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Despair Quotes

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Despair Quotes

“When we think of the height of God's infinity we should not despair of His compassion reaching us from such a height; and when we recall the infinite depth of our fall through sin we should not refuse to believe that the virtue which has been killed in us will rise again. For God can accomplish both these things: He can come down and illumine our intellect with spiritual knowledge, and He can raise up the virtue within us and exalt it with Himself through works of righteousness.”

ThinkingShouldBelieveHas BeensChristianSpiritualFallSinCompassionVirtueDespairInfiniteDown AndRaisesDepthRefuseAccomplishIntellectHeightReachingOrthodoxRighteousnessInfinityRecallsRaise UpSpiritual Knowledge
Author:Maximus the Confessor
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“But human beings fall easily into despair, and from the very beginning we invented stories that enabled us to place our lives in a larger setting, that revealed an underlying pattern, and gave us a sense that, against all the depressing and chaotic evidence to the contrary, life had meaning and value.”

HumansStoriesValuesFallHuman BeingsOur LivesDespairEvidencePatternsContrarySettingSettingsDepressingChaotic
Book:A Short History Of Myth
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“Myth was regarded as primary; it was concerned with what was thought to be timeless and constant in our existence. Myth looked back to the origins of life, to the foundations of culture, and to the deepest levels of the human mind. Myth was not concerned with practical matters, but with meaning. Unless we find some significance in our lives, we mortal men and women fall very easily into despair. The mythos of a society provided people with a context that made sense of their day-to-day lives; it directed their attention to the eternal and the universal.”

PeopleMenMindHumansMadeMatterFallCultureLevelsExistenceAttentionOur LivesAtheismDespairEternalMen And WomenConcernedUniversalFoundationConstantPositive AtheismMythPracticalsMortalsPrimariesSignificanceHuman MindTimelessDay To DayDay LifeOrigin Of LifeDay To Day Life
Book:The Battle for God: A History of Fundamentalism
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“... in love, barriers cannot be destroyed from the outside by the one to whom the cause despair, no matter what he does; and it isonly when he is no longer concerned with them that, suddenly, as a result of work coming from elsewhere, accomplished within the one who did not love him, these barriers, formerly attacked without success, fall futilely.”

LoveDoeMatterFallCausesResultsDespairConcernedNo Matter WhatDestroyedAccomplishedBarriersElsewhereFutility
Author:Marcel Proust
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“Parents offer an open womb. More than anyone else in your life, mothers, and sometimes fathers, can kiss it, and make it well whentheir grown children need to regress and repair. More than anyone else in your life, mothers, and sometimes fathers, can catch you when you start to fall. When you are in disgrace, defeat, and despair, home may be the safest place to hide.”

NeedsWellsMayChildrenSometimesHomeMotherFallFatherParentOffersKissingDespairDefeatWombDisgraceGrown Children
Author:Frank Pittman
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“In an all-out nuclear war, more destructive power than in all of World War II would be unleashed every second during the long afternoon it would take for all the missiles and bombs to fall. A World War II every second-more people killed in the first few hours than all the wars of history put together. The survivors, if any, would live in despair amid the poisoned ruins of a civilization that had committed suicide.”

PeopleIfsWorldFirstsLongWarWould BeTogetherFallHoursCivilizationDespairSuicideCommittedNuclearRuinsWar Of The WorldsBombsDestructiveSurvivorAfternoonWorld War IiWorld War IMissilesNuclear WarEvery SecondUnleashedDestructive Power
Book:Jimmy Carter
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“We can surely no longer pretend that our children are growing up into a peaceful, secure, and civilized world. We've come to the point where it's irresponsible to try to protect them from the irrational world they will have to live in when they grow up. The children themselves haven't yet isolated themselves by selfishness and indifference; they do not fall easily into the error of despair; they are considerably braver than most grownups. Our responsibility to them is not to pretend that if we don't look, evil will go away, but to give them weapons against it.”

