I just gave a quick talk to a great group of Brits, by zoom, and the audio in the pub where most of them were gathered, after the power outage in their theater, was a little choppy, so I’m posting here a quick write-up. Hope you like it:
When Mark Masters asked me to talk about hope today, my actual first thought was … I hope I can come up with something. So at least I have recent experience of the topic.
Proper hope is not to be confused with delusion, or wishful thinking. Any healthy form of hope can act as a virtue, like honesty, or courage, a strength we can bring to the world.
Maybe it’s something like a second level virtue, depending on others for its goodness, robustness, and effectiveness. If you were to hope I die a slow and painful death, that might not count as a virtuous attitude. But based on compassion, love, and an elevation of the spirit, hope can be a virtue in the classic sense of the Latin Virtu, a strength or power, and even what military strategists call a “force multiplier” for your other strengths.
So, our first point. Proper Hope is a power, a personal strength to bring to any challenge or opportunity.
Now, remember, we’re not talking about irrational expectation or weak belief, or some vague desperate desire. Virtuous hope isn't a result of self deception or any sort of weakness, but is aligned with that faith beyond sight guiding the great explorers in the arts and sciences and philosophy, as well as business for a very long time.
Proper hope is a cousin of realistic optimism, which can be learned and developed. And so can hope. I have in mind Martin Seligman’s book Learned Optimism.
So: Point two, hope is akin to faith and optimism.
Now, recall the story of Pandora, who was presented with a gift box she wasn’t supposed to open. What sense does that make? In the original Greek, the term is better translated as a big jar, perhaps ornamental, with a top that shouldn’t be removed, just enjoyed visually. But Pandora had the quality of CURIOSITY, another strength, used properly. And she was not good at following instructions, like many of us. So she opened the jar, and as you know, most of the evils now in the world flew out and dispersed everywhere. What an experience! Much like the past year and a half. But the box or jar was not empty. And Pandora was curious enough to look again. There was something left at the bottom, something that stuck. You may remember that it was hope. She had this as the real gift, to help her deal with everything else.
One more point. Or maybe more. In the book If Aristotle Ran General Motors, I suggested there are two keys to leadership greatness that we almost never find balanced in people’s lives: Humility and Nobility. I mention this now because hope is one of the rare places where these things meet. Yes.
When you have proper hope, it’s because you have the humility to admit you don't actually know how things will turn out, and you also have the nobility of mind to maintain an expectation and commitment for something good, in whatever form it may come.
Hopelessness, by contrast, typically arises out of thinking we know more than we do. It’s a result of intellectual arrogance. Remember the recent book The Black Swan. The biggest things tend to come unexpectedly. Some black swans are challenging, but others are positive game changers. So to anyone struggling with hope, I want to urge a little more humility, where hope can grow. But to be helpful, hope must be put to work.
So: Point three: Hope is where humility and nobility meet.
And I guess, Point four: To be helpful, hope has to be remembered and used, moving forward.
By now you may hope I’m almost done, and I am. But one last and fifth point. Hope best arises and grows strong in partnership with other people, not as a solitary matter.
We give each other hope. And in particular: Creative partnerships spark hope. They provide it with deep roots and healthy growth.
You may have heard the story about the two college students who met and fell in love. She was in veterinary medicine, much like our beloved James Herriot, and he was studying zoology, to become a taxidermist. They got married and wanted to go into business together, oddly enough. So they hung out a sign with their newly shared name and a catchy slogan. It said, “Roberts Veterinary and Taxidermy: Either Way, You Get Your Dog Back.”
A creative partnership indeed. And a source of hope for us all.
Stuffed as we now are with philosophical ideas, may we all go forth with hope.
