quotations about despair
So long as we are not absolutely bound and imprisoned by the stern law of impossibility, despair can never constitute any part of our duty. While there remains a single ray of hope, or one foothold for another struggle, we are under the highest obligation to pray, and once more to try.
ELIAS LYMAN MAGOON
Proverbs for the People
He gives beauty for ashes
Strength for fear
Gladness for mourning
Peace for despair
When sorrow seems to surround you
When suffering hangs heavy oer your head
Know that tomorrow brings
Wholeness and healing
God knows your need
CRYSTAL LEWIS
"Beauty for Ashes"
It's the circle of life
And it moves us all
Through despair and hope
Through faith and love
Till we find our place
On the path unwinding
In the circle
TIM RICE
"The Circle of Life", The Lion King
He who has never hoped can never despair.
GEORGE BERNARD SHAW
Caesar and Cleopatra
Despair is the conclusion of fools.
BENJAMIN DISRAELI
The Wondrous Tale of Alroy
Despair has its own calms.
BRAM STOKER
Dracula
Patience, n. A minor form of despair, disguised as a virtue.
AMBROSE BIERCE
The Devil's Dictionary
We should never despair, our Situation before has been unpromising and has changed for the better, so I trust, it will again. If new difficulties arise, we must only put forth New Exertions and proportion our Efforts to the exigency of the times.
GEORGE WASHINGTON
letter to Major General Philip Schuyler, Jul. 15, 1777
I would not despair unless I knew the irrevocable decree was passed, I saw my misfortune recorded in the book of fate, and signed and sealed by necessity.
JEREMY COLLIER
Essays Upon Several Moral Subjects
Despair ... is like a gas, odourless, tasteless, without nourishment. You breathe it in, your limbs relax, you cease to care, even at the moment when the steel touches your throat.
J.M. COETZEE
Disgrace
I know that in this world, to all, there must be moments, days, months, and in some cases years, of darkness, when this weak vessel we sail through life's ocean main in, seems to be surrounded by lofty icebergs, without one small crack left to squeeze through; then of all times is the time to "look aloft." Man's dire extremity is the hour the Almighty has commanded us to call Him. He, who divided the waters of the Red Sea, can any moment open a clear and safe passage through our troubles, and cause rejoicing where a moment before all was grief and despondency. Never abandon yourself to despair. Hope never dies in the breast of a true man or woman, and remember the door of heaven is never closed night or day, and is as wide open to the hoary head as to the youth or maiden. Whilst there is life there is hope--it is never too late for any living being--it was not for righteous people, but to save sinners, that the crucifixion took place on the heights of Calvary. To believe this, and sincerely repent, is all that God has ever asked of the greatest sinner that ever trod, or ever will tread this beautiful world, where man was placed by God a free agent, knowing good from evil.
T. AUGUSTUS FORBES LEITH
"On Despair", Short Essays
So long as we have failed to eliminate any of the causes of human despair, we do not have the right to try to eliminate those means by which man tries to cleanse himself of despair.
ANTONIN ARTAUD
General Security: The Liquidation of Opium
Despair is good. Despair can be the nadir of one life and the starting point of an ascent into another, better one.
DEAN KOONTZ
Velocity
Despair is vinegar from the wine of hope.
AUSTIN O'MALLEY
Keystones of Thought
There's a street that only ends alone
A place you go to find your soul
Where the paralyzing scream
And the echoes dark between
Wait in the shadows
You're entering the streets of despair
DEAD MOON
"Street of Despair", Thirteen Off My Hook
When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall.
MOHANDAS GANDHI
An Autobiography; Or, the Story of My Experiments with Truth
What we call our despair is often only the painful eagerness of unfed hope.
GEORGE ELIOT
Middlemarch
Sister Despair
She must not see you cry
Hide your tears
Can't we just bring her Delight
TORI AMOS
"Mary's Eyes", Native Invader
A despairing heart is the true prophet of approaching evil; his actions may weave the webs of Fortune, but not break them.
FRANCIS QUARLES
Enchiridion
Who turns away from gazing at the sun
Sees its dusk images fill all the air.
It is not otherwise when Hope is done:
Her darkling phantoms make the heaven of Despair.
EDITH MATILDA THOMAS
"When Hope Is Done"