“I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become.”
C.G. Jung (1875–1961) Swiss psychiatrist and psychotherapist who founded analytical psychology
Variant: I am not what happens to me. I choose who I become.
Hope quotes
A collection of quotes on the topic of positive, hope, hope, inspirational.
Best hope quotes
“Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow.”
Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity
“There is no way to happiness. Happiness is the way.”
Thich Nhat Hanh (1926) Religious leader and peace activist
“Only when it is dark enough, can you see the stars.”
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement
Variant: Only in the darkness can you see the stars.
Context: But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough, can you see the stars.
“You get in life what you have the courage to ask for.”
Oprah Winfrey (1954) American businesswoman, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist
“If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”
Frederick Douglass (1818–1895) American social reformer, orator, writer and statesman
Variant: Without a struggle, there can be no progress.
“When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.”
Widely attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson on the internet; however, a presumably definitive source of Emerson's works at http://www.rwe.org fails to confirm any occurrence of this phrase across his works. This phrase is found in remarks attributed to Charles A. Beard in Arthur H. Secord, "Condensed History Lesson", Readers' Digest, February 1941, p. 20; but the origin has not been determined. Possibly confused with a passage in "Illusions" in which Emerson discusses his experience in the "Star Chamber": "our lamps were taken from us by the guide, and extinguished or put aside, and, on looking upwards, I saw or seemed to see the night heaven thick with stars glimmering more or less brightly over our heads, and even what seemed a comet flaming among them. All the party were touched with astonishment and pleasure. Our musical friends sung with much feeling a pretty song, “The stars are in the quiet sky,” &c., and I sat down on the rocky floor to enjoy the serene picture. Some crystal specks in the black ceiling high overhead, reflecting the light of a half–hid lamp, yielded this magnificent effect."
Misattributed
Hope quotes
“Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why it's called the present.”
Alice Morse Earle (1851–1911) American historian
“When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”
Max Planck (1858–1947) German theoretical physicist
“One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world.”
Malala Yousafzai (1997) Pakistani children's education activist
UN speech, June 2013
Context: So let us wage a glorious struggle against illiteracy, poverty and terrorism, let us pick up our books and our pens, they are the most powerful weapons. One child, one teacher, one book and one pen can change the world. Education is the only solution.
“Do not pray for an easy life, pray for the strength to endure a difficult one”
Bruce Lee (1940–1973) Hong Kong-American actor, martial artist, philosopher and filmmaker
“We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars.”
Oscar Wilde Lady Windermere's Fan
Lord Darlington, Act III
Source: Lady Windermere's Fan (1892)
“You cannot swim for new horizons until you have courage to lose sight of the shore.”
William Faulkner (1897–1962) American writer
“I think it's a mistake to ever look for hope outside of one's self.”
After the Fall (1964)
Context: I think it's a mistake to ever look for hope outside of one's self. One day the house smells of fresh bread, the next of smoke and blood. One day you faint because the gardener cuts his finger off, within a week you're climbing over corpses of children bombed in a subway. What hope can there be if that is so? I tried to die near the end of the war. The same dream returned each night until I dared not to go to sleep and grew quite ill. I dreamed I had a child, and even in the dream I saw it was my life, and it was an idiot, and I ran away. But it always crept onto my lap again, clutched at my clothes. Until I thought, if I could kiss it, whatever in it was my own, perhaps I could sleep. And I bent to its broken face, and it was horrible … but I kissed it. I think one must finally take one's life in one's arms.
“Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. ”
Alice Morse Earle (1851–1911) American historian
“Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.”
Nora Ephron (1941–2012) Film director, author screenwriter
Variant: Above all, be the heroine of your own life, not the victim.
“It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”
Confucius (-551–-479 BC) Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher
“There is another world, but it is in this one.”
Paul Éluard (1895–1952) French poet
Il y a assurément un autre monde, mais il est dans celui-ci...
Œuvres complètes, vol. 1, Gallimard, 1968.
