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They are upheld by hope
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“They are upheld by hope”

George MacDonald

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Source
Lilith: A Romance
Date
1895
Local voice
Fictional character · Mr. Raven
Meaning

Meaning of “They are upheld by hope”

Hope functions as support even before the characters fully understand what they are hoping for, separating sustaining expectation from complete intellectual certainty.

Source context

Where does it come from?

Lilith: A Romance; Project Gutenberg #1640. Mr. Raven speaks the line within MacDonald’s symbolic Christian fantasy, so it remains fictional and theological in context.

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Speaker context

Why the local voice matters

Mr. Raven speaks in Lilith: A Romance.

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Themes

Ideas connected with this quotation

Hard TimesHope Quotes About Possibility in Uncertain TimesInspirational Quotes About Hope, Courage & PossibilityMotivational Quotes for Action, Effort & PersistenceNever Give UpOptimism Quotes About Constructive ExpectationPositive Quotes About a Constructive OutlookResilience Quotes About Recovery & AdaptationShortStrengthSpiritual
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there must be hope while there is existence
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“there must be hope while there is existence”

George MacDonald · Unspoken Sermons, Series I., II., and III. · 1867–1889
Meaning & context

MacDonald grounds hope in his theology of a continuously good God, making continued existence itself evidence, within his religious argument, that despair need not be final.

Source details

Unspoken Sermons, Series Two, ‘The Last Farthing,’ Project Gutenberg #9057. ‘There must be hope while there is existence’ occurs in MacDonald's explicitly Christian argument that where existence remains there must be God, whom he describes as forever good. It is nineteenth-century theology about divine goodness and ultimate restoration, not secular prognosis or clinical mental-health evidence.

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If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?
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“If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?”

Percy Bysshe Shelley · Ode to the West Wind · 1820
Meaning & context

The seasonal image turns hardship into a temporary phase: decline can contain the possibility of renewal even when that renewal is not yet visible.

Source details

Final line of Ode to the West Wind; the changing seasons become a metaphor for historical and personal renewal.

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Joseph was able to keep a little hope alive in his heart
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“Joseph was able to keep a little hope alive in his heart”

George MacDonald · At the Back of the North Wind · 1871
Voice: Narrator voice · Narrator
Meaning & context

Despite discouraging circumstances, the character preserves a small continuing expectation that helps him keep engaging with family life and the work still available to him.

Source details

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Long is the way and hard, that out of Hell leads up to light.
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“Long is the way and hard, that out of Hell leads up to light.”

John Milton · Paradise Lost · 1667
Voice: Fictional character · Satan
Meaning & context

Recovery from a dark condition is pictured as difficult and lengthy rather than instant.

Source details

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the struggle which evil necessitates is one of the greatest blessings.
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“the struggle which evil necessitates is one of the greatest blessings.”

Helen Keller · Optimism: An Essay · 1903
Meaning & context

Keller interprets struggle as capable of developing strength, patience and helpfulness, while speaking from her own philosophical and religious framework.

Source details

Optimism: An Essay (1903), Project Gutenberg #31622. This is Keller’s reflective claim, not a clinical assertion that suffering is inherently beneficial.

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Source identified
The situation was disheartening, but I had energy, experience, health and hope.
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“The situation was disheartening, but I had energy, experience, health and hope.”

P. T. Barnum · Struggles and Triumphs · 1872
Meaning & context

The memoir acknowledges discouraging circumstances while inventorying the practical and psychological resources Barnum believed remained available to him.

Source details

Struggles and Triumphs, 1872 author’s edition; this is autobiographical reflection from Barnum’s account of rebuilding after a difficult business period.

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