Despair Inspirational Quotes & Sayings

My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we'll change the world. — Jack Layton

Love demands everything, they say, but my love demands only this: that no matter what happens or how long it takes, you'll keep faith in me, you'll remember who we are, and you'll never feel despair. — Ann Brashares

There are tumults of the mind, when, like the great convulsions of Nature, all seems anarchy and returning chaos; yet often, in those moments of vast disturbance, as in the strife of Nature itself, some new principle of order, or some new impulse of conduct, develops itself, and controls, and regulates, and brings to an harmonious consequence, passions and elements which seem only to threaten despair and subversion. — William Gibson

The internet illuminates what has always been -- our interconnectedness. The internet is not a tool or a thing. It is how we communicate with God. It is sacred. Holy. All that time I thought I'd been far from God I wasn't. I'd been talking to God everyday for years -- online. The internet saved me from the hell of Christian fundamentalism and the despair of atheism. And then it saved my life. — Jim Gilliam

The history of "The Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy" is one of idealism, struggle, despair, passion, success, failure, and enormously long lunch-breaks. — Douglas Adams

Focusing on worldly achievements and acceptance has never been the way to true happiness, and an obsessive, discontent with our physical appearance can lead to unhappiness if not despair. — Pamela H. Hansen

Be greatly encouraged! — Lailah Gifty Akita

Those who have attained things worth having in this world have worked while others idled, have persevered while others gave up in despair, have practiced ... the valuable habits of self-denial, industry, and singleness of purpose. — Grenville Kleiser

What a blessed bliss to be alive? — Lailah Gifty Akita

Humanity will be better served when those in power, privileged and keepers of it's flame realize that poverty is not a crime nor a curse but a condition though at times crippling can be the catalyst that can lead many from despair to prosperity. Each time we help feed the hungry we not only help satisfy their needs but also ours. When we help shelter the homeless, we also strengthen the foundations of our souls in the process. When we show others love and compassion ... it will always come back to us. In all we do to help better humanity ... it is never done in vain. — Timothy Pina

The difference between dreamers and great ones is that the great ones can always perceive beyond their dark clouds of despair and struggles to see the rainbow of hope in their lives. — Timothy Pina

The great GOD is a tower of refuge to the poor.
The great GOD is a tower of refuge to the needy in distress. — Lailah Gifty Akita

As you sip your morning coffee ... please say a prayer for the people of Tibet and all other children of humanity that are suffering despair & hopelessness throughout our world. — Timothy Pina

May all your tomorrows be sunny and bright ... filled with hope to conquer over all your despair. — Timothy Pina

What responsibility means is being your own guru. We can only help you find the way. Any healing, any progress, any hope, and any despair is going to come from you. It is your energy that matters. I can't give you my energy, and I wouldn't dream of it. I need it for me. But I can help you find your energy. I'm obligated to help you find it, in any way I can. — Stephen Lewis

It is a divine gift to find the light inside while in the midst of despair. — Leta B.

Oft expectation fails, and most oft there where most it promises; and oft it hits where hope is coldest, and despair most fits. — William Shakespeare

Accept things that will make you happy. This is the joy of sacred existence. — Lailah Gifty Akita

What a lover's heart knows let no man's brain dispute. — Aberjhani

The opportunities far outweigh the disappointments. — Lailah Gifty Akita

Humanity is always at it's very best ... when it's children are all standing in unity to help all others that are in despair! — Timothy Pina

Tomorrow she'd look up tattoo removal. They were doing big things with lasers now. When Cal was just a little more stable, she'd break up with him, gently, and then she'd begin her project of helping everybody she could help, and after that she'd head out on a great long journey to absolutely nowhere and write a gorgeous poem cycle steeped in heavenly lavender-scented closure and also utter despair, a poem cycle you could also actually ride for its aerobic benefits, and she'd pedal that fucker straight across the face of the earth until at some point she'd coast right off the edge, whereupon she'd giggle and say, Oh, shit. — Sam Lipsyte