Michael Jackson (1958–2009) American singer, songwriter and dancer
Also used at his funeral (3 Sep. 2009) invitation. Quoted in "Dead stars and classic art will surround Michael Jackson " in CNN.com/entertainment (03 July 2009) http://edition.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/Music/09/03/michael.jackson.funeral/index.html#cnnSTCOther1
Anne Frank (1929–1945) victim of the Holocaust and author of a diary
15 July 1944; Variant translations:
It's really a wonder that I haven't dropped all my ideals, because they seem so absurd and impossible to carry out. Yet I keep them, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart.
I keep my ideals, because in spite of everything I still believe that people are really good at heart.
I simply can't build my hopes on a foundation of confusion, misery, and death...and yet...I think...this cruelty will end, and that peace and tranquility will return again.
Source: The Diary of a Young Girl (1942 - 1944)
Context: It's difficult in times like these: ideals, dreams and cherished hopes rise within us, only to be crushed by grim reality. It's a wonder I haven't abandoned all my ideals, they seem so absurd and impractical. Yet I cling to them because I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart. It's utterly impossible for me to build my life on a foundation of chaos, suffering and death. I see the world being slowly transformed into a wilderness, I hear the approaching thunder that, one day, will destroy us too, I feel the suffering of millions. And yet, when I look up at the sky, I somehow feel that everything will change for the better, that this cruelty too shall end, that peace and tranquility will return once more. In the meantime, I must hold on to my ideals. Perhaps the day will come when I'll be able to realize them!
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
Winston S. Churchill (1874–1965) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
Attributed to Winston Churchill in The Prodigal Project : Book I : Genesis (2003) by Ken Abraham and Daniel Hart, p. 224 and other places, though no source attribution is given. It actually derives from an advertising campaign for Budweiser beer in the late 1930s.
Misattributed
Variant: Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.
Source: http://quoteinvestigator.com/2013/09/03/success-final/
“Do what you have to do, to do what you want to do.”
Denzel Washington (1954) actor, screenwriter, director, producer
Variant: Do what you gotta do so you can do what you wanna do.
“What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise”
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish writer and poet
“In the hopes of reaching the moon men fail to see the flowers that blossom at their feet.”
Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965) French-German physician, theologian, musician and philosopher
“Without love, there's nothing without love.”
Jon Bon Jovi (1962) American singer and musician
Without Love
Music, Slippery When Wet (1986)
“In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart.”
Anne Frank (1929–1945) victim of the Holocaust and author of a diary
Variant: Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart.
“Change the way you look at things and the things you look at change.”
Wayne W. Dyer (1940–2015) American writer
“As long as there's life, there's hope.”
Tamora Pierce (1954) American writer of fantasy novels for children
“Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn.”
Harriet Beecher Stowe (1811–1896) Abolitionist, author
Rachel Carson (1907–1964) American marine biologist and conservationist
Source: The Sense of Wonder (1965)
Context: Those who dwell, as scientists or laymen, among the beauties and mysteries of the earth are never alone or weary of life. Whatever the vexations or concerns of their personal lives, their thoughts can find paths that lead to inner contentment and to renewed excitement in living. Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.
“Everything that is done in this world is done by hope.”
Martin Luther (1483–1546) seminal figure in Protestant Reformation
Louisa May Alcott (1832–1888) American novelist
As quoted in Elbert Hubbard's Scrap Book (1923) by Elbert Hubbard, p. 62
“Look at how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness.”
Anne Frank (1929–1945) victim of the Holocaust and author of a diary
As quoted in 7 Laws of Human Nature: The Oneness of Universal Love (2017) by Conrad Spainhower and other self-help books and quotation sites.
