Sören Kierkegaard (1813–1855) Danish philosopher and theologian, founder of Existentialism
Source: 1840s, The Sickness unto Death (July 30, 1849), p. 49
Coal Black Horse (2007)
Sören Kierkegaard (1813–1855) Danish philosopher and theologian, founder of Existentialism
Source: 1840s, The Sickness unto Death (July 30, 1849), p. 49
Miguel de Unamuno (1864–1936) 19th-20th century Spanish writer and philosopher
Credo quia absurdam — I believe because it is absurd
The Tragic Sense of Life (1913), Conclusion : Don Quixote in the Contemporary European Tragi-Comedy
“Because I remember, I despair. Because I remember, I have the duty to reject despair.”
Elie Wiesel (1928–2016) writer, professor, political activist, Nobel Laureate, and Holocaust survivor
Hope, Despair, and Memory (1986)
Context: Because I remember, I despair. Because I remember, I have the duty to reject despair. I remember the killers, I remember the victims, even as I struggle to invent a thousand and one reasons to hope.
“When a man is in despair, it means that he still believes in something.”
Dmitri Shostakovich book Testimony
Page 175
Testimony (1979)
“Despair is anger with no place to go.”
Mignon McLaughlin (1913–1983) American journalist
The Complete Neurotic's Notebook (1981), Unclassified
Khalil Gibran (1883–1931) Lebanese artist, poet, and writer
Khalil in Spirits Rebellious (1908) "Khalil The Heretic" Part 3
Context: Vain are the beliefs and teachings that make man miserable, and false is the goodness that leads him into sorrow and despair, for it is man's purpose to be happy on this earth and lead the way to felicity and preach its gospel wherever he goes. He who does not see the kingdom of heaven in this life will never see it in the coming life. We came not into this life by exile, but we came as innocent creatures of God, to learn how to worship the holy and eternal spirit and seek the hidden secrets within ourselves from the beauty of life. This is the truth which I have learned from the teachings of the Nazarene.
James H. Cone (1938–2018) American theologian
Source: Black Theology and Black Power (1969), p. 36