There are three lessons I would write--
Three words as with a burning pen,
In tracings of eternal light,
Upon the hearts of men.
Have Hope. Though clouds environ now,
And gladness hides her face in scorn,
Put thou the shadow from thy brow--
No night but hath its morn.
Have Faith. Where'er thy bark is driven--
The calm's disport, the tempest's mirth--
Know this: God rules the host of heaven,
The inhabitants of earth.
Have Love. Not love alone for one,
But man as man thy brother call;
And scatter like the circling sun
Thy charities on all.
Thus grave these lessons on thy soul--
Faith, Hope, and Love--and thou shalt find
Strength when life's surges rudest roll,
Light when thou else wert blind.
--Johann Christopher Friedrich von Schiller.
Knowing this, that never yet
Share of truth was vainly set
In the world's wide fallow;
After hands shall sow the seed,
After hands from hill and mead
Reap the harvests yellow.
--John Greenleaf Whittier.
Yet I argue not
Against Thy hand or will, nor bate a jot
Of heart or hope, but still bear up and steer
Right onward.
--John Milton.
The world is growing better,
No matter what they say;
The light is shining brighter
In one refulgent ray;
And though deceivers murmur,
And turn another way,
Yet still the world grows better
And better every day.
Never give up! it is wiser and better
Always to hope than once to despair;
Fling off the load of Doubt's cankering fetter,
And break the dark spell of tyrannical care;
Never give up, or the burden may sink you--
Providence kindly has mingled the cup;
And in all trials and troubles bethink you
The watchword of life must be--Never give up.
It's wiser being good than bad;
It's safer being meek than fierce;
It's fitter being sane than mad.
My own hope is a sun will pierce
The thickest cloud earth ever stretched;
That, after Last, returns the First,
Though a wide compass round be fetched;
That what began best, can't end worst,
Nor what God blest once, prove accurst.
--Robert Browning.
Hope, Christian soul! in every stage
Of this thine earthly pilgrimage,
Let heavenly joy thy thoughts engage;
Abound in hope.
Hope through the watches of the night;
Hope till the morrow brings the light;
Hope till thy faith be lost in sight;
Abound in hope.
God works in all things; all obey
His first propulsion from the night;
Wake thou and watch! the world is gray
With morning light.
--John Greenleaf Whittier.
When the sun of joy is hidden,
And the sky is overcast,
Just remember--light is coming,
And the storm won't always last.
The mist denies the mountains;
The wind forbids the sea;
But, mist or wind, I go to find
The day that calls to me.
For there are mornings yonder
And noons that call and call;
And there's a day with arms outheld,
That waits beyond them all.
--Josephine Preston Peabody.
Open the door of your hearts, my lads,
To the angel of Love and Truth
When the world is full of unnumbered joys,
In the beautiful dawn of youth.
Casting aside all things that mar,
Saying to wrong, Depart!
To the voices of hope that are calling you
Open the door of your heart.
--Edward Everett Hale.
A little bit of hope
Makes a rainy day look gay;
A little bit of charity
Makes glad a weary way!
Hope, child, to-morrow, and to-morrow still,
And every morrow hope; trust while you live.
Hope! each time the dawn doth heaven fill,
Be there to ask as God is there to give.
--Victor Hugo.