Disputed
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American politician, diplomat, and activist, and First Lady of the United States
Often attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt without an original source in her writings, for example in the introduction to It Seems to Me : Selected Letters of Eleanor Roosevelt (2001) by Leonard C. Schlup and Donald W. Whisenhunt, p. 2 http://books.google.com/books?id=UeFWjTMcLZYC&lpg=PP1&pg=PA2#v=onepage&q&f=false. But archivists have not been able to find the quote in any of her writings, see the comment from Ralph Keyes in The Quote Verifier above. <br class="br">Disputed
“We all have an unsuspected reserve of strength inside that emerges when life puts us to the test.”
Isabel Allende (1942) Chilean writer
Source: Island Beneath the Sea
“Anyone who doesn't believe in miracles is not a realist.”
Audrey Hepburn (1929–1993) British actress
David Ben Gurion, as quoted in Psychosocial Care of the Dying Patient (1978) by Charles A. Garfield
Misattributed
“Tomorrow hopes we have learned something from yesterday. ”
John Wayne (1907–1979) American film actor
“There is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it, if only we’re brave enough to be it.”
Amanda Gorman (1998) American poet and activist
Source: Poem The Hill We Climb (recited during the inauguration of the American president Joea Bidena)
Alexandre Dumas book The Count of Monte Cristo
Chapter 117 http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Count_of_Monte_Cristo/Chapter_117 <br class="br">Source: The Count of Monte Cristo (1845–1846) <br class="br">Context: Tell the angel who will watch over your future destiny, Morrel, to pray sometimes for a man who, like Satan, thought himself, for an instant, equal to God; but who now acknowledges, with Christian humility, that God alone possesses supreme power and infinite wisdom... There is neither happiness nor misery in the world; there is only the comparison of one state with another, nothing more. He who has felt the deepest grief is best able to experience supreme happiness. We must have felt what it is to die, Morrel, that we may appreciate the enjoyments of life.
“Youth is easily deceived because it is quick to hope.”
Aristotle (-384–-321 BC) Classical Greek philosopher, student of Plato and founder of Western philosophy
“Things are not as they seem. They are what they are.”
Terry Pratchett book Thief of Time
Source: Thief of Time
Paulo Coelho book By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept
By The River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept (1994)
Source: By the River Piedra I Sat Down and Wept
“To accomplish great things we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.”
Anatole France (1844–1924) French writer
Variant: To accomplish great things, we must dream as well as act.
Source: Discours de réception, Séance De L'académie Française (introductory speech at a session of the French Academy), 24th December 1896, on Ferdinand de Lesseps' work on the Suez Canal.
Context: To accomplish great things we must not only act, but also dream; not only plan, but also believe.
“Extreme hopes are born from extreme misery.”
Bertrand Russell (1872–1970) logician, one of the first analytic philosophers and political activist
“Oh the thinks you can think up if only you try!”
Dr. Seuss book Oh, the Thinks You Can Think!
Variant: Oh, the thinks you can think!
Source: Oh, the Thinks You Can Think!
“In the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope.”
Barack Obama Remarks of Senator Barack Obama on New Hampshire Primary Night
Remarks of Senator Barack Obama on New Hampshire Primary Night (8 January 2008)
2008
Context: We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics who will only grow louder and more dissonant in the weeks to come. We've been asked to pause for a reality check. We've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope. But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope. For when we have faced down impossible odds; when we've been told that we're not ready, or that we shouldn't try, or that we can't, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes we can.
Context: We know the battle ahead will be long, but always remember that no matter what obstacles stand in our way, nothing can stand in the way of the power of millions of voices calling for change. We have been told we cannot do this by a chorus of cynics. They will only grow louder and more dissonant in the weeks and months to come. We've been asked to pause for a reality check; we've been warned against offering the people of this nation false hope. But in the unlikely story that is America, there has never been anything false about hope. For when we have faced down impossible odds; when we've been told we're not ready, or that we shouldn't try, or that we can't, generations of Americans have responded with a simple creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes we can.
“When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.”
Charles A. Beard (1874–1948) American historian
Misattributed
Variant: When its dark enough you can see the stars.
“there's no harm in hoping for the best as long as you're prepared for the worst.”
