Hope

HOPE is an optimistic attitude of mind based on an expectation of positive outcomes related to events and circumstances in one’s life or the world at large.  As a verb, its definition include : ‘expect with confidence’ and ‘to cherish a desire with anticipation’.  Opposites are dejection, hopelessness and despair. Hopeful people are “like the little engine that could (because) they keep telling themselves “I think I can, I think I can”.  Such positive thinking bears fruit, when base on a realistic sense of optimism, not on a naïve ‘false hope’.

The psychologist, C. R. Snyder’s proposed adult HOPE SCALE contains 12 questions : 4 measuring PATHWAYS THINKING; 4 measuring AGENCY THINKING and 4 that are SIMPLY FILLERS.  Each subject responds to each question using an 8-point scale.

Snyder’s HOPE SCALE considered that a person’s determination to achieve their goal is their measured hope.  HOPE appears in ancient Greek Mythology where Prometheus stole fire from the god Zeus, who, in turn created a box that contained all manners of evil, unknown to the receiver of the box.  Pandora opened the box, after being warned not to, and those evils were released into the world; HOPE, which lay at the bottom of the box, REMAINED.

The SWALLOW has been a SYMBOL OF HOPE, in Aesop’s Fables.  It symbolises HOPE, in part because it is the first bird to appear at the end of winter and the start of spring.  HOPE is one of the 3 theological virtues of the Christian religion, alongside FAITH & CHARITY.  In the historic literature of Hinduism, HOPE is referred to with PRATIDHI or APEKSH.  In Vedic Philosophy, KARMA was linked to ritual sacrifice (YAJNA); HOPE & SUCCESS linked to correct performance of these rituals.

HOPE QUOTES :

(1) HOPE is like the sun, which, as we journey towards it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us.—Samuel Smiles.

(2) Lord, save us all from a HOPE tree that has lost the faculty of putting out blossoms. —Mark Twain.

(3) LEARN from YESTERDAY, LIVE for TODAY, HOPE for TOMORROW.  The important thing is not to stop questioning. —Albert Einstein.

(4) My great HOPE is to laugh as much as I cry; to get my work done and try to love somebody, and have the courage to accept the love in return. —Maya Angelou.

(5) We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite HOPE.—-Martin Luther King, Jr.

(6) Three great essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to HOPE for. —-Joseph Addison.

(7) I find HOPE in the darkest days and focus in the brightest.  I do not judge the universe. —-Dalai Lama.

(8) HOPE is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul —–and sings the tunes without the words —-and never stops at all. —-Emily Dickinson.

(9) We have always held to the HOPE, the belief, the conviction that there is a better life, a better world, beyond the horizon. —Franklin D. Roosevelt.

(10) Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only HOPED for. —Epicurus.

(11) HOPE, in reality, is the worst of all evils, because it prolongs the torments of man. —Friedrich Nietzsche.

(12) Don’t give up.  Don’t lose HOPE, Don’t sell out. —Christopher Reeves.

(13) We must free ourselves of the HOPE that the sea will ever rest.  We must learn to sail in high winds. —Aristotle Onassis.

(14) Tomorrow HOPES we have learned something from yesterday. —John Wayne.

(15) HOPE is like peace.  It is not a gift from God.  It is a gift only we can give one another. —Elie Wiesel.

(16) HOPE is the dream of a waking man. —Aristotle.

(17) Courage is like love; it must have HOPE for nourishment. —Napoleon Bonaparte.

(18) HOPE lies in dreams, in imagination and in the courage of those who dare to make dreams into reality. —-Jonas Salk.

(19) HOPE is tomorrow’s veneer over today’s disappointment. —-Evan Esar.

(20) All human wisdom is summed up in 2 words ; wait & hope. —Alexander Dumas.

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche (15/10/1844—25/08/1900) was a German philologist, cultural critic, philosopher, poet and composer.  He wrote several critical texts on religion, morality, contemporary culture, philosophy and science displaying a fondness for metaphor, irony and aphorism.  One of the key tenets of his philosophy is the concept of ‘LIFE-AFFIRMATION’, which embraces the realities of the world in which we live over the idea of a world beyond.

Here are a few of Nietzsche’s quotes :—–

(1) We love life not because we are used to living, but because we are used to loving.

(2) The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe.  If you try it, you will be lonely often and sometimes frightened.  But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of OWNING YOURSELF.

(3) Without music, life would be a mistake.

(4) Whoever fights monsters, should see to it that in the process HE DOES NOT BECOME A MONSTER.  And if you gaze long enough into an abyss, the ABYSS WILL GAZE BACK INTO YOU.

(5) It is not a lack of love, but a LACK OF FRIENDSHIP that makes unhappy marriages.

(6) To LIVE is to SUFFER, to SURVIVE is to FIND SOME MEANING in the SUFFERING.

(7) That which does not kill us, MAKES US STRONGER.

(8) All things are subject to interpretation.  Whichever interpretation prevails at a given time is a function of POWER and NOT TRUTH.

(9) You have your way.  I have my way.  As for the RIGHT way, the CORRECT way and the ONLY way, IT DOES NOT EXIST.

(10) He who has a WHY TO LIVE can bear almost any HOW.

(11) He who would  learn how to fly one day, must first learn HOW TO STAND, and WALK and RUN and CLIMB and DANCE; ONE CANNOT FLY INTO FLYING.

(12) The essence of all BEAUTIFUL art, all GREAT art, is GRATITUDE.

(13) HOPE in REALITY is the worst of all evils, because it prolongs the torments of men.

(14) There are horrible people, who, instead of solving a problem, tangle it up and make it harder to solve for anyone who wants to deal with it. Whoever does not know how to hit the nail on the head, should be asked not to hit at all.

(15) The TRUE MAN wants two things : DANGER & PLAY.  For that reason, he wants WOMAN as the most DANGEROUS PLAYTHING.

(16) On the mountains of truth, you can never climb in vain : either you will reach a point higher up today, or you will be training your powers so that you will be able TO CLIMB HIGHER TOMORROW.

(17) It is impossible to suffer without making someone pay or it; every complaint already contains revenge.

(18) All truly great thoughts are CONCEIVED BY WALKING.

(19) The DOER alone LEARNETH.

(20) Insanity in individuals is SOMETHING RARE, but in groups, parties, nations and epochs—IT IS THE RULE.