Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not

In an age torn between war and renewal, Pope John XXIII, the “Good Pope,” uttered words that shine like a beacon across the centuries: “Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.” These words, gentle yet thunderous, were not meant merely for the faithful but for all humanity — for the weary heart that has forgotten how to hope, for the dreamer who stands trembling before the ruins of failure. His voice calls us to lift our eyes from the dust of disappointment to the stars of possibility, to remember that the power to create, to rise, and to begin again still burns within us.

The origin of this quote lies in the soul of a man who lived through darkness but chose light. Born Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, Pope John XXIII came to the papal throne in 1958, at a time when the world was recovering from war and facing the cold specter of nuclear fear. Yet he refused to rule through fear. He spoke always of peace, of compassion, of renewal. He believed that humanity’s wounds could be healed not by dwelling on its failures, but by awakening its capacity for goodness. When he said, “Consult not your fears but your hopes,” he was urging the world — and each soul within it — to remember that faith and courage are stronger guides than anxiety and regret.

To consult your fears is to bow before shadows. It is to live your life by the counsel of doubt, to ask the coward within you what you should do, and to mistake its trembling voice for wisdom. Fear will always whisper of danger, of inadequacy, of defeat. But to consult your dreams is to turn your ear to the divine — to listen to the call of what might yet be. For dreams are not fantasies; they are glimpses of your truest self, glimpses of the life that your courage can bring forth. The wise understand that fear advises safety, while hope inspires transformation.

The Pope’s teaching finds its echo in the story of Thomas Edison, who failed more than a thousand times before he gave the world the light bulb. When asked about his failures, he said, “I have not failed; I’ve just found a thousand ways that won’t work.” Edison, like John XXIII, refused to consult his fears. He looked not to frustration but to potential. He saw in every failure a step toward success. Had he surrendered to fear, the world would still have lived in darkness. His story reminds us that the measure of a person’s greatness is not how few times they fall, but how faithfully they rise.

Frustration is the chain that binds progress; potential is the key that breaks it. When Pope John XXIII said, “Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential,” he invited us to shift our gaze from what is broken to what is possible. For every frustration is but proof that the heart still strives, that something within still longs for better. To dwell on failure is to live among ashes; to look to potential is to rebuild the fire. The past may instruct us, but it must never imprison us.

He continues, “Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.” In these words lies the eternal call of renewal — the promise that life’s story is never finished until the heart stops beating. The future remains unwritten, awaiting the ink of courage. The failures behind you are but drafts of your becoming. This truth was known to Abraham Lincoln, who suffered repeated defeat in politics, in business, and in life before he became one of history’s greatest leaders. He refused to be defined by his setbacks; instead, he concerned himself with what was still possible. Through perseverance, he transformed personal sorrow into collective freedom.

The lesson, then, is clear: never let fear be your adviser, nor failure your identity. Seek counsel instead from your dreams, for they speak with the voice of the soul’s purpose. Each morning, look not upon what you have lost, but upon what remains to be gained. When fear rises, meet it with faith; when frustration weighs upon you, answer it with patience; when failure mocks you, rise and try once more.

And so, my children of courage, remember this ancient wisdom dressed in modern words: life is not measured by the falls you take, but by the light you kindle after each one. To consult your fears is to live as a prisoner of what has been; to consult your dreams is to live as the architect of what can be. Lift your eyes toward what is still possible. There, in the vast horizon of hope, the soul awakens — and in that awakening, the impossible becomes real.