Stephen King book Different Seasons
Source: Different Seasons
“The important thing is not to stop questioning.”
Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born physicist and founder of the theory of relativity
Old Man's Advice to Youth: "Never Lose a Holy Curiosity," http://books.google.com/books?id=dlYEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PP1&dq=Life%2C%202%20May%201955&pg=PA61#v=onepage&q=Life,%202%20May%201955&f=false LIFE magazine (2 May 1955) statement to William Miller, p. 64. <br class="br">1950s <br class="br">Context: The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existence. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery each day. Never lose a holy curiosity. … Don't stop to marvel.
“Really great people make you feel that you, too, can become great.”
Mark Twain (1835–1910) American author and humorist
Variant: great people are those who make others feel that they, too, can become great.
“In reality, hope is the worst of all evils, because it prolongs man’s torments.”
Friedrich Nietzsche book Human, All Too Human
... die Hoffnung: sie ist in Wahrheit das übelste der Übel, weil sie die Qual der Menschen verlängert.
I.71
Variant: Hope in reality is the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man.
Source: Human, All Too Human (1878)
“If we will be quiet and ready enough, we shall find compensation in every disappointment.”
Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862) 1817-1862 American poet, essayist, naturalist, and abolitionist
Source: I to Myself: An Annotated Selection from the Journal of Henry D. Thoreau
“Stop wearing your wishbone where your backbone ought to be.”
Elizabeth Gilbert book Eat, Pray, Love
This derives from a folk proverb sometimes attributed to Clementine Paddleford, but in use as an "old proverb" as early as 1908, when Paddeford was only 10 years old.
Misattributed
Source: Eat, Pray, Love
“As you were, I was. As I am, you will be.”
Hunter S. Thompson (1937–2005) American journalist and author
Source: Hell's Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga
Thich Nhat Hanh (1926) Religious leader and peace activist
Source: Peace Is Every Step: The Path of Mindfulness in Everyday Life
“The miserable have no other medicine
But only hope.”
William Shakespeare (1564–1616) English playwright and poet
“Once you choose hope, anything's possible.”
Christopher Reeve (1952–2004) actor, director, producer, screenwriter
“no expectations, no disappointments!”
Eric Jerome Dickey (1961) American author
Sleeping with Strangers
“The only way of knowing a person is to love them without hope.”
Walter Benjamin (1892–1940) German literary critic, philosopher and social critic (1892-1940)
“My hope still is to leave the world a bit better than when I got here.”
Jim Henson (1936–1990) American puppeteer
“I am prepared for the worst, but hope for the best.”
Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881) British Conservative politician, writer, aristocrat and Prime Minister
The Wondrous Tale of Alroy, pt. 10, ch. 3.
Books
“Every day begins with an act of courage and hope: getting out of bed.”
Mason Cooley (1927–2002) American academic
City Aphorisms (1984)
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American politician, diplomat, and activist, and First Lady of the United States
The quote is usually regarded as anonymous, but is often attributed to her on several websites, as well as in several books, including My Life Is an Open Book http://books.google.es/books?id=qCOa1k--dt4C&printsec=frontcover&hl=es#v=onepage&q=eleanor%20roosevelt&f=false (2008), The Spirituality of Mary Magdalene http://books.google.es/books?hl=es&id=BLRuINwzVZcC&dq=eleanor+roosevelt++%22past+is+history%22&q=eleanor+roosevelt#v=snippet&q=eleanor%20roosevelt&f=false (2008), Mis cuatro estaciones http://books.google.es/books?hl=es&id=QCgANqKq8EIC&dq=ayer+es+historia%2C+ma%C3%B1ana++misterio.+Hoy+regalo+de+Dios+presente&q=%22eleanor+roosevelt%22#v=snippet&q=%22eleanor%20roosevelt%22&f=false (2008), and Gilles Lamontagne http://books.google.es/books?ei=MdG9UqGQK-fL2wX5zYC4Dw&hl=es&id=WyFKAQAAIAAJ&dq=Hier+est+de+l%27histoire%2C+demain+est+un+myst%C3%A8re+et+aujourd%27hui+est+un+cadeau.+C%27+est+pourquoi+nous+l%27appelons+%C2%AB+le+pr%C3%A9sent+roosevelt&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=eleanor+roosevelt (2010). None of these works cite any original reference. <br class="br">Disputed
“We see the world not as it is, but as we are.”