Meaning drives us from despair to wonder, from confusion to clarity, from hesitance to confidence. And the only place to find meaning is in the importance of small things. — Christina Baldwin

Paul Tillich - Loneliness & Solitude: "And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up into a mountain to pray: and when the evening was come, he was alone" - Matthew 14.23.
'He was there alone.' So are we. Man [humankind] is alone because he/[she] is man [human]. In some way every creature is alone ... Loneliness can be conqured only by those who can bear solitude (1973:15 & 20).
To overcome 'our' sense of aloness is a life long pursuite - let us not despair in its pursuite! — Paul Tillich

Peace is a process, not a shot clock with seconds ticking away and a buzzer at the finish. It's the result of many decisions, not just one. Don't expect otherwise, and don't fail to recognize how far you've risen from the depths of your despair. — Emily March

The Saviour is a life-giving light. — Lailah Gifty Akita

There is greater clarity in the still waters of sadness, something not found in the babbling brooks of more sought after emotions. — Shaun Hick

What I think we as the church lack, though, is a place to talk about how things really are right now. In our desire to be an inspiration to one another we often veil what is true, because what is true is not always inspirational. It's not easy to watch or personally experience a marriage on the verge of divorce, or a child battling cancer, or a betrayal of the worst kind, or dreams lost in the dust, or overwhelming feelings of despair or emptiness. But these things are real. And hurting believers whose lives are in tatters need real help. If we were able to put aside our need for approval long enough to be authentic, then, surely, we would be living as the church. — Sheila Walsh

For today ... Be kind to those in despair.
Your words, thoughts and prayers can be the difference between one's life or demise — Timothy Pina

Truth ... Overcome the valley of your despair and it will lead you onto some of the greatest roads of your life! — Timothy Pina

The Rise And Fall Of Humanity ... depends on how we treat each other. It must be either kindness & love or hatred & despair. The roads are laid out in front of us. The decisions are entirely ours to make! — Timothy Pina

The children are the future, so, let's tell them about tomorrow's hope rather than yesterday's despair. — Onyi Anyado

Mark ran his fingers over the bindings and
whispered words, written long ago, words that
wriggled through the aged leather, trembled
beneath his touch. What lives and loves,
hopes and dreams, deaths and despair
these volumes held. — Ellen Read

In the depths of horror and despair, one comes to a new steadiness. There is no farther to fall. — Winston Graham

Adversity begets spirituality. — Lailah Gifty Akita

The power of prayer is miraculous! — Lailah Gifty Akita

Encouraging words are hands that pool others from the despair of life. — Bangambiki Habyarimana

The power of hope! Even a lack of ambition can, for a time, pay off as a necessary facet, as long as hope outweighs it. — Criss Jami

Our brokenness can lead to building great things in our lives. Use your despair to help better humanity and never to hurt it — Timothy Pina

How do you like to be remembered? Me, I would like to be remembered like an elusive good book that does not appear lovable to everyone, gets underrated at times, yet never loses its rarity to inspire, whenever one comes down to the verge of despair, and that functions like ember, forgotten, but when the weather goes cold, one suddenly remembers to reignite it for warmth and comfort. — Aishah Madadiy

Inspiration moves one from Pessimism to Optimism, from Doubt to Faith, from Despair to Hope, and from Darkness to Light!-RVM — R.v.m.

Travel is the discovery of truth; an affirmation of the promise that human kind is far more beautiful than it is flawed. With each trip comes a new optimism that where there is despair and hardship, there are ideas and people just waiting to be energized, to be empowered, to make a difference for good. — Dan Thompson

To die,
so young to die.
No, no, not I,
I love the warm sunny skies,
light, song, shining eyes,
I want no war, no battle cry,
No, no, not I. — Hannah Senesh

Be not in despair; let those tears of sadness grow into flowers. — Debasish Mridha

My good friends, we are all waiting. We are waiting, if not for the Messiah, as such, we are waiting for the messianic moment. And the messianic moment is what each and every one of us tries to build, meaning a certain area of humanity that links us to all those who are human and, therefore, desperately trying to fight despair as humanly as possible and-I hope-with some measure of success. — Elie Wiesel

