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When the mariner, sailing over tropic seas, looks for relief from his weary watch, he turns his eyes toward the southern cross, burning luridly above the tempest-vexed ocean. As the midnight approaches, the southern cross begins to bend, the whirling worlds change their places, and with starry finger-points the Almighty marks the passage of time upon the dial of the universe, and though no bell may beat the glad tidings, the lookout knows that the midnight is passing and that relief and rest are close at hand. Let the people everywhere take heart of hope, for the cross is bending, the midnight is passing, and joy cometh with the morning.

Eugene V. Debs#57

ResilienceHopeNatureSufferingTime

About this quote

What does it mean?
Using a nautical metaphor, the speaker urges hope that relief from hardship is near.
In plain terms
Just as sailors know night passes, people should hope for better times.
What can you take from it?
Hardship is temporary; hope and relief eventually come.

Where it applies

  • crisis moments
  • movement leadership
  • personal encouragement

Putting it to work

  • offer hope in difficult times
  • frame struggle as temporary

Questions to consider

  • How do we find hope in struggle?
  • What makes relief feel near?

Another view

It offers comfort without specifying how relief will actually occur.

More from Eugene V. Debs

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  2. I am not a Labor Leader; I do not want you to follow me or anyone else; if you are looking for a Moses to lead you out of this capitalist wilderness, you will …

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  3. In this country - the most favored beneath the bending skies - we have vast areas of the richest and most fertile soil, material resources in inexhaustible abu…

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