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Hope

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“For the sake of my children and grandchildren, I hope that the human talent for self-destruction can be successfully controlled, or at least channelled into productive forms, but I doubt it. I think we are moving into extremely volatile and dangerous times, as modern electronic technologies give mankind almost unlimited powers to play with its own psychopathology as a game.”
J. G. Ballard (1930–2009) first seen 1998 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: JG Ballard: Theatre of Cruelty" interview by Jean-Paul Coillard in Disturb ezine (1998)
“When a glass sits on a table here, people don't wonder if it's half filled or half empty. They just hope it's good beer.”
Sherman Alexie (born 1966) first seen 1993 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven (1993)
“The Comtists are right when they say that men's moral ideas are not fixed. The attitude of public opinion towards slavery was completely changed in twenty or thirty years. Still I am obliged to believe that such a moral revolution as the Comtists hope for is not possible within a reasonable space of time.”
Arnold Toynbee (1852–1883) said by 1883 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I am not here as a public official, but as a citizen of a troubled world who finds hope in a growing consensus that the generally accepted goals of society are peace, freedom, human rights, environmental quality, the alleviation of suffering, and the rule of law.”
Jimmy Carter (1924–2024) said by 2024 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“As long as I breathe I hope. As long as I breathe I shall fight for the future, that radiant future, in which man, strong and beautiful, will become master of the drifting stream of his history and will direct it towards the boundless horizons of beauty, joy and happiness!”
Leon Trotsky (1879–1940) first seen 1879 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On Optimism and Pessimism, on the Twentieth Century, and on Many Other Things" (1901), as quoted in The Prophet Armed : Trotsky, 1879-1921 (2003) by Isaac Deutscher , p. 45
“Life is a narrow vale between the cold and barren peaks of two eternities. We strive in vain to look beyond the heights. We cry aloud — and the only answer is the echo of our wailing cry. From the voiceless lips of the unreplying dead there comes no word. But in the night of Death Hope sees a star and listening Love can hear the rustling of a wing.”
Robert G. Ingersoll (1833–1899) first seen 1879 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: A Tribe to Eban C. Ingersoll" (1879)
“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.”
Robert G. Ingersoll (1833–1899) said by 1899 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“He was not sure what idea he wished to express but the thought that a poetic moment had touched upon him took life within him like an infant hope. He stepped onward bravely.”
James Joyce (1882–1941) said by 1941 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I think the next little bit of excitement is ﬂying. I hope I am not too old to take it up seriously, nor too stupid about machines to qualify as a commercial pilot. I do not feel like spending the rest of my life writing books that no one will read. It is not as though I wanted to write them.”
Samuel Beckett (1906–1989) said by 1989 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Personally of course I regret everything. Not a word, not a deed, not a thought, not a need, not a grief, not a joy, not a girl, not a boy, not a doubt, not a trust, not a scorn, not a lust, not a hope, not a fear, not a smile, not a tear, not a name, not a face, no time, no place, that I do not regret, exceedingly. An ordure, from beginning to end.”
Samuel Beckett (1906–1989) said by 1989 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The fact is, it seems, that the most you can hope is to be a little less, in the end, the creature you were in the beginning, and the middle.”
Samuel Beckett (1906–1989) said by 1989 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The power of God is the worship He inspires.[…] The worship of God is not a rule of safety — it is an adventure of the spirit, a flight after the unattainable. The death of religion comes with the repression of the high hope of adventure.”
Alfred North Whitehead (1861–1947) said by 1947 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I was given the freedom to discover my own inclination and talents, to fashion my inmost pleasures and sorrows myself and to regard the future not as an alien higher power but as the hope and product of my own strength.”
Hermann Hesse (1877–1962) said by 1962 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It was an evening which, by some mysterious combination of failing light and the smell of an unrecognised plant, brings back to some men the sense of childhood and of future hope and to others the sense of something which has been lost and almost forgotten.”
Graham Greene (1904–1991) said by 1991 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I know my fans look up to me and that's why I make my songs so personal; it's all about things I've experienced and things I like or hate. I write for myself and hope that my fans like what I have to say.”