May God give comfort to the suffering souls. — Lailah Gifty Akita

At the dawn of light, the darkness diminishes. — Lailah Gifty Akita

To enjoy it again and again in those moments of joy and despair, I carry the beauty of your love in the hidden chamber of my heart. — Debasish Mridha

They that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. — Patricia Christian Punches

Everyone will encounter despair in their lifetime. It takes a champion to overcome it. Be that champion! — Timothy Pina

Yes, depression is painful, and oppressive, and frightening and draining. But YOU are strong, and worthy, and valuable and necessary. This affirmation should be your light in the darkness. So I ask anyone who is drifting off, and tempted to retreat into mental despair...turn your light in. Find your way back. People who love you, are waiting. People who understand are waiting. Don't discount what your support system can do. Turn your light on. — Carlos Wallace

Once, long ago, Jesus had called her name, breaking through the darkness of her oppression to set her free from the seven demons that bound her. now He broke through the hopelessness of her grief and despair. Mary might not have recognized His face, but she could never forget the sound of His voice, not when He called her name.(From "I Have Seen The Lord!") — Sherri Gragg

Though life shall come to an end one day, don't end life whilst living. So many people end their lives whilst they live before their lives come to a real end! There is always another tomorrow to do something different! — Ernest Agyemang Yeboah

Somehow great leaders reach deep down in their souls and find the power within them to overcome despair. We must too ... if we want to accomplish great things in our lives! — Timothy Pina

In those days of darkness don't despair or fear,
brighten the light of hope and desires with care. — Debasish Mridha

Immediate, glad obedience to God sets our course on the sea of happiness. Disobedience drops anchor in the sea of despair.Godly living means no regrets about yesterday, no embarrassments today, no schemes for tomorrow. Trust and let the One who holds both the past and future be your Guide for the present. — Woodrow Kroll

Father, I know you will hear me, I will speak. — Lailah Gifty Akita

I shall no longer fear what's on the roads ahead of me ... nor shall I be in despair about what I left behind. I shall live in the present moment and strive for greatness and work to brighten humanity with each step I take. — Timothy Pina

Let your heart be an infant of hope not an adult of despair. — Debasish Mridha

I don't think a being endowed with will-power should ever despair,as long as his hear beats. — Jules Verne

Frodo raised his head, and then stood up. Despair had not left him, but the weakness had passed. He even smiled grimly, feeling now as clearly as a moment before he had felt the opposite, that what he had to do, he had to do, if he could, and that whether Faramir or Aragorn or Elrond or Galadriel or Gandalf or anyone else knew about it was beside the purpose. He took his staff in one hand and the phial in his other. When he saw that the clear light was already welling through his fingers, he thrust it into his bosom and held it against his heart. Then turning from the city of Morgul, now no more than a grey glimmer across a dark gulf, he prepared to take the upward road. — J.R.R. Tolkien

Hope is immeasurable anchor. — Lailah Gifty Akita

As long as you have life and breath, believe. Believe for those who cannot. Believe even if you have stopped believing. Believe for the sake of the dead, for love, to keep your heart beating, believe. Never give up, never despair, let no mystery confound you into the conclusion that mystery cannot be yours. — Mark Helprin

There are only two possibilities in life:

1. Things don't always go the way you want, and you don't understand why you're having trouble; yet there is a hand of providence behind everything and a purpose for all that happens.

2. Things don't always go the way you want, and you don't understand why you're having trouble; but there is no hand of providence behind everything and no purpose for all that happens.

