“Hope and keep busy, and whatever happens, remember that you never can be fatherless.”
- Source
- Little Women
- Date
- 1868
Meaning of “Hope and keep busy, and whatever happens, remember…”
Mrs March joins hope with continued useful activity while her family faces frightening uncertainty, treating daily responsibility as a way to endure rather than a guarantee that difficulty will disappear.
Where does it come from?
Little Women, Chapter 16, “Letters,” Project Gutenberg #514. Mrs. March tells her daughters, “Hope and keep busy, and whatever happens, remember that you never can be fatherless” immediately before leaving for Washington after news of Mr. March’s illness. The line is maternal counsel in a fictional family crisis, not a claim that work removes grief, fear or uncertainty.