Avril Lavigne (born 1984) first seen 2006 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Avril Lavigne Over the Hedge Interview" by Gaynor Flynn, in Girl.com.au (July 2006)
“You just have to keep trying to do good work, and hope that it leads to more good work. I want to look back on my career and be proud of the work, and be proud that I tried everything. Yes, I want to look back and know that I was terrible at a variety of things.”
Jon Stewart (born 1962) first seen 1999 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Orange County Register, July 9, 1999
“I am sick of deconstructing their propaganda, because it's pretty much the same as it's always been. It's just repeating something over and over again until we believe it and we hope that you believe it.”
Jon Stewart (born 1962) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If someone was to introduce hope and idealism into our political system, I think the tension that would create in other areas would certainly be ripe. You would think that if you bring oxygen to the organism, the organism lives. But there may be other organisms in there that thrive in darkness and in a more anaerobic environment. Watching those creatures writhe will always be interesting.”
Jon Stewart (born 1962) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Absence from whom we love is worse than death, And frustrate hope severer than despair.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) first seen 1757 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Hope, like the short-lived ray", l. 35 (wr. c. 1757; pub. 1825)
“He has no hope that never had a fear.”
William Cowper (1731–1800) first seen 1782 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Truth", l. 298 (1782)
“The faith that I love the best, says God, is hope.”
Charles Péguy (1873–1914) said by 1914 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Faith is a loyal Wife. Charity is a Mother. An ardent mother, noble-hearted. Or an older sister who is like a mother. Hope is a little girl, nothing at all.”
Charles Péguy (1873–1914) said by 1914 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I hope that I may die before my mind fails to a sensible extent.”
Charles Darwin (1809–1882) said by 1882 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“People do not go into the company of their fellow-creatures for what would seem a very sufficient reason, namely, that they have something to say to them, or something that they want to hear from them; but in the vague hope that they may find something to say.”
Florence Nightingale (1820–1910) said by 1910 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“In economics, hope and faith coexist with great scientific pretension and also a deep desire for respectability.”
John Kenneth Galbraith (1908–2006) first seen 1970 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The New York Times Magazine (7 June 1970)
“I just draw what I think is funny, and I hope other people think it is funny, too.”
Charles M. Schulz (1922–2000) first seen 2000 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Address to the Sonoma County Press Club as quoted in the Sonoma County Press Democrat (13 February 2000)
“Posterity! You will never know, how much it cost the present generation, to preserve your Freedom! — I hope you will make a good use of it. — if you do not, I shall repent in Heaven, that I ever took half the pains to preserve it. —”
John Adams (1735–1826) first seen 1777 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Abigail Adams (27 April 1777), published as Letter CXI in Letters of John Adams, Addressed to His Wife (1841) edited by Charles Francis Adams, p. 218
“When people talk of the Freedom of Writing, Speaking, or thinking, I cannot choose but laugh. No such thing ever existed. No such thing now exists; but I hope it will exist. But it must be hundreds of years after you and I shall write and speak no more.”
John Adams (1735–1826) first seen 1817 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Letter to Thomas Jefferson (15 July 1817)
“(broken): We’ve traveled too far, and our momentum has taken over; we move idly towards eternity, without possibility of reprieve or hope of explanation.”
Tom Stoppard (1937–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Since we cannot hope for order let us withdraw with style from the chaos.”
Tom Stoppard (1937–2025) said by 2025 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I hope people will say I never had a hidden agenda, and I never played it cute around the turns, and that my integrity stayed intact.”
Jack Valenti (1921–2007) said by 2007 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You can hope for lucky encounters only if you walk around a lot.”
A. J. Liebling (1904–1963) said by 1963 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The Road Back to Paris (1988)
“Peace within is vital for leading a life fulfilled. Prem Rawat brings a message of hope and peace. Such a message is very much needed in this world today. Each of us as individuals can benefit from it. His message can help us lead more fulfilled lives, whatever our circumstances might be.”
Prem Rawat (born 1957) first seen 2003 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Mahendra Swarup; CEO, Times Foundation and Times Internet. (2003)
“I have found his message to be so simple and from the heart. We seek to find the best thing in life, to find peace, joy, fulfillness, regardless of the circumstances. Maharaji tells us that what we are looking, for all the life, for already that is within us, and that is, it can be easily found. Please join me to thank him for offering the message of hope and for taking the time to be with us.”
