Best despair & doubt Quotes | Short & Famous Sayings

Source: Watchwords

“There is a virtuous fear, which is the effect of faith; and there is a vicious fear, which is the product of doubt. The former leads to hope, as relying on God, in whom we believe; the latter inclines to despair, as not relying on God, in whom we do not believe. Persons of the one character fear to lose God; persons of the other character fear to find Him.”

Believe Persons Character Fear Loses Doubt Effects Products Despair Former Latter Virtuous Vicious Incline Relying On God

Author:Blaise Pascal

“Never give up! it is wiser and betterAlways to hope, than once to despair.Fling off the load of Doubt's cankering fetter,And break the dark spell of tyrannical care.”

Giving Care Dark Break Doubt Despair Giving Up Spells Load Wiser Never Giving Up Fling Fetters

Book:Poetical works

Source: Poetical works

“The year that 'Lost' started and premiered was, without a doubt, the most miserable year of my life. The level of despair and anguish that I was feeling; I was clinically depressed, and anyone that you talked to who knew me at the time will tell you that.”

Years Feelings Lost Levels Doubt Despair Miserable Anguish Time Will Tell

Author:Damon Lindelof

“The anchor of meaning resides in an abyss, deeper than the reach of despair. Yet the abyss is not not infinite; its bottom may suddenly be discovered within the confines of a human heart or under the debris of might doubts. This may be the vocation of man: to say "Amen" to being and to the Author of being; to live in defiance of absurdity, notwithstanding futility and defeat; to attain faith in God even in spite of God.”

Men Humans Heart May Might Doubt Despair Infinite Bottom Defeat Deeper Spite Faith In God Absurdity Human Heart Abyss Vocation Anchors Defiance Futility Amen Debris

Book:Who is Man?

Source: Who is Man?

“Scientific discovery is a private event, and the delight that accompanies it, or the despair of finding it illusory, does not travel. One scientist may get great satisfaction from another's work and admire it deeply; it may give him great intellectual pleasure; but it gives him no sense of participation in the discovery, it does not carry him away, and his appreciation of it does not depend on his being carried away. If it were otherwise the inspirational origin of scientific discovery would never have been in doubt.”

Source: The Strange Case of the Spotted Mice and Other Classic Essays on Science

“The signs that presage growth, so similar, it seems to me, to those in early adolescence: discontent, restlessness, doubt, despair, longing, are interpreted falsely as signs of decay. In youth one does not as often misinterpret the signs; one accepts them, quite rightly, as growing pains. One takes them seriously, listens to them, follows where they lead. ... But in the middle age, because of the false assumption that it is a period of decline, one interprets these life-signs, paradoxically, as signs of approaching death.”

“If thy faith have no doubts, thou has just cause to doubt thy faith; and if thy doubts have no hope, thou hast just reason to fear despair; when therefore thy doubts shall exercise thy faith, keep thy hopes firm to qualify thy doubts; so shall thy faith be secured from doubts; so shall thy doubts be preserved from despair.”

Ifs Reason Faith Causes Doubt Exercise Despair Firm No Doubt No Hope Secured

Author:Francis Quarles

“Doubt is thought's despair; despair is personality's doubt. . . . Doubt and despair . . . belong to completely different spheres; different sides of the soul are set in motion. . . . Despair is an expression of the total personality, doubt only of thought.”

Different Soul Sides Doubt Expression Personality Despair Spheres Different Sides

Author:Soren Kierkegaard

“Uncertain ways unsafest are, and doubt a greater mischief than despair.”

Way Doubt Greater Despair Uncertain Mischief Doubted

Book:The poetical works of Edmund Waller and Sir John Denham

Source: The poetical works of Edmund Waller and Sir John Denham

“Those who say they believe in God and yet neither love nor fear Him, do not in fact believe in Him but in those who have taught them that God exists. Those who believe that they believe in God, but without any passion in their heart, any anguish of mind, without uncertainty, without doubt, without an element of despair even in their consolation, believe only in the God-idea, not in God.”

Mind Believe Heart Ideas Facts Passion Doubt Taught Despair Elements Uncertainty Believe In God Anguish Consolation God Exists

Author:Miguel de Unamuno

“Melancholy and sadness are the start of doubt... doubt is the beginning of despair; despair is the cruel beginning of the differing degrees of wickedness.”

