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The world feels like a sucky, sucky place right now.
I find myself devastated, angry, livid, hopeless—it feels like my heart cannot take it anymore.
When I see images of children being killed, being blown to bits, losing their limbs, becoming orphans with no hope in front of them, I am horrified and gutted. I want to yell and scream and rage and cry. And I do, all the time.
Given the wretched tragedy that is unfolding in front of us in real-time and not being able to do much besides provide financial support to those in need, I knew I needed some solace and succor during these heartbreaking times. So I went to some of the brave hearts who have boldly lived their lives with honesty, integrity, and courage and come out the other side.
Even as I feel the pain of the echoes of despair reverberating around me, these profound quotes on hope provide me with some comfort. Amidst the horror unfurling in this world, this collection stands as a testament to the enduring strength found within shared human experiences.
My heart aches, but these words of hope—that I have printed and put up all over my home—fill me with a defiant sense of optimism against the overwhelming darkness. I hope they do the same for you.
“If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps 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. We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
“There is a saying in Tibetan, ‘Tragedy should be utilized as a source of strength.’ No matter what sort of difficulties, how painful experience is, if we lose our hope, that’s our real disaster.” ~ Dalai Lama XIV
“Hope. It’s like a drop of honey, a field of tulips blooming in the springtime. It’s a fresh rain, a whispered promise, a cloudless sky, the perfect punctuation mark at the end of a sentence. And it’s the only thing in the world keeping me afloat.” ~ Tahereh Mafi
“Sorrow fully accepted brings its own gifts. For there is alchemy in sorrow. It can be transmitted into wisdom, which, if it does not bring joy, can yet bring happiness.” ~ Pearl S. Buck
“You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, ‘I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.'” ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
“I don’t think of all the misery, but of the beauty that still remains.” ~ Anne Frank
“It’s probably my job to tell you life isn’t fair, but I figure you already know that. So instead, I’ll tell you that hope is precious, and you’re right not to give up.” ~ C.J. Redwine
“And once the storm is over, you won’t remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You won’t even be sure whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm’s all about.” ~ Haruki Murakami
“Live, then, and be happy, beloved children of my heart, and never forget, that until the day God will deign to reveal the future to man, all human wisdom is contained in these two words, ‘Wait and Hope.'” ~ Alexandre Dumas
“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.” ~ Howard Zinn
“But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough can you see the stars.” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
While I recognize that I’m not going through even a fraction of what many are, these words of hope fill me with a sense of purpose and have given me a renewed strength to try and mitigate the sorrow and horrors of those less fortunate. These words not only give me solace, but they’re a reminder that we are all strong enough and resilient enough to continue the fight.
~
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