Tuesday, September 11, 2007

Hope In a Time of Hopelessness

Several long-time activists have told me recently they are overwhelmed, worried, and think that we may be losing the struggle to end the imperial wars, save our Constitution, and stop false flag terrorism.

One very smart friend asked me if there is any basis for hope.

But hope is an act of will, not a passive mood. Admittedly, things are easier when circumstances bring hope to us, and we can just receive the hopeful and inspiring news.

But if we care about winning, we have to be able to decide to have hope even when outer circumstances aren't so positive.

I have children who are counting on me to leave them with a reasonably safe and sane planet. As I've said elsewhere, "I care too much about my kids and my freedom to be afraid. I care enough about them that it gets my heart beating, connects me to something bigger than myself, and that gives me courage, even when the chips are down."

If I allowed myself to lose hope about exposing false flag terror, about protecting our freedom, about preventing World War III, I would be dropping the ball for my kids. I would be condemning them to a potentially very grey world where bigger and more violent false flags are carried out, where their liberties and joys are wholly stripped away, where every ounce of vitality is beholden to "the war effort".

Many of us may be motivated by other things besides kids in our fight against fascism, propaganda, perennial war, and government-sponsored terrorism. Only you can know what that is. But we each must dig down deep, and connect with our most powerful motivations to win the struggle for freedom and truth.

I don't know about you . . . but I don't have the luxury of giving up hope. When I get depressed, overwhelmed or exhausted by the stunning acts of savagery, treason, and disinformation carried out by the imperialists, or the willful ignorance of many Americans, I will myself into finding some reason to have hope.

Because the struggle for liberty is too important for me to give up.

If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life 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.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all. Do not let the hero in your soul perish, in lonely frustration for the life you deserved, but have never been able to reach. Check your road and the nature of your battle. The world you desired can be won. It exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours.
- Ayn Rand

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.
- Lin Yutang

Hope is passion for what is possible.
- Soren Kierkegaard

Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you.
- Maori Proverb

I steer my bark with hope in the head, leaving fear astern. My hopes indeed sometimes fail, but not oftener than the forebodings of the gloomy.
- Thomas Jefferson

He who does not hope to win has already lost.
- Jose Joaquin Olmedo

When you do nothing, you feel overwhelmed and powerless. But when you get involved, you feel the sense of hope and accomplishment that comes from knowing you are working to make things better.
- Pauline R. Kezer

Hope is a state of mind, not of the world. Hope, in this deep and powerful sense, is not the same as joy that things are going well, or willingness to invest in enterprises that are obviously heading for success, but rather an ability to work for something because it is good.
- Unknown

We should not let our fears hold us back from pursuing our hopes.
- John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Your hopes, dreams and aspirations are legitimate. They are trying to take you airborne, above the clouds, above the storms, if you only let them.
- William James

Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence.
- Helen Keller

The capacity for hope is the most significant fact of life. It provides human beings with a sense of destination and the energy to get started.
- Norman Cousins

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 -- think of it, ALWAYS.
- Mahatma Gandhi

We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

There is no medicine like hope, no incentive so great, and no tonic so powerful as expectation of something better tomorrow.
- Orison Marden

Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow by conflict.
- William Ellery Channing

Hope is medicine for a soul that's sick and tired.
- Eric Swensson

Hope has two beautiful daughters. Their names are anger and courage; anger at the way things are, and courage to see that they do not remain the way they are.
- Augustine of Hippo

What oxygen is to the lungs, such is hope to the meaning of life.
- Emil Brunner

The very least you can do in your life is to figure out what you hope for. And the most you can do is live inside that hope. Not admire it from a distance but live right in it, under its roof.
- Barbara Kingsolver

Hope is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense regardless of how it turns out.
- Vaclav Havel

Hope is the companion of power, and mother of success; for who so hopes strongly has within him the gift of miracles.
- Samuel Smiles

Of all ills that one endures, hope is a cheap and universal cure.
- Abraham Cowley

Every area of trouble gives out a ray of hope; and the one unchangeable certainty is that nothing is certain or unchangeable.
- John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Let perseverance be your engine and hope your fuel.
- H. Jackson Brown Jr

Develop sincere desire for the goal. Out of fire of desire comes success.
- Unknown

You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.
- Mohandas Gandhi

Everything that is done in the world is done by hope.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

Don't lose hope. When it gets darkest the stars come out.
- Unknown

Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.
- Dale Carnegie

The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.
- Winston Churchill

The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function. One should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless and yet be determined to make them otherwise.
- F. Scott Fitzgerald

It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.
- Robert F . Kennedy




15 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

You will never know how well-timed this essay is. It is just what I needed. Because I try so hard to expose (ever so subtley) everybody I meet to the truth about 9/11, each day is filled with an occasional, rare euphoric high and many depressing, gut wrenching lows. I can relate to EVERYTHING you said. Thanks for the quotes, too.

6:46 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Thank you for what you do to bring light into this world. You are not alone, and the future we hope and work for awaits our coming, with sure faith as our guide.

Blessings upon you and your loved ones.

9:02 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

I and behalf of all of my near dear ones and also my employees circle at web design companysalutes the spirit of the great who brings light into the American hearts.