Doubt Sadness Despair Degrees Melancholy Wickedness Sadness And Love Sadness And Anger

Author:Isidore Ducasse Lautreamont

“Just as doubt, despair, and desensitization go together, so do faith, hope, and charity. The latter, however, must be carefully and constantly nurtured, whereas despair, like dandelions, needs so little encouragement to sprout and spread. Despair comes so naturally to the natural man!”

Men Needs Littles Together Natural Doubt Despair Encouragement Charity Spread Latter Sprouts Dandelions Faith Hope Faith Hope And Charity

Author:Neal A. Maxwell

“It is not despair, for despair is only for those who see the end beyond all doubt. We do not.”

Ends Hope Doubt Despair Hope And Despair Galadriel

Book:The Fellowship of the Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings

Source: The Fellowship of the Ring: Being the First Part of The Lord of the Rings

“Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years. People grow old by deserting their ideals. Years wrinkle the skin, but giving up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul. Worry, doubt, self-distrust, fear and despair - these are the long years that bow the head and turn the growing spirit back to dust. You are as young as your faith and as old as your doubts; as young as you self-confidence, as old as your fear; as young as your hope, as old as your despair.”

People Giving Years Long Soul Self Young Spirit Turns Grows Numbers Worry Doubt Growing Despair Giving Up Ideals Skins Self Confidence Enthusiasm Dust Bows Distrust Wrinkles

Author:James E. Faust

“Those who believe they believe in God, but without passion in the heart, without anguish of mind, without uncertainty, without doubt, and even at times without despair, believe only in the idea of God, and not in God himself.”

Mind Believe Heart Ideas God Passion Doubt Atheism Despair Atheist Uncertainty Believe In God Anguish

Book:Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art

Source: Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art

“There was a castle called Doubting Castle, the owner whereof was Giant Despair.”

Doubt Despair Giants Owners Castles

Book:The pilgrim's progress from this world to that which is to come: delivered under the similitude of a dream ... In three parts

Source: The pilgrim's progress from this world to that which is to come: delivered under the similitude of a dream ... In three parts

“Let me begin now, this very night, to emulate Christ. Cast off forever will be the old self and with it defeat, despair, doubt, and disbelief. To a newness of life I come--a life of faith, hope courage, and joy. No task looms too large; no responsibility too heavy; no duty is a burden. All things become possible.”

“Never despair, but if you do, work on in despair.”

Ifs Work Inspiring Worry Doubt Sadness Sad Despair Perseverance

Author:Edmund Burke

“We've forgotten much. How to struggle, how to rise to dizzy heights and sink to unparalleled depths. We no longer aspire to anything. Even the finer shades of despair are lost to us. We've ceased to be runners. We plod from structure to conveyance to employment and back again. We live within the boundaries that science has determined for us. The measuring stick is short and sweet. The full gamut of life is a brief, shadowy continuum that runs from gray to more gray. The rainbow is bleached. We hardly know how to doubt anymore. (“The Thing”)”

“I felt despair. The word’s overused and banalified now, despair, but it’s a serious word, and I’m using it seriously. For me it denotes a simple admixture — a weird yearning for death combined with a crushing sense of my own smallness and futility that presents as a fear of death. It’s maybe close to what people call dread or angst. But it’s not these things, quite. It’s more like wanting to die in order to escape the unbearable feeling of becoming aware that I’m small and weak and selfish and going without any doubt at all to die. It’s wanting to jump overboard.”

“There is no greater folly in the world than for a man to despair.”

Men World Doubt Greater Despair Folly

Book:The History of Don Quixote de la Mancha: With Illus. by Schoff

Source: The History of Don Quixote de la Mancha: With Illus. by Schoff

“Where there is discord may we bring harmony. Where there is error, may we bring truth. Where there is doubt, may we bring faith. Where there is despair, may we bring hope.”

May Truth Hope Politics Doubt Despair Harmony Errors Saint Discord Iron Lady Grocers

Author:Francis of Assisi

“Despair is the damp of hell, as joy is the serenity of heaven.”

