Despair

Quotations about Despair

Using Quotations in a Speech or Text about Despair

As well as keeping your audience engaged, adding quotations to a speech or a text can significantly enhance its impact and effectiveness. Quotations are useful for explaining complex ideas concisely, much in the same way that analogies are used. Additionally, quotations from experts or celebrities can add credibility to your message.

Here are some funny and poignant quotations about despair. If your speech is serious, do not automatically avoid funny quotations as they can often be the most impactful, forcing your audience into the thinking about the hidden analogous message in your selected quotation.

"Comedy is simply a funny way of being serious." (British actor Peter Ustinov)
"When a thing is funny, search it carefully for a hidden truth." (Irish dramatist George Bernard Shaw)

If you are looking to make a fuller speech about despair, then below this selection of quotations are three funny themes and three serious themes on the topic of despair that might help trigger some ideas for your speech or text.

"Despair is the conclusion of fools." Benjamin Disraeli (British Conservative statesman, 1804-81)

"The person who lives by hope will die by despair." Italian Proverb

*Life*The game*Heaven* begins on the other side of despair." Jean-Paul Sartre (French philosopher, 1905-80)

"There is no despair so absolute as that which comes with the first moments of our first great sorrow, when we have not yet known what it is to have suffered and healed, to have despaired and recovered hope." George Eliot (English novelist, 1819-80)

"Despair is the price one pays for setting oneself an impossible aim." Graham Greene (English novelist, 1904-91)

"Sometimes, when one person is *missing*playing the fool*shouting* the whole world seems depopulated." Alphonse de Lamartine (French author and poet, 1790-1869)

"Despair is the damp of hell, as joy is the serenity of heaven." John Donne (English poet and divine, 1572-1631)

"Because I remember, I despair. Because I remember, I have the duty to reject despair." Elie Wiesel (Romanian-born American writer, 1928-2016)

"Every man has his secret sorrows which the world knows not; and often times we call a man cold when he is only sad." Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (American poet, 1807-1882)

"He who has never *hoped*gambled*ridden a dinosaur* can never despair." George Bernard Shaw (Irish dramatist, 1856-1950)

"You cannot swim for new horizons until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore." William Faulkner (American novelist, 1897-1962)

"Despair gives courage to a coward." Thomas Fuller (English writer and physician, 1654-1734)

"Numbing the pain for a while will make it worse when you finally feel it." J. K. Rowling (English novelist, 1965-)

Despair is the constant companion of the *historian.*jester.*the monarch.* Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. (American historian, 1917-2007)

"There are moments when, even to the sober eye of reason, the world of our sad humanity may assume the semblance of Hell." Egar Allen Poe (American author and poet, 1809-1849)

"The depth of darkness to which you can descend and still live is an exact measure of the height to which you can aspire to reach." Pliny the Elder (Roman author, AD 23-79)

"Hope is a necessity for normal life and the major weapon against the suicide impulse." Karl A. Menninger (American psychiatrist, 1893-1990-)

"Despair is a *black leather jacket*hat*sports car* that everyone looks good in. Hope is a frilly, pink dress that exposes the knees." Rebecca Solnit (American writer, 1961-)

"If you think nobody cares if you're alive, try missing a couple of car payments." Earl Wilson (American journalist, 1907-87)

Thinking Template for a Speech or Text on Despair

Below are 3 funny themes and 3 serious themes related to despair. These have been included to help you identify areas to explore.

Funny Themes:

Laughing in the Face of Despair: Finding Humor in Hopeless Situations
- Share stories and examples of how people have found ways to laugh even in the most despairing situations, highlighting the resilience of the human spirit.
Comedy from Crisis: How Comedians Turn Despair into Humor
- Highlight how comedians have used their own experiences with despair and hopelessness to create humor, showcasing the power of comedy to heal.
Unexpected Silver Linings: Funny Outcomes from Desperate Times
- Explore humorous anecdotes where moments of despair led to unexpected and funny outcomes, emphasizing that sometimes things can take a surprising turn for the better.

Serious Themes:

Understanding Despair: Causes and Psychological Impact
- Discuss the causes and psychological impact of despair, including how it differs from depression and the ways it can affect mental health and well-being.
Overcoming Despair: Strategies for Finding Hope and Resilience
- Address effective strategies for overcoming despair, including seeking support, building resilience, and finding meaning and purpose in difficult times.
The Role of Community and Support Systems in Combating Despair
- Explore the importance of community and support systems in helping individuals cope with despair, highlighting the role of friends, family, and mental health professionals.

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