Reinhold Niebuhr (1892 – 1971)
The Serenity Prayer is the common name for a prayer written by the American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr. The best-known form is: Continue reading The Serenity Prayer: A Brief Analysis
Category Archives: Hope
Is Existence Better than Non-existence? (Final Thoughts on Hope)
Surely the evidence that [humanity] has risen thus far may give [them] hope for a still higher destiny in the future. ~ Charles Darwin
People … yearn to have a purpose larger than themselves. We are obliged by the deepest drives of the human spirit to make ourselves more than animated dust, and we must have a story to tell about where we came from, and why we are here. ~ E. O. Wilson Continue reading Is Existence Better than Non-existence? (Final Thoughts on Hope)
Philosophy and Hope (Academic)
The artist’s job is not to succumb to despair but to find an antidote for the emptiness of existence. ~ Gertrude Stein
For the last few weeks, I’ve been discussing hope, and I’d like to now briefly summarize the standard account of hope among professional philosophers.1 Here’s how the discussion of hope begins in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Continue reading Philosophy and Hope (Academic)
Is Hope Bad?
Hope is the worst of evils, for it prolongs the torment of men.~ Friedrich Nietzsche Continue reading Is Hope Bad?
Hope and Pandora’s Box
Lawrence Alma-Tadema‘s water-color of an ambivalent Pandora, 1881
In Greek mythology, Pandora was the first human woman created by the gods. Zeus ordered her to be molded out of earth as part of humanity’s punishment for Prometheus’ theft of the secret of fire. Continue reading Hope and Pandora’s Box