QuoteProject
Hope is not a feeling of certainty that everything ends well. Hope is just a feeling that life and work have a meaning.
Vaclav Havel
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Hope is not about guaranteed outcomes but about finding meaning in our lives and endeavors.

In this quote, Vaclav Havel emphasizes that hope should not be mistaken for blind optimism or certainty about the future. Instead, hope is about recognizing and valuing the significance of our existence and the efforts we put into our work and life. It serves as a reminder that even amidst uncertainty, having a sense of meaning can provide strength and motivation to persevere.

Themes

HopeMeaningLifeWorkPhilosophy

In practice

Example use cases

Using this quote in a motivational speech to emphasize the importance of finding meaning in our struggles.

More from Vaclav Havel

Without a global revolution in the sphere of human consciousness a more humane society will not emerge.
Vaclav HavelRead
Ownership is not a vice, not something to be ashamed of, but rather a commitment, and an instrument by which the general good can be served.
Vaclav HavelRead
In my opinion, theater shouldn't give advice to citizens.
Vaclav HavelRead
Sometimes I wonder if suicides aren't in fact sad guardians of the meaning of life.
Vaclav HavelRead
The exercise of power is determined by thousands of interactions between the world of the powerful and that of the powerless, all the more so because these worlds are never divided by a sharp line: everyone has a small part of himself in both.
Vaclav HavelRead
Human rights, human freedoms... and human dignity have their deepest roots somewhere outside the perceptible world... while the state is a human creation, human beings are the creation of God.
Vaclav HavelRead

Similar quotes

Human beings are pattern-seeking animals who will prefer even a bad theory or a conspiracy theory to no theory at all.
Christopher HitchensRead
Moderation has been called a virtue to limit the ambition of great men, and to console undistinguished people for their want of fortune and their lack of merit.
Benjamin DisraeliRead
Some people believe that the nuclear bomb should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, since it scared the major powers away from war by equating it with doomsday.
Steven PinkerRead
Dreams and restless thoughts came flowing to him from the river, from the twinkling stars at night, from the sun's melting rays. Dreams and a restlessness of the soul came to him.
Hermann HesseRead
We are valued in this world at the rate we desire to be valued.
Jean De La BruyereRead
Life is this simple: we are living in a world that is absolutely transparent and the divine is shining through it all the time. This is not just a nice story or a fable, it is true.
Thomas MertonRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.

Quote by Vaclav Havel | QuoteProject