IfsWorldGivingTryingLooksChildrenFallEvilGrowsParentResponsibilityGrowing UpGrowingHavensProtectDespairWeaponsOur ChildrenErrorsParentingPeacefulSecureSelfishnessIndifferenceGoing AwayCivilizedIsolatedIrrationalIrresponsibleGrownups
Author:Madeleine L'Engle
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“Emotional discomfort, when accepted, rises, crests and falls in a series of waves. Each wave washes a part of us away and deposits treasures we never imagined. Out goes naivete, in comes wisdom; out goes anger, in comes discernment; out goes despair, in comes kindness. No one would call it easy, but the rhythm of emotional pain that we learn to tolerate is natural, constructive and expansive... The pain leaves you healthier than it found you.”

InspirationalPainFallFoundEasyNaturalKindnessEmotionalDespairSeriesWaveAcceptedTreasureRhythmTolerateConstructiveDiscomfortDiscernmentEmotional PainDepositsFound YouNaivete
Author:Martha Beck
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“And so I ask myself: 'Where are your dreams?' And I shake my head and mutter: 'How the years go by!' And I ask myself again: 'What have you done with those years? Where have you buried your best moments? Have you really lived? Look,' I say to myself, 'how cold it is becoming all over the world!' And more years will pass and behind them will creep grim isolation. Tottering senility will come hobbling, leaning on a crutch, and behind these will come unrelieved boredom and despair. The world of fancies will fade, dreams will wilt and die and fall like autumn leaves from the trees. . . .”

WorldYearsLooksDoneMomentsDreamDiesFallAsksBehindsTreeColdBecomingDespairYour DreamsBoredomFancyIsolationShakesAutumnBuriedFadesCreepsGrimCrutchesBest MomentsAutumn LeavesSenility
Author:Fyodor Dostoevsky
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“Three weeks ago, he’d seen hail fall from the sky, only to be followed minutes later by a spectacular rainbow that seemed to frame the azalea bushes. The colors, so vivid they seemed almost alive, made him think that nature sometimes sends us signs, that it’s important to remember that joy can always follow despair. But a moment later, the rainbow had vanished and the hail returned, and he realized that joy was sometimes only an illusion.”

ThinkingMadeImportantSometimesMomentsRememberJoyFallThreeAliveWeekSkyMinutesColorDespairIllusionRainbowVividSpectacularHailAzaleas
Author:Nicholas Sparks
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“[Buddhism and Christianity] are in one sense parallel and equal; as a mound and a hollow, as a valley and a hill. There is a sense in which that sublime despair is the only alternative to that divine audacity. It is even true that the truly spiritual and intellectual man sees it as sort of dilemma; a very hard and terrible choice. There is little else on earth that can compare with these for completeness. And he who does not climb the mountain of Christ does indeed fall into the abyss of Buddha.”

MenLittlesDoeHardEarthSpiritualChoicesFallChristChristianityDivineBuddhismTerribleMountainEqualDespairIntellectualAlternativesHillsCompareClimbsValleysSublimeAbyssParallelsHollowDilemmaCompletenessAudacityBuddhism And Christianity
Author:Gilbert K. Chesterton
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“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.”

ThinkingWayInspirationalHas BeensEndsSeemsMotivationalTruthRememberFallEvilPoliticsPeaceCommunityHistorySadnessSocietyTruth IsSadDespairAnd LoveHistoricalTyrantsNonviolenceLive In The MomentMurdererInvincibleNon ViolenceBeing At PeaceWhat Is LoveReally SadTruth And LoveMy TruthSad LifeTruth And JusticeSadness Of LifeGood EvilWay Of LoveSadness And LoveJustice TruthTriumph Over EvilEvil Love
Author:Mahatma Gandhi
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“I know all about the despair of overcoming chronic temptation. It is not serious, provided self-offended petulance, annoyance at breaking records, impatience, etc., don't get the upper hand. No amount of falls will really undo us if we keep picking ourselves up each time...The only fatal thing is to lose one's temper and give up.”

IfsKnowsGivingSelfHandsHappinessFallLosesRecordsSeriousAmountDespairGiving UpOvercomingTemptationEtcTemperOffendedImpatienceAnnoyanceUpper HandPetulance
Author:C. S. Lewis
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“The body, the mind, and the spirit don't form a pyramid, they form a circle. Each of them runs into the other two. The body isn't below the mind and the spirit; from the point of view it's between them. if you reside too much in the mind, then you get too abstract and cut off from the world. You long for the spiritual life, but you can't get to it, and you fall into despair. The exercise of the senses frees you from abstraction and opens the way to transcendence.”