Lois McMaster Bujold The Sharing Knife
Dag Redwing hickory Bluefield
Passage (Vol. III in Tetralogy) (2008), p. 163
The Sharing Knife, Passage (Vol. III in Tetralogy) (2008)
“Hope is itself a species of happiness, and, perhaps, the chief happiness which this world affords”
Samuel Johnson (1709–1784) English writer
Letter, June 8, 1762 [to an unnamed recipient], p. 103
Life of Samuel Johnson (1791), Vol I
Context: 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. If it be asked, what is the improper expectation which it is dangerous to indulge, experience will quickly answer, that it is such expectation as is dictated not by reason, but by desire; expectation raised, not by the common occurrences of life, but by the wants of the expectant; an expectation that requires the common course of things to be changed, and the general rules of action to be broken.
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams. ”
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American politician, diplomat, and activist, and First Lady of the United States
“I find hope in the darkest of days, and focus in the brightest. I do not judge the universe.”
Tenzin Gyatso (1935) spiritual leader of Tibet
“When you throw everything up in the air anything becomes possible.”
Salman Rushdie book The Satanic Verses
Source: The Satanic Verses
“Maybe everyone can live beyond what they're capable of.”
Markus Zusak (1975) Australian author
Source: I Am the Messenger
“There is nothing like a dream to create the future.”
Victor Hugo book Les Misérables
Source: Les Misérables
“Children are the world's most valuable resource and its best hope for the future.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) 35th president of the United States of America
Re: United States Committee for UNICEF (25 July 1963); Box 11, President's Outgoing Executive Correspondence Series, White House Central Chronological File, Presidential Papers, Papers of John F. Kennedy http://www.jfklibrary.org/Research/Research-Aids/Ready-Reference/JFK-Quotations.aspx <br class="br">1963
“To be or not to be. That's not really a question.”
Jean-Luc Godard (1930) French-Swiss film director, screenwriter and film critic
Dale Carnegie (1888–1955) American writer and lecturer
As quoted in The Ring of Truth (2004) by Joseph O'Day
Brian Tracy (1944) American motivational speaker and writer
Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924) American politician, 28th president of the United States (in office from 1913 to 1921)
“Ideals of College” http://books.google.com/books?id=_VYEIml1cAkC&pg=PA15&dq=%22You+are+not+here+merely%22, Swarthmore (25 October 1913)<!--PWW 28:439-442--> <br class="br">1910s <br class="br">Context: You are not here merely to prepare to make a living. You are here to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, and with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget this errand.
“Remember, Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.”
Stephen King book Different Seasons
Sometimes quoted as "Nothing good ever dies."
Different Seasons (1982), Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption
Source: The Shawshank Redemption
“While the heart beats, hope lingers.”
Alison Croggon (1962) contemporary Australian poet, playwright and fantasy novelist
“How far would you go to keep the hope of love alive?”
Nicholas Sparks book The Choice
Travis Parker, Chapter 15, p. 191
Variant: How far should a person go in the name of true love?
Source: 2000s, The Choice (2007)
“But what we call our despair is often only the painful eagerness of unfed hope.”
George Eliot book Middlemarch
Source: Middlemarch (1871)
Lin Yutang (1895–1976) Chinese writer
"The Epigrams of Lusin"
Variant: Hope is like a road in the country; there was never a road, but when many people walk on it, the road comes into existence.
“Even in the mud and scum of things, something always, always sings.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882) American philosopher, essayist, and poet
“Your life is what your thoughts make it.”
Confucius (-551–-479 BC) Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher