hope springs eternal

hope springs eternal

English

Etymology

Ellipsis of hope springs eternal in the human breast, a quotation from An Essay on Man (1734) by Alexander Pope.

Proverb

hope springs eternal

1. The feeling of hopefulness endlessly renews itself.

   Synonym: while there's life, there's hope

   • 1733, [Alexander Pope], An Essay on Man. […], epistle I, London: Printed for J[ohn] Wilford, […], OCLC 960856019, lines 91–92, page 7:

     Hope ſprings eternal in the human breaſt; / Man never is, but always to be bleſt.

   • 1864 May – 1865 November, Charles Dickens, “Scouts Out”, in Our Mutual Friend. […], volume II, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published 1865, OCLC 1016551263, book the third (A Long Lane), page 95:

     Night after night his disappointment is acute, but hope springs eternal in the scholastic breast, and he follows me again to-morrow.

   • 1915, Elinor Glyn, “The Gospel of Common Sense”, in Three Things:

     But, as hope springs eternal in the human breast, he still goes from doctor to doctor for fresh advice.

   • 2003 April 23, Leon Jaroff, “Hold that Tiger”, in Time‎:

     But hope springs eternal in diehard Tiger fans, and Peter is convinced that someday, somehow, he and his son will see Detroit clinch a championship.

Coordinate terms

• never say die
• tomorrow is another day

Translations

the feeling of hopefulness endlessly renews itself

Arabic: لَا يَأْسَ مَعَ ٱلْحَيَاةِ‎ (lā yaʾsa maʿa l-ḥayāti, literally “there's no despair with life”) Czech: naděje umírá poslední (literally “hope dies last”) Danish: håbet er lysegrønt (literally “hope is bright green”) Dutch: hoop doet leven (literally “hope makes [you] live”) Finnish: niin kauan kuin on elämää on toivoa (literally “while there is life there is hope”), toivossa on hyvä elää (literally “living in hope one lives well”) French: tant qu'il y a de la vie, il y a de l'espoir (fr) (literally “as long as there's life, there's hope”) German: die Hoffnung stirbt zuletzt (de) (literally “hope dies last”), noch ist Polen nicht verloren (de) (literally “Poland is not lost yet”), (biblical) Glaube, Liebe, Hoffnung (literally “faith, love, hope”) Hungarian: a remény hal meg utoljára (hu) (literally “hope dies last”) Indonesian: ada hari, ada nasi Italian: la speranza è l'ultima a morire (literally “hope is the last one to die”) Polish: jeszcze Polska nie zginęła (literally “Poland is not lost yet”), nadzieja umiera ostatnia (pl) Portuguese: a esperança é a última que morre, a esperança é a última a morrer (literally “hope is the last one to die”) Romanian: speranța moare ultima (literally “hope dies last”) Russian: наде́жда умира́ет после́дней (ru) (nadéžda umirájet poslédnej, literally “hope dies last”) Spanish: la esperanza es la última que muere (literally “hope is the last one to die”) Swedish: än är inte Polen förlorat (literally “Poland is not lost yet”), hoppet är det sista som överger en människa

See also

• nil desperandum