Joy Suffering Heaven Hell Doubt Quiet Despair Serenity Damp

Author:John Donne

“Creativity requires introspection, self-examination, and a willingness to take risks. Because of this, artists are perhaps more susceptible to self-doubt and despair than those who do not court the creative muses.”

Self Artist Creativity Creative Doubt Risk Despair Court Self Discovery Willingness Muse Introspection Examination Susceptible Self-doubt Self-examination

Author:Eric Maisel

“Magic enables man to carry out with confidence his important tasks, to maintain his poise and his mental integrity in fits of anger, in the throes of hate, of unrequited love, of despair and anxiety. The function of magic is to ritualize man's optimism, to enhance his faith in the victory of hope over fear. Magic expresses the greater value for man of confidence over doubt, of steadfastness over vacillation, of optimism over pessimism.”

“To doubt is worse than to have lost; And to despair is but to antedate those miseries that must fall on us.”

Fall Lost Doubt Despair Misery Overcoming Doubt

Book:The Duke of Milan: A Tragedy in Five Acts

Source: The Duke of Milan: A Tragedy in Five Acts

“The passage of time has not altered the capacity of the Redeemer to change men’s lives. As he said to the dead Lazarus, so he says to you and me: “come forth.” Come forth from the despair of doubt. Come forth from the sorrow of sin. Come forth from the death of disbelief. Come forth to a newness of life. Come forth.”

Men Said Sin Doubt Sorrow Despair Capacity Passages Disbelief Altered Redeemer Passage Of Time Newness Lazarus Newness Of Life

Author:Thomas S. Monson

“The artist committing himself to his calling has volunteered for hell, whether he knows it or not. He will be dining for the duration on a diet of isolation, rejection, self-doubt, despair, ridicule, contempt, and humiliation.”

Knows Self Artist Hell Doubt Calling Despair Diets Rejection Isolation Contempt Humiliation Ridicule Duration Dining Self-doubt

Book:The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles

Source: The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks and Win Your Inner Creative Battles

“I would just like to remember some words of St. Francis of Assisi which I think are really just particularly apt at the moment. 'Where there is discord, may we bring harmony. Where there is error, may we bring truth. Where there is doubt, may we bring faith. And where there is despair, may we bring hope.”

Thinking May Moments Remember Doubt Despair Harmony Errors Discord St Francis Of Assisi

Book:The collected speeches of Margaret Thatcher

Source: The collected speeches of Margaret Thatcher

“The deeper our faith, the more doubt we must endure; the deeper our hope, the more prone we are to despair; the deeper our love, the more pain its loss will bring: these are a few of the paradoxes we must hold as human beings. If we refuse to hold them in the hopes of living without doubt, despair, and pain, we also find ourselves living without faith, hope, and love.”

Ifs Humans Pain Faith Human Beings Loss Doubt Despair And Love Endure Refuse Deeper Paradox Our Love Hope And Love Faith Hope Faith Hope And Love

Author:Parker J. Palmer

“The essence of Christianity is the appeal to the life of Christ as a revelation of the nature of God and of God's agency in the world. The record is fragmentary, inconsistent, and uncertain. . . . But there can be no doubt as to what elements in the record have evoked a response from all that is best in human nature. The Mother, the Child, and the bare manger: the lowly man, homeless and self-forgetful, with his message of peace, love, and sympathy: the suffering, the agony, the tender words as life ebbed, the final despair: and the whole with the authority of supreme victory.”

“Perhaps it would have been possible to see in him a new Prometheus...the hero who for the good of mankind exposes himself to the agonies of the damned...undaunted by failure, by an unceasing effort of courage holding despair at bay, doggedly persistent in the face of self-doubt, which is the artist's bitterest enemy.”

Has Beens Art Self Faces Artist Effort Enemy Doubt Mankind Hero Despair Agony Persistent Self-doubt Prometheus Undaunted

Author:W. Somerset Maugham

“The modern technological world appears overwhelming to many people. It drives some to pessimism and despair. It makes others doubt the future of mankind unless we retreat to simpler lives and even to the ways of our ancestors. What these people fail to realize is that we cannot go back to those ways and those days. Furthermore, for all our difficulties, life today is far better for more people and the possibilities for the future can be brighter than ever if we develop not only new knowledge, but a greater faith and confidence in the human mind and spirit.”