3:13 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hope Is The Thing With Feathers by Emily Dickinson.

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I've heard it in the chillest land,
And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

Evolution is what it is. We're evolving, homo-sapiens, whether we like it or not. Problem is, there isn't a manual on how to do this and the "ruling elite" are in a position of learning how the universe is only about change and it's time for the 5000 years of oppression by those who "have the gold" to understand that ruling is not what they came here to do, and the lesson is upon them.

"The March of the Penguins" portrays the HOPE we must all cling to, now and forever.

Thank you.

6:14 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I am the father of 3 young children and my hopes that they shall enjoy a bright future in a world of true tolerance, love and respect for all of mankind give me the strength and courage to face up to any challenge.

Thank you for posting these inspirational quotations.

7:20 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Transcendent hope opens to transcendent vision..."

12:07 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Truth always finds out a lie and goodness always conquers evil. Even when it seems completely impossible we must always remember that truth and goodness will one day win out

8:18 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey, didn't someone once say "faith without works is dead"? Well, that could mean that without works, you have no faith. Faith here could be hope. If hope is an act of will, it must be augmented and derived from action.

The action required at this moment are multiple class action lawsuits from the 911 Families who refused the hush money payouts and who as representatives of the murder victims should demand the Truth once and for all.

The discovery process of Court deliberations could provide the investigation and disclosure that any 911 Commission couldnt and wouldnt.

And we'll know who's responsible for the 911 crimes by which rats scurry into the shadows the fastest.

12:35 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The Courts have been stacked over a long period of time by guys who quieted the masses with noises about being anti abortion. But, their decisions were pro corporate and that's why they actually got the job. Historically, the fascist format is corporatism. Realistically, the only tenuously accountable division now is the House. They have the purse strings. But, unless electronic voting is thrown out like it has been in California, they too are nullified. EQ

6:28 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi EQ, If youre comment was a reply to mine, I think it was a bit nihilistic, but only if it was in reply to my comment concerning LAWSUITS.

What's the worst that could happen? The Defendants will LIE. Well, that's what we want because then we'll know who was involved in 911 by who lies like a rat. We already have the facts. What we want is just a little more disclosure to fill in a few blanks, that's all.

11:35 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey! I was responding to the idea of lawsuits. I think it is realistic to view that any lawsuit takes a tremendous amount of time and money when realistic prospects of getting anything out of it are slim. For one, the opposition has the funds to bury you in paper. (I watched that happen on a District Court level behind the scenes) Also, I do not view the current Courts as a level playing field. Despite actions by Congress, the Courts just gave Bush the go ahead to bring Mexican trucks across borders unfettered. I think that Courts are acting politically, as is the current Justice Department whose attorneys are under threat of losing their jobs in a tight economy. I think the bad guys are vulnerable regarding the electronic voting. And, the House has some limited responsiveness. Formats like Moveon.org are busy organizing John Q. Public along those lines. Traditional formats like demonstrations just make you a target in a fascist environment. The government out here in Colorado is even photographing biker's license plates in non gang, urban yuppie get togethers. But, Denver is a sanctuary city giving Mexican drug gangs open season on cops and the public. If you want to grab public attention, link in with the things that they can see and that affect them directly. Eg. If we have this war on terror and terrorists actually brought those buildings down on 911, why do we have open borders? If you catch them in an obvious lie in one context, they are less likely to be believed elsewhere. But, the reality is that the public is on fear burnout. There isn't even outrage about the Air Force supposedly goofing and lugging live nukes over us. (and, out to a base that will likely be involved in a strike against Iran)Far from being nihilist, I see a metaphysical shift in consciousness and this is the last gasp of this dark evil Nazi crap that will unfortunately kill a lot of people before it ends. But, it is destined to be weeded out. More and more, you draw to you what you focus on. If you sit back and watch, it is happening faster and faster just like time seems to be speeding up. I think that the seeds of truth have been planted. Now, is for fancy footwork to avoid having the dark focus come back on you, as well. Maybe, change focus to what you do want in positive change. The current governmental structure apparently has some big loopholes. EQ

8:35 AM  
Blogger Sajith said...

Thank you for posting these inspirational quotations.

Regards


3:02 AM  
Blogger Scott Fox said...

Great post! Keep it up GW's Blog.

7:37 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Just what I needed!

I too, get pulled down by the daily news. It just seems to go from outrageously bad to unthinkable and then to incredibly maddening, and so on.

Thanks for the inspiration and the reminder that Peace is possible in this world. But first each individual must find that Peace within or it is just a nice concept to be talked about over dinner.

This post reminds me that we are not the first people of good will to find themselves in a life-or-death battle with the dark side. I hope that somehow humanity will stop breeding more Cheneys so that Peace can be realized.
Thanks for the quotes too.

2:28 PM  
Blogger Doug Plumb said...

Nothing can change unless a larger part of the citizenry becomes aware. Its all we can do and its exactly what we must do, even if there were other options.

Its unlikely that any change will occur unless a larger part of the establishment and citizenry wakes up to what is going on.

12:21 PM  

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