Prem Rawat (born 1957) first seen 2004 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Dr. J. Hegde, Sheriff of Mumbai, Mumbai, India, January 2004
“Don't aim to be civilized. Don't hope that straight people will keep you on as some kind of pet. To hell with them...Get weird. Get way weird. Get dangerously weird. Get sophisticatedly, thoroughly weird and don't do it halfway, put every ounce of horsepower you have behind it.”
Bruce Sterling (born 1954) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“But exile, for no other motive than ease—that would be to give up all hope of honor. The last defeat, with no seed of future victory in it.”
Lois McMaster Bujold (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The really unforgivable acts are committed by calm men in beautiful green silk rooms, who deal death wholesale, by the shipload, without lust, or anger, or desire, or any redeeming emotion to excuse them but cold fear of some pretended future. But the crimes they hope to prevent in that future are imaginary. The ones they commit in the present—they are real.”
Lois McMaster Bujold (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“It was never what I wanted to buy that held my heart’s hope. It was what I wanted to be.”
Lois McMaster Bujold (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“You? I know you! You trust beyond reason.” She met his eyes steadily. “Yes. It’s how I get results beyond hope. As you may recall.”
Lois McMaster Bujold (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“If you desire a man to tell you comfortable lies about your prowess, and so fetter any hope of true excellence, I'm sure you may find one anywhere. Not all prisons are made of iron bars. Some are made of feather beds.”
Lois McMaster Bujold (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The shocked silence that followed was decidedly baffled. And even, possibly, a little thoughtful, if that was not too much to hope.”
Lois McMaster Bujold (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I don’t write stories to tell readers what to think, or even tell them what I think; I write stories to show me what I think. Writing is always a journey of discovery that way, as suspenseful for me as I hope it will be for the audience.”
Lois McMaster Bujold (born 1949) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Of all nations in the world, the United States was built in nobody's image. It was the land of the unexpected, of unbounded hope, of ideals, of quest for an unknown perfection. It is all the more unfitting that we should offer ourselves in images. And all the more fitting that the images which we make wittingly or unwittingly to sell America to the world should come back to haunt and curse us.”
Daniel J. Boorstin (1914–2004) said by 2004 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“...and then this amazing creature — to whom no one has ever said "Shah!" or "I only hope your children will do the same to you someday!”
Philip Roth (1933–2018) said by 2018 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Woe to the man whose heart has not learned while young to hope, to love — and to put its trust in life!!”
Joseph Conrad (1857–1924) said by 1924 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Our forebears are deserving of tribute for one indisputable reason, if for no other: without them we should not be here. Let us recognize that we are not the ultimate triumph but rather we are beads on a string. Let us behave with decency to the beads that were strung before us and hope modestly that the beads that come after us will not hold us of no account simply because we are dead.”
Robertson Davies (1913–1995) first seen 1990 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Haunted by Halloween", in the New York Times (31 October 1990).
“People who have taken the [writing] course write eagerly, "Last week I hit "The Country Gentleman"; this week I hit "Mademoiselle"; next week I hope to hit the "American Mother"! Frankly, I don't think this course would suit me; I don't want to hit any of those people, though I might toss a pie at the American Mother, just for fun...”
Robertson Davies (1913–1995) said by 1995 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Towards the end of his life, Fischer became interested in Catholicism. He bought his friend Garðar Sverrisson a copy of "Basic Catechism: Creed, Sacraments, Morality, Prayer" so Garðar could explain the religion better to him. According to Garðar, Fischer talked to him about transformation of society through creation of harmony and that "The only hope for the world is through Catholicism.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Brady, Frank (2011). Endgame: Bobby Fischer's Remarkable Rise and Fall – from America's Brightest Prodigy to the Edge of Madness (1st ed.). Crown. ISBN 978-0-307-46390-6.
“When you're allowed to exist on the same continent of the United States of America, protecting you with a nuclear shield around you, you're polite and you support us when we've been attacked on our own soil. They violated that protocol. … They better hope the United States doesn't roll over one night and crush them. They are lucky we allow them to exist on the same continent.”
Ann Coulter (born 1961) first seen 2004 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Remarks on Hannity & Colmes (November 30, 2004), quoted in {{citation
“We've gone from a representative democracy to a monarchy, and the most appalling thing is – even conservatives just hope like the dickens the next king is a good one.”
Ann Coulter (born 1961) wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source