37 Quotes About Despair and Hopelessness

Finding hope in hopelessness is one of the most challenges to conquer in life. These encouraging quotes about despair and hopelessness will help you to find the strength you need to make it through this difficult time.

“A weird time in which we are alive. We can travel anywhere we want, even to other planets. And for what? To sit day after day, declining in morale and hope.”

“And I despise your books, I despise wisdom and the blessings of this world. It is all worthless, fleeting, illusory, and deceptive, like a mirage.”

“Depression is the flaw in love. To be creatures who love, we must be creatures who can despair at what we lose, and depression is the mechanism of that despair.”

“Despair is the price one pays for self-awareness. Look deeply into life, and you’ll always find despair.”

“Do not let arrogance go to your head and despair to your heart; do not let compliments go to your head and criticisms to your heart; do not let success go to your head and failure to your heart.”

“Does anything in nature despair except man? An animal with a foot caught in a trap does not seem to despair. It is too busy trying to survive.”

“How could I have been so ignorant? she thinks. So stupid, so unseeing, so given over to carelessness. But without such ignorance, such carelessness, how could we live?”

“I have had to experience so much stupidity, so many vices, so much error, so much nausea, disillusionment and sorrow, just in order to become a child again and begin anew.”

“I need to be alone. I need to ponder my shame and my despair in seclusion; I need the sunshine and the paving stones of the streets without companions, without conversation, face to face with myself, with only the music of my heart for company.”

“I wish I could tell you how lonely I am. How cold and harsh it is here. Everywhere there is conflict and unkindness. I think God has forsaken this place. I believe I have seen hell and it’s white, it’s snow-white.”

“It is a curious thing, but as one travels the world getting older and older, it appears that happiness is easier to get used to than despair.”

“It is almost as if happiness is an acquired taste, like coconut cordial or ceviche, to which you can eventually become accustomed, but despair is something surprising each time you encounter it.”

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

“Let them think what they liked, but I didn’t mean to drown myself. I meant to swim till I sank — but that’s not the same thing.”

“Life is filled with unanswered questions, but it is the courage to seek those answers that continues to give meaning to life.”

“Losing your life is not the worst thing that can happen. The worst thing is to lose your reason for living.”

“My beerdrunk soul is sadder than all the dead christmas trees of the world.”

“My first feeling was that there was no way to continue. Writing isn’t like math;in math, two plus two always equals four no matter what your mood is like. With writing, the way you feel changes everything.”

“My life is a perfect graveyard of buried hopes.”

“Oft hope is born when all is forlorn.”

“She wondered that hope was so much harder then despair.”

“Sometimes… you can cry until there’s nothing wet in you. You can scream and curse to where your throat rebels and ruptures.”

“The artist’s job is not to succumb to despair but to find an antidote for the emptiness of existence.”

“The bravest thing I ever did was continuing my life when I wanted to die.”

“The greatest hazard of all, losing one’s self, can occur very quietly in the world, as if it were nothing at all. No other loss can occur so quietly; any other loss – an arm, a leg, five dollars, a wife, etc. – is sure to be noticed.”

“The only real laughter comes from despair.”

“The prince is never going to come. Everyone knows that; and maybe sleeping beauty’s dead.”

“The road that is built in hope is more pleasant to the traveler than the road built in despair, even though they both lead to the same destination.”

“The whole thing is quite hopeless, so it’s no good worrying about tomorrow. It probably won’t come.”

“The wounds that never heal can only be mourned alone.”

“There are far too many silent sufferers. Not because they don’t yearn to reach out, but because they’ve tried and found no one who cares.”

“There’s no such thing as perfect writing, just like there’s no such thing as perfect despair.”

“This fall I think you’re riding for—it’s a special kind of fall, a horrible kind. The man falling isn’t permitted to feel or hear himself hit bottom.”

“This is the way the world ends not with a bang but a whimper.”

“Whatever happens in your life, no matter how troubling things might seem, do not enter the neighborhood of despair. Even when all doors remain closed, God will open up a new path only for you. Be thankful!”

“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it–always.”

“You can tell a lot from a person’s nails. When a life starts to unravel, they’re among the first to go.”

When dealing with a chronic situation, you may feel left in despair. Knowing that there is a solution and treatment to help you can offer the right type of encouragement you need to fight on.