The first possibility gives hope in the midst of trials, the second produces only despair. — Fred Klett

Do not despise your gift. We are all valuable. — Lailah Gifty Akita

Despair will come and go but people that can overcome will last throught it. We must work with children to understand and deal with their despair ... instead of embarrassing them or hiding it from others. Empower your children today and watch them grow to excel in every way! — Timothy Pina

To All Children In Our World (Young & Old) Don't let your despair hold you down. Rise above it & grab the rainbows that are ahead of you down the roads of your life. — Timothy Pina

No, my heart will not yet despair. Gandalf fell and has returned and is with us. We may stand, if only on one leg, or at least be left still upon our knees. — J.R.R. Tolkien

The opposite of interpersonal trust is not mistrust. It is despair. This is because we have given up on believing that trustworthiness and fulfillment are possible from others. We have lost our hope in our fellow humans. — David Richo

Do not despair. To be friendless is indeed to be unfortunate, but the hearts of men, when unprejudiced by any obvious self-interest, are full of brotherly love and charity. — Mary Shelley

I acquired courage from the masterpieces of sages. I came of age by their instructions to keep going, even in hard times. Then I learnt not to despair, even when it seemed that my world is falling apart. I learnt to possess fortitude. — Ogwo David Emenike

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. — Reinhold Messner

Some of you may feel that if you don't do something soon to change your life, you will be left by the roadside, alone, homeless and in despair. But is the despair not there as you reach and grapple to create or manifest your desires through your own effort and will? What happens if or when those things appear in your life? Joy? Peace? Or a temporary sense of relief?

What if it is relief from the wanting you have been craving for so long, not the outcome, but the relief from the constant wanting. — Kelly Martin

You find a way, somehow to get through the most horrible things, things you think would kill you. You find a way and you move through the days, one by one, in shock, in despair, but you move. The days pass, one after the other, and you go along with them - occasionally stunned, and not entirely relieved, to find that you are still alive. — Michelle Richmond

Loving the Earth with a fierce devotion can mean that we view the damage being done to nature as attacks on our own family and kinship group. The despair and rage we feel as witnesses to terracide, animal exploitation and the everyday callous disregard for the environment can be channelled into creating awareness, resistance efforts, the earth rights movement, and by rejecting the numbing and destructive values of Empire. By opening our hearts to the Earth in our thoughts, words, actions and cultural life we will find sacred purpose in the co-creation of an earth-honoring society. Our re-enchantment with the natural world is essential for devoting ourselves to eco-activism, environmental healing, earth restoration and rewilding, and the future rests with us! — Pegi Eyers

What a blessing, what a treasured friend that despair turned out to be. It continually crushed my ongoing attempts at manufacturing optimism, slowing me down, leveling me so I could return to love and begin again and again. — Lori Cash Richards

More often than not, at the end of the day (or a month, or a year), you realize that your initial idea was wrong, and you have to try something else. These are the moments of frustration and despair. You feel that you have wasted an enormous amount of time, with nothing to show for it. This is hard to stomach. But you can never give up. You go back to the drawing board, you analyze more data, you learn from your previous mistakes, you try to come up with a better idea. And every once in a while, suddenly, your idea starts to work. It's as if you had spent a fruitless day surfing, when you finally catch a wave: you try to hold on to it and ride it for as long as possible. At moments like this, you have to free your imagination and let the wave take you as far as it can. Even if the idea sounds totally crazy at first. — Edward Frenkel

There may not be any romance to mental illness but who needs romance when the preferable route is agency? The prevailing conversation around mental health issues is agency and the lack thereof on the part of the mentally ill. But what do you do if you're a paid-up member of the mentally ill populace in question? Do you curl up into a ball and give up? No, you look for solutions. Ultimately, it's about keeping despair at bay and sometimes simple things like running, taking up a hobby, doing charity work, painting or, in my case, writing can be a galvanizing part of the recovery process. Keeping the brain and the body active can give life a semblance of pleasure and hope. This is what writing has done for me. I took every traumatic element of my condition and channelled it into something useful. — Diriye Osman

We create the world around us based on our thoughts, feelings, beliefs and emotions. Evil, dark forces, dark energy etc. are forms of the "negative" and are all a projections of the self. There is no separation. Once one realizes this, these energies start to fade and eventually disappear. What's left is wholeness, contentment, self-realization, gratitude and a perpetual state of well-being. There is a popular saying amongst the healing community "where the mind goes, energy flows". Use this mantra to your benefit. Lose the "non-sense" of all despair and anguish and catapult your self to a higher place that is incapable of entertaining the "negative" or "destructive". Achieving this (even in increments) will only transform you to into a better positive place — Gary Hopkins