IfsWorldWayMindLongTwoBodyRunningSpiritualFormSpiritFallViewsToo MuchCuttingBalanceExerciseDespairPoint Of ViewCirclesSensesAbstractSpiritual LifeAbstractionTranscendencePyramids
Book:Moo
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“"Don't worry too much about how spiritually poor you are_God sees that,but for you it is expected to trust in God and pray to Him as best you can,never to fall into despair and to struggle according to your strength.If you ever begin to think you are spiritually_"well off"_then you can know for sure that you aren't!True spiritual life,even on the most elementary level,is always accompanied by suffering and difficulties.Therefore you should rejoice in all your difficulties and sorrows."”

IfsThinkingKnowsLifeShouldWellsTruthSpiritualSufferingFallPoorLevelsWorryStruggleToo MuchPrayingSorrowDespairDifficultyExpectedTrust In GodRejoiceSpiritual Life
Author:Seraphim Rose
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“When I rest I feel utterly lifeless except that my throat burns when I draw breath... I can scarcely go on. No despair, no happiness, no anxiety. I have not lost the mastery of my feelings, there are actually no more feelings. I consist only of will. After each few metres this too fizzles out in unending tiredness. Then I think nothing. I let myself fall, just lie there. For an indefinite time I remain completely irresolute. Then I make a few steps again.”

ThinkingFeelsI CanFeelingsLyingFallLostStepsGoes OnDespairAnxietyDrawsBreathsThroatMasteryUnendingLifelessTiredness
Author:Reinhold Messner
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“Whatever happens to you, don't fall in despair. Even if all the doors are closed, a secret path will be there for you that no one knows. You can't see it yet but so many paradises are at the end of this path...Be grateful! It is easy to thank after obtaining what you want, thank before having what you want.”

IfsKnowsWantEndsHappensMotivationalSuccessFallEasySecretPathDoorsDespairGratefulWhat You WantParadiseBe GratefulThankfulBeing ThankfulWhatever HappensObtainingClosed Doors
Author:Rumi
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“Every four years the naive half who vote are encouraged to believe that if we can elect a really nice man or woman President everything will be all right. But it won't be. Any individual who is able to raise $25 million to be considered presidential is not going to be much use to the people at large. He will represent oil, or aerospace, or banking, or whatever moneyed entities are paying for him. Certainly he will never represent the people of the country, and they know it. Hence, the sense of despair throughout the land as incomes fall, businesses fail and there is no redress.”

PeopleIfsKnowsMenYearsBelieveCountryUseAbleFallIndividualPresidentHalfMillionsFourNiceFailingLandDespairVoteRaisesOilIncomePresidentialFour YearsEntityBankingNaiveReally NiceRedressNice ManAerospace
Book:The Last Empire: Essays 1992-2000
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“Sandoz turned and accepted the book, looking at the spine. "Aeschylus?" Wordlessly, Guiuliani pointed out the passage, and Emilio studied it a while, slowly translating the Greek in his mind. Finally, he said, "In our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, until, in our own despair, againstour will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God."”

MindHeartSaidBookPainFallSleepForgetGraceWords Of WisdomDespairAcceptedAwfulGreekPassagesTranslateGrace Of GodSpine
Author:Mary Doria Russell
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“About 2500 years ago Aeschylus, the Greek playwright, wrote, He who learns must suffer. And even in our sleep, pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart and in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God. These remarkable photos and the stories that accompany them should be on billboards from sea to shining sea, so the pain and suffering they represent might fall drop by drop upon the American psyche and against our will, by the awful grace of God, wisdom might come to these United States and her foreign policy.”

ShouldYearsHeartStatesStoriesMightPainSufferingFallSleepForgetUnitedUnited StatesGraceSeaPolicyDespairYears AgoShiningAwfulGreekRemarkableForeign PolicyGrace Of GodPlaywrightAccompanyPain And SufferingBillboards
Author:Gioconda Belli
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