“Optimism and hope are radically different attitudes. Optimism is the expectation that things—the weather, human relationship, the economy, the political situation, and so on—will get better. Hope is trust that God will fulfill God’s promises to us in a way that leads us to true freedom. The optimist speaks about concrete changes in the future. The person of hope lives in the moment with the knowledge and trust that all of life is in good hands.”
"You are loved more deeply than imaginable."
- Henri Nouwen
Love
"The Lord is coming, always coming. When you have ears to hear and eyes to see, you will recognize him at any moment of your life. Life is Advent; life is recognizing the coming of the Lord."
- Henri Nouwen
Awareness
"Spiritual maturity is not knowing what to do with your whole life, but just knowing what to do next."
- Henri Nouwen
Awareness
"Good Friday: day of the cross, day of suffering, day of hope, day of abandonment, day of victory, day of mourning, day of joy, day of endings, day of beginnings. . . . I closed my eyes and could see his sacred body. . . . I saw the immense suffering of humanity during the centuries: people killing each other; people dying from starvation and epidemics; people driven from their homes; people sleeping on the streets of large cities; people clinging to each other in desperation; people flagellated, tortured, burned and mutilated; people alone in locked flats, in prison dungeons, in labor camps; people craving a gentle word, a friendly letter, a consoling embrace, people . . . all crying out with an anguished voice, ‘My God, my God, why have you forsaken us?’. . . with my minds’ eye I saw large crowds of isolate, agonizing individuals walking away from the cross together, bound by the love they had seen with their own eyes and touched with their own lips. The cross of horror became the cross of hope, the tortured body became the body that gives new life; the gaping wound became the source of forgiveness, healing and reconciliation."
- Henri Nouwen
Compassion
"Did I offer peace today? Did I bring a smile to someone's face? Did I say words of healing? Did I let go of my anger and resentment? Did I forgive? Did I love? These are the real questions. I must trust that the little bit of love that I sow now will bear many fruits, here in this world and the life to come."
- Henri Nouwen
Compassion
"Happiness is possible even in the midst of darkness."
- Beauty and the Beast
Hope
"No one is beyond redemption."
- Beauty and the Beast
Hope
"You will … hear us declare with Moroni that hope is essential if we are to ‘receive [the] inheritance [God] hast prepared [for us]’ [Ether 12:32]. We want you to claim that inheritance as sons and daughters of a king. To do that, we must realize that hope is not just the message and manner of the naturally optimistic; it is the privilege of everyone who believes."
- Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
Hope
"Keep a little fire burning; however small, however hidden."
- Cormac McCarthy
Hope
"Light tomorrow with today."
- Elizabeth Barrett Browning
Hope