Nothing is hopeless; we must hope for everything. Euripedes

Reassuring words from Mrs. Who, who speaks in quotes.

I find myself going back to this part, over and over. Mrs. Whatsit is explaining that Charles Wallace knows and understands how serious things are, what is at stake – far more than just the life of his and Meg’s father. But Mrs. Who, who speaks primarily in quotes because it is easier than finding her own words, reassures the group by quoting Euripedes.

Nothing is hopeless; we must hope for everything.

Nothing is hopeless. While we still breathe, and strive for things, nothing is hopeless. But far from just hoping things work out, or that we manage to survive, or the bare minimum happens, we should ‘hope for everything.’

Hopelessness is like the Black Thing, so dark that it blocks out even the stars. How can we function when we cannot even see? Hopelessness is paralyzing.

Our hoping, our striving, is what can make the difference. If we hope for everything, we have optimism and a sense of purpose and are aiming high. It’s this hope that pushes us forward, pushes us through the hard stuff.

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I am reading A Wrinkle in Time for the first time in decades. When I was young and reading it for the first time, I was reading it to just “read the story.” Now, however, I read books looking for lessons, regardless of whether the author intended a particular message to be gleaned.