35 Hopelessness Quotes For Reflection

In times of despair, words have the power to bring solace and perspective. Whether you're seeking comfort for yourself or looking to support someone else, reflecting on the thoughts of others who have faced similar struggles can be incredibly healing. That's why we've curated a collection of the top 35 hopelessness quotes. Each quote is carefully selected to provide a moment of reflection, offering insight and perhaps a glimmer of hope amidst the darkness. Join us as we explore these profound words that speak to the heart of our shared human experience.

1. “The basis of action is lack of imagination. It is the last resource of those who know not how to dream.” - Oscar Wilde

2. “Before I go on with this short history, let me make a general observation– the test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.One should, for example, be able to see that things are hopeless and yet be determined to make them otherwise. This philosophy fitted on to my early adult life, when I saw the improbable, the implausible, often the "impossible," come true.” - F. Scott Fitzgerald

3. “And were your back as broad as heaven, and your purse full of gold, and did your compassion reach from here to hell itself, there is nothing you can do.” - Alan Paton

4. “All alone! Whether you like it or not, alone is something you'll be quite a lot!” - Dr. Seuss

5. “And another way of explaining it is to say that shit happens, and there's no space too small, too dark and airless and fucking hopeless, for people to crawl into.” - Nick Hornby

6. “The moment she was cursed, I lost her. Once it wears off- soon- she will be embarrassed to remember things that she said, things she did, things like this. No matter how solid she feels in my arms, she is made of smoke.” - Holly Black

7. “It was a dead hole, smelling of synthetic leather and disinfectant, both of which odors seemed to emanate from the torn scratched material of the seats that lined the three walls. It smelled of the tobacco ashes which had flooded the two standing metal ashtrays. On the chromium lip of one, a cigar butt gleamed wetly like a chewed piece of beef. There was the smell of peanut shells and of the waxy candy wrappers that littered the floor, the smell of old newspapers, dry, inky, smothering and faintly like a urinal, the smell of sweat from armpits and groins and backs and faces, pouring out and drying up in the lifeless air, the smell of clothes—cleaning fluids imbedded in fabric and blooming horribly in the warm sweetish air, picking at the nostrils like thorns—all the exudations of the human flesh, a bouquet of animal being, flowing out, drying up, but leaving a peculiar and ineradicable odor of despair in the room as though chemistry was transformed into spirit, an ascension of a kind,…Light issuing from spotlights in the ceiling was sour and blinding like a sick breath.There was in that room an underlying confusion in the function of the senses. Smell became color, color became smell. Mute started at mute so intently they might have been listening with their eyes, and hearing grew preternaturally acute, yet waited only for the familiar syllables of surnames. Taste died, mouth opened in the negative drowsiness of waiting.” - Paula Fox

8. “It seemed to her as though everything that was good and true had been blasted out of the world. All those things had been crushed destroyed made to disappear.” - Anna Godbersen

9. “In the daytime, I know that they're (Russians) close. But at night, my optimism abandons me, I buckle. The night is German, and who am I against the night?” - Ana Novac

10. “He's holding onto me, but this time it feels like he's holding onto me because his earth has shifted off its axis, and I'm his core.” - Colleen Hoover

11. “Do me a favor?” Anything. I’ll do anything you ask me to, so long as you’re shirtless.” - Colleen Hoover

12. “Real ugly endings are better than fake happily ever after's” - Colleen Hoover

13. “Live. If you mix the letters up in the words like and love, you get live.” - Colleen Hoover

14. “I tilt my head and ask “What firsts have wealready passed?”“The easy ones,” he says. “First hug, first date, first fight, first time we slept together,although I wasn’t the one sleeping. Now we barely have any left. First kiss. First time tosleep together when we’re both actually awake. First marriage. First kid. We’re doneafter that. Our lives will become mundane and boring and I’ll have to divorce you andmarry a wife who’s twenty years younger than me so I can have a lot more firsts andyou’ll be stuck raising the kids.” He bring his hand to my cheek and smile at me. “So yousee, babe? I’m only doing this for your benefit. The longer I wait to kiss you, the longerit’ll be before I’m forced to leave you high and dry.” - Colleen Hoover

15. “He places his palm over my heart, then pulls my hand to his chest over his own heart. He lowers his eyes to my level, ensuring I’m here with him, giving him my complete attention. “Fuck all the firsts, Sky. The only thing that matters to me with you are the forevers.” - Colleen Hoover

16. “No matter what happens life just keeps going and moving forward and words keep flowing and truths keep spewing whether you like it or not and life never lets you pause and just catch your fucking breath.” - Colleen Hoover

17. “Sure. But if the book sucks, we’re re-evaluating the friendship.” - Colleen Hoover

