Another thing, i have seen people with severe emotional problems brought to and beyond the brink by careless do-gooders who hold out hope - say in the form of friendship, promises, cheap esteem boosters, niceness -
only to withdraw their favors as they move on, as these types always do, to something more interesting and self-aggrandising. Such glimmers of hope can be tormenting.

all things considered, I still think that hope is a fundamental human trait, which at the end of the day, brings better results..
hope, if it is intelligently applied, will always result in an healthier attitude.

My glass is half empty baby

all things considered, I still think that hope is a fundamental human trait, which at the end of the day, brings better results..
hope, if it is intelligently applied, will always result in an healthier attitude.

I believe in hope.

Me too Haraya

How does this match with research that shows that hopefully people are more likely to survive cancer?

In one case you are looking at how well people adapt emotionally to a permanent adversity, in the other how well people fight off what is either a temporary condition or a fatal one.

I've known both hope and hopelessness. Although "hope deferred makes the heart sick", hopelessness is a living death that saps all effort and energy. 'Hope floats" (the soul) and I've discovered it's a choice.

I've discovered it's a choice.

Hope is the denial of reality eh? Well, baby girl, I've denied my reality for so very long. Do you understand?

Hope
is God's goodness to us is a world that is harsh. Hope is such a
choice baby girl; promise me that you will never forget that, eh?

Hope is wonderful, like love. It's one of those words, though, that can be thrown about and lose its positive sense. There are senses when it is used like 'good morning' (e.g. 'hope you feel better soon') where it may be sincere or may be no more than a convention. It can be a simple desire for wish fulfilment ( "I hope i get a new donkey harness for christmas"), and sometimes it CAN be 'false hope', a denial of reality (quite common, associated with superstition etc). Personally, I hope others will see that while I love hope as something very central to human beingness, i
hope it is not negative but positive to reflect upon the word.

These are all beautiful thoughts, both pro and con make sense.
Hope applied to a hopeless situation (life sentence without parole) is a negative- where "if I can only get a job before rent day" is positive.
It really does apply to the situation that you are in- How will hope affect you?
For me, Hope is sometimes all I have, and it's never let me down.

@Debby - Thanks sweetie. I'm a-hanging on! I dangle on my last thread of hope every day.

For me, Hope is sometimes all I have, and it's never let me down

Hope is better than giving up.

I agree with abailart . For me hope would be akin to living in the temperate zone only to have the season of spring suddenly revoked.

To have hope cruelly and/or arbitrarily yanked away are the ill winds of despair, or even suicide.

BTW Cat this is a very very pertinent clip. Thanks

Hang in there folks. Kindness and empathy are the greatest gifts we can share.

A better statement would be "False hope can be worse than hopelessness". Offering false hope to those in hopeless situations is cruel. It's better to extend genuine caring and empathy.