Hope arouses, as nothing else can arouse, a passion for the

“Hope arouses, as nothing else can arouse, a passion for the possible.” — William Sloane Coffin

In this radiant and stirring declaration, William Sloane Coffin, a man of faith and conscience, speaks of the sacred fire that burns at the heart of the human spirit — hope. He does not describe it as a gentle wish or quiet comfort, but as a force, fierce and creative, capable of awakening within us a passion for the possible. When all else fails — when reason falters, strength fades, and despair whispers its lies — it is hope that rekindles the will to act. Hope, in Coffin’s vision, is not the denial of reality but the defiance of limitation. It is the soul’s refusal to accept that what is must forever be, and its daring to dream of what might be.

To understand this truth, we must know the man who spoke it. William Sloane Coffin Jr. was not a philosopher lost in abstraction, but a minister, a civil rights activist, and a relentless advocate for peace. He lived through the turbulence of the twentieth century — war, inequality, and the cold shadow of nuclear threat — yet never surrendered to cynicism. His words were forged in the fire of protest and prayer. When he said, “Hope arouses a passion for the possible,” he spoke as one who had seen both the cruelty of history and the courage of humanity. He knew that hope was not naive — it was revolutionary, a weapon against despair and resignation.

The ancients, too, revered hope as a divine spark. In Greek mythology, when Pandora opened her fateful jar and released all the evils of the world — sickness, pain, and sorrow — one thing remained behind: Hope. To some, this seemed a cruel jest; to others, it was the gods’ final mercy. For without hope, man would not rise from the ashes of his suffering. Hope is the force that compels the farmer to plant after drought, the healer to labor through disease, and the artist to create amid chaos. It is, as Coffin said, the passion for the possible — the will to keep moving toward the light, even when the night appears endless.

History offers countless examples of this truth. Consider the story of Nelson Mandela, imprisoned for twenty-seven years under the weight of apartheid. For nearly three decades, he lived behind walls meant to crush the human spirit. Yet he emerged not broken, but luminous. “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear,” he said, “but the triumph over it.” Mandela’s hope did not come from illusion — it came from vision, the belief that freedom was not only necessary but possible. His hope was not passive; it was active, disciplined, and enduring. It was this hope that transformed a prisoner into a president, and oppression into liberation.

Coffin’s words remind us that hope is the mother of action, not its substitute. It does not lull the soul into waiting but drives it to create. The passion for the possible that hope awakens is what fuels invention, compassion, and change. The scientist who challenges the laws of nature, the teacher who believes in the potential of every child, the reformer who stands against injustice — all are animated by this sacred passion. Hope is the pulse of progress; without it, no civilization could endure, no dream could take shape. It is both the seed and the sunlight of the human journey.

And yet, true hope is not blind optimism. It does not ignore pain, nor does it deny the presence of evil. Rather, it looks directly into the darkness and says, “Even so — I will build, I will strive, I will love.” Hope coexists with hardship; it finds strength in struggle. That is why Coffin calls it an arousal — a stirring from within that awakens courage, resilience, and imagination. To live without hope is to sleep through life; to live with it is to awaken each day as a creator of possibility.

Lesson:
From William Sloane Coffin’s wisdom, let us learn that hope is not a luxury but a discipline. It must be nourished through gratitude, faith, and action. When the world seems immovable, look within and find that small ember of possibility — and breathe upon it until it burns. Do not be content with what is; dream of what could be, and let that dream move your hands and heart. Speak hope when others speak fear. Build hope where others build walls. For it is hope — fierce, active, and unyielding — that gives birth to every new dawn. And through it, as Coffin said, we awaken our own passion for the possible, and join the eternal labor of creation itself.