Of all ills that one endures, hope is a cheap and universal cure.
—Abraham Cowley (1618–67) English Poet, Essayist
Hope: desire and expectation rolled into one.
—Ambrose Bierce (1842–1913) American Short-story Writer, Journalist
Before you give up hope, turn back and read the attacks that were made upon Lincoln.
—Bruce Fairchild Barton (1886–1967) American Author, Advertising Executive, Politician
Refusal to hope is nothing more than a decision to die.
—Bernie S. Siegel (b.1932) American Writer, Surgeon
Take hope from the heart of man and you make him a beast of prey.
—Ouida (Maria Louise Rame) (1839–1908) English Novelist
Hope is the best possession. None are completely wretched but those who are without hope. Few are reduced so low as that.
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English Essayist
Patience is the art of hoping.
—Luc de Clapiers, marquis de Vauvenargues (1715–47) French Moralist, Essayist, Writer
My hopes are not always realized, but I always hope.
—Ovid (Publius Ovidius Naso) (c.43 BCE–c.18 CE) Roman Poet
Hope is the companion of power, and mother of success; for who so hopes strongly has within him the gift of miracles.
—Samuel Smiles (1812–1904) British Author, Reformer
Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
The wind was cold off the mountains and I was a naked man with enemies behind me and nothing before me but hope.
—Louis L’Amour (1908–88) American Novelist, Short-Story Writer
Hope is the belief, more or less strong, that joy will come desire is the wish it may come.
—Sydney Smith (1771–1845) English Clergyman, Essayist, Wit
Shall hope prevail where clamorous hate is rife,
Shall sweet love prosper or high dreams have place
Amid the tumult of reverberant strife
‘Twixt ancient creeds, ‘twixt race and ancient race,
That mars the grave, glad purposes of life,
Leaving no refuge save thy succoring face?
—Sarojini Naidu (1879–1949) Indian Feminist, Poet, Political Leader
How tight can life be without the space of hope?
—Arabic Proverb
Hope is the last thing ever lost.
—Italian Proverb
We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope.
—Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–68) American Civil Rights Leader, Clergyman
Hope is a very unruly emotion.
—Gloria Steinem (b.1934) American Feminist, Journalist, Activist, Political Advocate
Hope is a flatterer, but the most upright of all parasites; for she frequents the poor man’s hut, as well as the palace of his superior.
—William Shenstone (1714–63) British Poet, Landscape Gardener
The mighty hopes that make us men.
—Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–92) British Poet
Hope writes the poetry of the boy, but memory that of the man. Man looks forward with smiles, but backward with sighs. Such is the wise providence of God. The cup of life is sweetness at the brim—the flavor is impaired as we drink deeper, and the dregs are made bitter that we may not struggle when it is taken from our lips.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
He that waits for a dead man’s shoes may long go barefoot.
—French Proverb
Hope is the word which God has written on the brow of every man.
—Victor Hugo (1802–85) French Novelist
Lord save us all from… a hope tree that has lost the faculty of putting out blossoms.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
Of course all life is a process of breaking down, but the blows that do the dramatic side of the work – the big sudden blows that come, or seem to come, from outside – the ones you remember and blame things on and, in moments of weakness, tell your friends about, don’t show their effect all at once. There is another sort of blow that comes from within – that you don’t feel until it’s too late to do anything about it, until you realize with finality that in some regard you will never be as good a man again. The first sort of breakage seems to happen quick – the second kind happens almost without your knowing it but is realized suddenly indeed. Before I go on with this short history, let me make a general observation – the test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function. One should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless and yet be determined to make them otherwise.
—F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896–1940) American Novelist
It was a Spring that never came, but we have lived enough to know what we have never had remains. It is the things we have that go.
—Sara Teasdale (1884–1933) American Poet
Just as dumb creatures are snared by food, human beings would not be caught unless they had a nibble of hope.
—Petronius (c.27–66 CE) Roman Courtier, Novelist
Pleasure is very seldom found where it is sought. Our brightest blazes of gladness are commonly kindled by unexpected sparks. The flowers which scatter their odours from time to time in the paths of life, grow up without culture from seeds scattered by chance. Nothing is more hopeless than a scheme of merriment.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
They sailed. They sailed. Then spoke the mate:
“This mad sea shows its teeth to-night
He curls his lip, he lies in wait,
With lifted teeth, as if to bite!
Brave admiral, say but one good word:
What shall we do when hope is gone?.”
The words leapt like a leaping sword:
“Sail on! sail on! and on!”
—Joaquin Miller (1837–1913) American Poet, Journalist
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 (1916–86) American Poet, Teacher, Etymologist, Translator
It’s hope as a decision that makes change possible.
—Jim Wallis (b.1948) American Christian Writer, Social Activist
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