medicine

Shakespeare, William -- Richard III, Act 1, sc. 2, l. 218ff (1.2.218-219) (1592)

Bierce, Ambrose -- “Present,” The Devil’s Dictionary (1911)

Bolt, Robert -- Lawrence of Arabia, Part 2, sc. 411 (1962) [with Michael Wilson]

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem (1906), “Give,” st. 2, New Thought Pastels

Cunningham, J. V. -- “Meditation on Statistical Method,” st. 4, The Exclusions of a Rhyme (1960)

Eliot, George -- Scenes of Clerical Life, “Janet’s Repentance,” ch. 6 (1857)

Richter, Jean-Paul -- Titan, Jubilee 6, cycle 34, “Fifth” (1803) [tr. Brooks (1863)]

King, Martin Luther -- Sermon (1967-12-24), “A Christmas Sermon on Peace,” Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta

Kennedy, John F. -- State of the Union address (1962-01-11)

Cicero, Marcus Tullius -- De Senectute [Cato Maior; On Old Age], ch. 19 / sec. 68 (19.68) (44 BC) [tr. Copley (1967)]

McLaughlin, Mignon -- The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 5 (1963)

Colton, Charles Caleb -- Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 37 (1820)

Baudelaire, Charles -- Le Spleen de Paris (Petits Poèmes en Prose), No. 28 “The Counterfeit Money [La Fausse Monnaie]” (1869) [tr. Shipley (1919)]

Shakespeare, William -- King Lear, Act 2, sc. 2, l. 188 (2.2.188) (1606)

Turner, Tina -- Happiness Becomes You, ch. 8 (2020)

Child, Lydia Maria -- Letter to John Fraser (1868)

Euripides -- Bacchæ [Βάκχαι], l. 902ff (Stasimon 3, Epode) [Chorus/Χορός] (405 BC) [tr. Vellacott (1973)]

McLaughlin, Mignon -- The Neurotic’s Notebook, ch. 5 (1963)

Morris, William -- Signs of Change, ch. 6 (1888)

Jefferson, Thomas -- Letter (1817-06-14) to François de Marbois

Johnson, Samuel -- Letter (1 Jun 1762)

Lewis, John -- Stump speech

Heschel, Abraham -- “What Ecumenism Is” (1963)

Craik, Dinah -- Christian’s Mistake, ch. 2 (1865)

Laing, R. D. -- The Politics of Experience, ch. 1 (1967)

Shain, Merle -- Hearts That We Broke Long Ago, ch. 11 (1983)

Macaulay, Rose -- The Valley Captives (1911)

Virgil -- The Aeneid [Ænē̆is], Book 1, l. 207 (1.207) [Aeneas] (29-19 BC) [tr. West (1990)]

Aristotle -- Attributed in Diogenes Laërtius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers [Vitae Philosophorum], Book 5, sec. 11 [tr. Yonge (1853)]

Milne, A. A. -- House at Pooh Corner, ch. 8 “Piglet Does a Very Grand Thing” (1928)

Orwell, George -- “Can Socialists Be Happy?” Tribune (1943-12-20) [as John Freeman]

Addison, Joseph -- (Attributed)

Hinshelwood, Cyril -- “Classics among the intellectual disciplines,” Presidential Address to the Classical Association, Hull, UK (1959-04-09)

Elizabeth II -- Address to the Nation (5 Apr 2020)

Wilcox, Ella Wheeler -- Poem (1892), “Insight,” An Erring Woman’s Love

Pratchett, Terry -- Discworld No. 4, Mort (1987)

Paddleford, Clementine -- A Flower for My Mother (1958)

Cicero, Marcus Tullius -- Epistulae ad Atticum [Letters to Atticus], Book 9, Letter 10, sec. 3 (9.10.3) (49 BC) [tr. Shackleton Bailey (1968), # 177]

Ciardi, John -- “Of Time and Chances: A Parental Reverie,” Saturday Review (1972-03-18)

Nash, Ogden -- “Good-bye, Old Year, You Oaf, or Why Don’t They Pay the Bonus?” (1935)

Hugo, Victor -- Poem (1836), “In the Church of *** [Dans l’eglise de ***],” Songs of Dusk [Les chants du crepuscule], # 33 sec. 6

Coelho, Paulo -- The Alchemist, ch. 1 (1988)

Forster, E. M. -- “What I Believe,” The Nation (16 Jul 1938)

Gaiman, Neil -- Blog entry (2001-12-31), “As I Was Saying”

Dickinson, Emily -- “Hope is the thing with feathers”

Ouida -- A Village Commune, ch. 20 (1881)

Cowper, William -- “Hope, like the short-lived ray that gleams awhile”

Levi, Primo -- The Drowned and the Saved, ch. 6 “The Intellectual at Auschwitz” (1986) [tr. Rosenthal (1888)]

Zinn, Howard -- Essay (2004-09-02), “The Optimism of Uncertainty,” The Nation

King, Martin Luther -- “Where Do We Go From Here?” Southern Christian Leadership Conference Presidential Address (16 Aug 1967)

Adams, John -- Letter (1776-07-03) to Abigail Adams

Brockenbrough, Martha -- Facebook (9 Aug 2016)

King, Stephen -- “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption” (1982)

Brooks, Mel -- The Twelve Chairs, “Hope for the Best, Expect the Worst” (1970)

Hanson, Erin -- “There is freedom waiting for you”

Tennyson, Alfred, Lord -- The Foresters, Act 1, sc. 3 [Robin] (1892)

Kerr, Jean -- Poor Richard, Act 1 (1965)

Henderson, Sara -- The Strength in Us All (1994)

Lewis, Sinclair -- Main Street, ch. 16 [Carol] (1920)

Greenberg, Drew Z. -- Firefly, 1×05 “Safe” (8 Nov 2002)

Hemingway, Ernest -- Letter (1926)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- You Learn By Living (1960)

Wilde, Oscar -- An Ideal Husband, Act 2 (1895)

Hugo, Victor -- Poem (1836), “In the Church of * [Dans l’eglise de *],” Songs of Dusk [Les chants du crepuscule], # 33 sec. 6