Insecurity twists meanings and poisons trust. In a closely beleaguered city every sentry is a potential traitor.
Graham GreeneRead
Hope was an instinct only the reasoning human mind could kill. An animal never knew despair.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Humans can extinguish their own hope through rational thought, unlike animals that do not experience despair.
In this quote, Graham Greene suggests that hope is a uniquely human trait that can be undermined by our capacity for reasoning and critical thinking. While animals live in a more instinctual, present-focused state, humans have the ability to reflect on their circumstances, which can lead to feelings of despair. Thus, hope is portrayed as a fragile yet essential part of the human experience, one that can be readily jeopardized by our own thoughts.
Themes
HopeDespairHuman ConditionReasoningInstinct
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a motivational speech to discuss the importance of maintaining hope despite challenges.
More from Graham Greene
All quotes →It seemed to Scobie that life was immeasurably long. Couldn’t the test of man have been carried out in fewer years? Couldn’t we have committed our first major sin at seven, have ruined ourselves for love or hate at ten, have clutched at redemption on a fifteen-year-old deathbed?
Graham GreeneRead
God is love. I don't say the heart doesn't feel a taste of it, but what a taste. The smallest glass of love mixed with a pint pot of ditch-water. We wouldn't recognize that love. It might even look like hate. It would be enough to scare us - God's love.
Graham GreeneRead
Of two hearts one is always warm and one is always cold: the cold heart is more precious than diamonds: the warm heart has no value and is thrown away.
Graham GreeneRead
Writing is a form of therapy; sometimes I wonder how all those who do not write, compose or paint can manage to escape the madness, melancholia, the panic and fear which is inherent in a human situation.
Graham GreeneRead
Champagne, if you are seeking the truth, is better than a lie detector. It encourages a man to be expansive, even reckless, while lie detectors are only a challenge to tell lies successfully.
Graham GreeneRead
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