To be cheerful when others are in despair, to keep the faith when others falter, to be true even when we feel forsaken - all of these are deeply desired outcomes during the deliberate, divine tutorials which God gives to us - because He loves us. These learning experiences must not be misread as divine indifference. Instead, such tutorials are a part of the divine unfolding. — Neal A. Maxwell

America was born out of despair & we'll all go through it in our lifetime. It's what we do with it that will help determine our greatness! — Timothy Pina

Trust is an illusion meant to wrap one in a false sense of belief, in that moment of realization will despair ultimately set in. — Lolah Runda

Sadly ... despair is with humanity and will affect all of us sooner or later. To accomplish the great things we were put on this earth to do ... we must all reach down deep inside of us and overcome it. There is no other way. — Timothy Pina

Life is a journey, a journey that we are responsible to define its path; poor who define it wrong; when he reflect on his wrong doing path, he will find that his journey was just a one stop station that he never get to even start; however, time is not on his/her side any more !!! and he/she will continue till he dies in agony and despair for who he has been given a chance to live, he decided to not give his life one chance !!! SAD!! — Hisham Fawzi

Appetite, with an opinion of attaining, is called hope; the same, without such opinion, despair. — Thomas Hobbes

Great is a person that can laugh at their troubles ... for they have found an avenue to help them rise above their despair. — Timothy Pina

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. — Peter Medawar

Whence this lifeless dejection, Arjuna, in this hour, the hour of trial? Strong men know not despair, Arjuna, for this wins neither heaven nor earth.
Fall not into degrading weakness, for this becomes not a man who is a man. Throw off this ignoble discouragement, and arise like a fire that burns all before it. — Juan Mascaro

I remember in treatment, Mr. Shaw told me that the alcohol and drugs never were my problem. He said the alcohol and drugs were my solution and that was my problem. And he was right. — Ryan Winfield

Life begins on the other side of despair. — Jean-Paul Sartre

A man's concern, even his despair, over the worthwhileness of life is an existential distress but by no means a mental disease. — Viktor E. Frankl

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! — Neal A. Maxwell

To all thinking about hurting yourself over your despair: it will get better if you allow it to ... it always does. Now please go out and find the help you need to get better! — Timothy Pina

For much longer, he could have stayed with Kamaswami, made money, wasted money, filled his stomach, and let his soul die of thirst; for much longer he could have lived in this soft, well upholstered hell, if this had not happened: the moment of complete hopelessness and despair, that most extreme moment, when he hang over the rushing waters and was ready to destroy himself. That he had felt this despair, this deep disgust, and that he had not succumbed to it, that the bird, the joyful source and voice in him was still alive after all, this was why he felt joy, this was why he laughed, this was why his face was smiling brightly under his hair which had turned gray. — Hermann Hesse

To conceive the horror of my sensations is, I presume, utterly impossible; yet a curiosity to penetrate the mysteries of these awful regions predominates even over my despair, and will reconcile me to the most hideous aspect of death. — Edgar Allan Poe

Climbing in the Spirit is accompanied by kneeling, and not by running; by surrender, and not by determination. Despair of self leads to utter desperation; but beyond these mists lies the sunshine of God's presence. — V. Raymond Edman

Always love, always encourage, and never let despair get in the way. — Super Star

Free will ... is a double edged sword. It can either lead you down the roads of peace, joy and happiness or the roads of darkness and despair! — Timothy Pina

Despair is for people who know, beyond any doubt, what the future is going to bring. Nobody is in that position. So despair is not only a kind of sin, theologically, but also a simple mistake, because nobody actually knows. In that sense there is always hope. — Patrick Curry

To have despair is human ... for we all have problems that at times burden us.
To rise above your trials and tribulations, sadness, suffering and heart aches is above human and quite divine! — Timothy Pina