Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
We must choose between carrying our burden forward or staring at hopelessness.
In plain terms
Look ahead for hope instead of staring at despair.
What can you take from it?
Hope requires action and focus, not passive observation.

Where it applies

  • motivational speech
  • personal crisis
  • leadership

Putting it to work

  • inspiring others
  • self-reflection
  • team building

Questions to consider

  • Where do you focus your eyes?
  • What drives you forward?

Another view

It assumes hope is always a viable option for everyone.

More from James Weldon Johnson

  1. It is from the blues that all that may be called American music derives its most distinctive characteristic.

    Permalink to quote #6
  2. O black and unknown bards of long ago, How came your lips to touch the sacred fire? How, in your darkness, did you come to know The power and beauty of the min…

    Permalink to quote #8
  3. The glory of the day was in her face, The beauty of the night was in her eyes.

    Permalink to quote #5

Related quotes

  1. Never despair; but if you do, work on in despair.

    Edmund BurkeEdmund Burke quote #159
  2. Es gibt noch ein anderes, besseres Leben.

    August von KotzebueAugust von Kotzebue quote #1
  3. Young people are very cynical now, you know? Very cynical! They've been taught cynicism, they've been - they've been bred cynicism. So, I think it's important …

    Tom PettyTom Petty quote #1