“Despair is the conclusion of fools.”

Doubt Fool Despair Conclusion

Book:Novels and Tales by the Earl of Beaconsfield

Source: Novels and Tales by the Earl of Beaconsfield

“I think despair and cynicism are two different things. On the flip side of hope is despair. Belief and doubt are the same thing, in that to believe something you have to actively doubt the opposite. And from my perspective, that's the deep end. You're dealing with the unknown; you're dealing with mystery.”

Thinking Believe Two Different Ends Belief Sides Doubt Mystery Perspective Despair Opposites Different Things Cynicism Flip Two Different Things

Author:Jon Foreman

“I know not how to defeat others, I only know how to win over myself. The real and most dangerous opponents we face in life are fear, anger, confusion, doubt and despair. If we overcome those enemies who attack from within , we can attain a sure victory over any attack from without.”

Ifs Knows Real Faces Winning Enemy Know How Doubt Dangerous Victory Despair Overcoming Defeat Confusion Opponents

Book:The Way of the Warrior (Young Samurai, Book 1)

Source: The Way of the Warrior (Young Samurai, Book 1)

“I would say that our patients never really despair because of any suffering in itself! Instead, their despair stems in each instance from a doubt as to whether suffering is meaningful. Man is ready and willing to shoulder any suffering as soon and as long as he can see a meaning in it.”

Men Long Suffering Doubt Willing Ready Despair Patient Meaningful Shoulders Instance Existential Stem

Author:Viktor E. Frankl

“Lord, make me an instrument of thy peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love, Where there is injury, pardon; Where there is doubt, faith; Where there is despair, hope; Where there is darkness, light; And where there is sadness, joy. O Divine Master, Grant that I may not so much seek To be consoled as to console, To be understood as to understand, To be loved, as to love.”

“In our darkest hour, in my deepest despair, Will you still care? Will you be there? In my trials and my tribulations, Through our doubts and frustrations, In my violence and my turbulence, Through my fear and my confessions, And my anguish and my pain, Through my joy and my sorrow, In the promise of another tomorrow, I'll never let you part, For you're always in my heart.”

Heart Stills Care Pain Joy Hours Doubt Violence Tomorrow My Heart Sorrow Promise Despair Trials Frustration Confession Anguish Tribulation Darkest Hour Always In My Heart

Author:Michael Jackson

“There is no despair so absolute as that which comes with the first moments of our first great sorrow, when we have not yet known what it is to have suffered and be healed, to have despaired and have recovered hope.”

Firsts Moments Suffering Hope Known Learning Doubt Sadness Sorrow Despair Absolutes Aging Healed Hope And Despair One Tree Hill Voiceover One Tree Hill Opening Short One Tree Hill One Tree Hill Love

Book:George Eliot Collection: Middlemarch, Adam Bede, Silas Marner, The Lifted Veil, and The Mill on the Floss

Source: George Eliot Collection: Middlemarch, Adam Bede, Silas Marner, The Lifted Veil, and The Mill on the Floss

“How could one comfort a disturbed person? He is already assailed with doubts about his faith. He would have to despair with such a doctrine. Rather one must seek to convince him that the Savior is there for him, has already forgiven him, and has already accepted him. As soon as one makes faith even in the least a requirement for justification, one takes from such a person all the comfort of the Gospel.”

Persons Doubt Comfort Despair Accepted Doctrine Convince Savior Justification Requirements Forgiven Disturbed

Author:C. F. W. Walther

“Out of the temptation of Hate, and burned by the fire of Despair, triumphant over Doubt, and steeled by Sacrifice against Humiliation, . . . He bent to all the gibes and prejudices, to all hatred and discrimination with that rare courtesy which is the armor of pure souls. . . . he simply worked, inspiring the young, rebuking the old, helping the weak, guiding the strong.”

Source: The Souls of Black Folk: The Oxford W. E. B. Du Bois

“The arrogance of poets is only a defense; doubt gnaws the greatest among them; they need our testimony to escape despair.”

Needs Doubt Poet Despair Defense Arrogance Testimony

Author:Francois Mauriac

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Despair Quotes