10 Quotes to Help You Find Hope During the Coronavirus Pandemic
Combat fear and despair with these uplifting words.
I’m a quote collector. As a writer, I guess to some degree it’s an extension of my passion for words, but it’s also about being awestruck by the ability of these simple linguistic powerhouses to lift us up, inspire, transform, move us towards action, create a new perspective, reveal insights, and instill positive emotions.
Discovering new quotes that resonate for me is like uncovering a hidden treasure during an archaeological dig. I have thousands of them and during difficult times and life struggles, I will peruse my collection, seeking solace and salve for my wounds and insights to guide me in the right direction.
Like most of the world at this time, as we face the challenges of the coronavirus pandemic and its impact on our daily lives, I have struggled with feelings of despair, fear, and helplessness on occasion, so one of the many steps I’ve taken to restore hope and sanity is to fill my mind with inspiring words from my quote collection.
As I browsed my large selection and began to feel uplifted, it suddenly dawned on me that sharing my favorite quotes about hope would probably be appreciated by others who are struggling at this time and it would make a great blog post, so here I am.
In the 58 years I’ve been on this planet, I can think of no other time where I have ever witnessed a greater need for hope for so many people simultaneously across the world and in each nation.
There is no doubt we are up against difficult days and the road ahead could remain rocky for some time to come. We are indeed facing a global crisis and our lives are full of uncertainty. Yes, indeed, there may be a lot of valid reasons for us to be fearful at this time.
However, as a mental health professional and a fear-prone individual myself, I am well aware of the consequences that fear can have when it runs rampant and the importance of maintaining stability and looking for optimism in the midst of a storm.
When I was in graduate school a couple of decades ago working on my degree in counseling, I had a professor who gave a lecture that stressed the importance of determining whether our clients were dealing with “helplessness” or “hopelessness.”
He went on to explain that we are dealing with a much bigger problem if it is hopelessness because it’s not as easy to solve. If we are dealing with someone who is helpless in a situation it may be easy to address by simply giving them the tools that are needed to fix the problem. But if we are dealing with hopelessness, that may not be effective and there is much more work that needs to be done.
I always regarded that lecture as one of the most impactful pieces of information that were presented in any of my training and it has stayed with me all of these years. I can’t remember the professor’s name but I can still see his face in my memory bank. Those words immediately rang true for me when I looked at my own life and the struggles I had faced and have continued to be a truth in my work over the years with clients and just observing others going through life.
Cultivating hope is essential not only for our mental and physical health but for the survival of our communities and our species as a whole. Without hope we give up — we can’t go on — we will perish.
Hope decreases the stress and negative impact of the situation at hand, it alters our perception and outlook on the circumstance, decreases feelings of powerlessness, improves our ability to cope, and enables us to carry on despite the hardship we face. Hope is even being used as a form of therapy and has demonstrated the ability to significantly decrease anxiety, stress, and depression.
We can get through anything if we have hope. It comforts, inspires, supports, and motivates.
Like many others right now, I am currently dealing with catastrophic loss of income and devastation to my business. So, I acknowledge my fears, express my despair and frustration, grieve my losses and feel whatever else I may be feeling in response to the COVID-19 pandemic without judgment, but I also hang on to hope.
In no way do I intend to minimize the seriousness of the issue at hand and the staggering losses that many people are facing, or imply that we can make everything okay with a few quotes about hope, but perhaps we can lighten the load.
There have been many difficult times in my life when I was running on nothing but hope and that is what enabled me to survive. So, I feel it is a powerful tool we can utilize during the coronavirus crisis to help carry us through.
Without further ado, here are ten of my favorite quotes that I trust will help you revive at least some degree of optimism during this difficult time of our lives.
- I think the following words sum it all up so beautifully. We are not denying that we are dealing with some dark times, but we can still find some light to shine upon the path for ourselves and others.
“Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.” — Desmond Tutu
2. This quote highlights the most wonderful aspect of all about hope — acquiring it and reaping its benefits does not require a guarantee that we will get the result we desire. All we need is the “potential” or “possibility” that things will get better to encourage us to go on.
“Hope is independent of the apparatus of logic.” — Norman Cousins
3. These words demonstrate the resilience of the human spirit that can be experienced. Like the mythological Greek bird, we can emerge from catastrophe as stronger, wiser, and more powerful beings.
“Hope rises like a phoenix from the ashes of shattered dreams.” — S.A. Sachs
4. In this quote, we are reminded that hope is like a breeze that flows independently alongside or above the challenges that we face. Giving us “wind beneath our wings” so to speak.
“The wings of hope carry us, soaring high above the driving winds of life.” — Ana Jacob
5. These beautiful words emphasize how “hope springs eternal.” No matter how dire the circumstance hope can blossom from the tiniest of seeds into a breathtaking and thriving garden of splendor.
“ All it takes is one bloom of hope to make a spiritual garden.” — Terri Guillemets
6. Although the word hope is not found in the following quote, I think the message is unspoken but clear. It implies that each day gives us the chance to start over and make it better than the day before.
“With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts.” — Eleanor Roosevelt
7. This one is so simply put but powerful. Hardship is always easier to bear if we believe it is temporary or if we know that relief is around the corner or will come eventually.
“Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.” — Thich Nhat Hanh
8. When we look throughout history we will see that there is great truth in the following words, not only on the personal level but society as a whole. Some of our greatest accomplishments are often achieved by having hope in the face of hopelessness.
“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” — Dale Carnegie
9. The next quote evokes a beautiful image for me of how hope can lift us up and carry us, while we look back at our burdens on the horizon. They may not be completely gone, but they take on a new form and aren’t quite as heavy.
“Hope is like the sun, which as we journey toward it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us.” — Samuel Smiles
10. And these wise words signify that hope can exist no matter what. Nuff Said.
“While there’s life, there is hope.” — Marcus Tullius Cicero
Recognizing Loss of Hope
These insightful words convey exactly what I think most of us are struggling with at this time as we come to terms with the fact that we are dealing with an enemy that we know little about. It is unclear how this will unfold, and to some degree, we are all fumbling in the dark and getting on the job training.
“Acknowledging that sometimes, often at very crucial times, you really have no idea where you are going or even where the path lies. A the same time, you can very well know something about where you are now (even if it is knowing that you are lost, confused, enraged or without hope).” — Jon Kabat-Zinn
Sometimes we lose hope, and that is okay. It is a normal response to distress. We cannot find hope if we do not acknowledge it has been lost. Ironically, accepting where we are and slipping into the depths of despair can often help us rediscover hope. Considering what we are all going through, teetering back and forth between despair and hope would be completely understandable. That’s just the way it is at this time.
Moral of the Story
Yes, it’s important to stay well-informed about the coronavirus pandemic and be pro-active, but it is equally important that we continue to find hope to support us through this difficult time and make our fears and despair more manageable.