18. “I take my seat and pick the e-reader back up. “You know, Breckin. You really are pretty damn great.” He smiles and winks at me. “It’s the Mormon in me. We’re a pretty awesome people.” - Colleen Hoover

19. “You’re attracted to me?” “Oh, God,” I groan. “That’s the last thing you need for your ego.” “That’s probably true,” he laughs. “Better hurry up and insult me before my ego gets as big as yours.” “You need a hair cut,” I blurt out. “Really bad. It gets in your eyes and you squint and you’re constantly moving it out of the way like you’re Justin Bieber and it’s really distracting.” - Colleen Hoover

20. “ You fell asleep right when she was about to find out her mother’s secret. How dare you. I’ll be back tomorrow night so you can finish reading it to me. And by the way, you have really bad breath and you snore way too loud. ” - Colleen Hoover

21. “I wonder if Dean is his nice persona and Holder is his scary one. Holder is definitely the one I saw at the grocery store earlier. I think I like Dean a lot better.” - Colleen Hoover

22. “When I said you weren’t getting kissed tonight, I meant it. But dammit, Sky. I had no idea how fucking difficult you would make it.” - Colleen Hoover

23. “Time to go,” he says. “I already see this heading somewhere I’m too drunk to go right now. I’ll see you tomorrow night.” I jump up and run and block the window before he can leave. He stops in front of me and folds his arms over his chest. “Stay,” I say. “Please. Just lay in bed with me. We can put pillows between us and I promise not to seduce you since you’re drunk. Just stay for an hour, I don’t want you to go yet.” He immediately turns and heads back to the bed. “Okay,” he says simply. He throws himself onto my bed and pulls the covers out from beneath him. That was easy.” - Colleen Hoover

24. “Not your face, your dimple. And no. You’re the only guy I’ve ever had the urge to lick.” He smiles at me confidently. “Good. Because you’re the only girl I’ve ever had the urge to love.” - Colleen Hoover

25. “Speaking of… does this mean you get your phone back?” I shrug. “I don’t really want that phone back. I’m hoping my whipped boyfriend will get me an iPhone for Christmas.” - Colleen Hoover

26. “And just when I though things were starting to get better, everything had gone wrong again.” - Rachel Ward

27. “We spend so much time defending our choice to do this that it becomes hard to show any vulnerability at all. There's only so many times you can handle someone asking about your fall back for when things don't work before you start thinking that maybe the fall back should just be your plan.” - Cora Carmack

28. “I am mad at you, Holder,” I say with an unsteady, but sure voice. “But no matter how mad I’ve been, I never for one second stopped wanting you here with me.” - Colleen Hoover

29. “It’s killing me, baby,” he says, his voice much more calm and quiet. “It’s killing me because I don’t want you to go another day without knowing how I feel about you. And I’m not ready to tell you I’m in love with you, because I’m not. Not yet. But whatever this is I’m feeling—it’s so much more than just like. It’s so much more. And for the past few weeks I’ve been trying to figure it out. I’ve been trying to figure out why there isn’t some other word to describe it. I want to tell you exactly how I feel but there isn’t a single goddamned word in the entire dictionary that can describe this point between liking you and loving you, but I need that word. I need it because I need you to hear me say it.” - Colleen Hoover

30. “Life can’t be divided into chapters...only minutes. The events of your life are all crammed together one minute right after the other without any time lapses or blank pages or chapter breaks because no matter what happens life just keeps going and moving forward and words keep flowing and truths keep spewing whether you like it or not and life never lets you pause and just catch your fucking breath.I need one of those chapter breaks. I just want to catch my breath, but I have no idea how.” - Colleen Hoover

31. “The way he’s watching me makes me feel needed like no one’s ever been able to make me feel. In a way, he makes me feel necessary. Like my existence alone is necessary for his survival.” - Colleen Hoover

32. “I wanted to cry because I needed you there with me so bad. I knew in that moment that I was in love with you. I was in love with the way you loved me. When you wrapped your arms around me and held me, I knew that no matter what happened with my life, you were my home. You stole the biggest piece of my heart that night.” - Colleen Hoover

33. “You’re incredibly brave. And you’re going to make it through this because you have a very strong heart. A heart that is capable of loving so much about life and people in a way you never dreamt a heart could love. And you’re beautiful in here. Your heart is so beautiful and someday someone is going to love that heart like it deserves to be loved.” - Colleen Hoover

34. “A guy with no will to live isn't worth killing.” - Yukako Kabei

35. “There’s a moment in everybody’s life when you’re hopeless, just hopeless with hope and trust. And then something happens, something too big to understand, and then everything changes” - Will Donner