Hope lies in dreams, in imagination, and in the courage of those

“Hope lies in dreams, in imagination, and in the courage of those who dare to make dreams into reality.” Thus spoke Jonas Salk, the healer of children, the man who wrestled with disease and brought light to a suffering world. His words are not mere adornments of speech; they are a hymn to the human spirit, a torch passed down from one age to the next, calling us to remember that hope is not born in comfort but in the secret fire of vision and courage. For where others see the impossible, the dreamer sees the path yet hidden; and where the fearful bow to despair, the courageous rise and give form to the invisible.

In this saying, Salk reveals the trinity of creation—dreams, imagination, and courage. Dreams are the seeds planted in the soil of the soul, glimpses of what might be. Imagination is the rain that nourishes them, the sacred force that turns ideas into vision. But without courage, these seeds lie dormant, never breaking the surface. It is courage, the rarest of all virtues, that gives breath to hope and substance to the unseen. For hope is not passive—it is the fierce will to act, even when the night is long and the dawn uncertain.

Consider the time in which Jonas Salk lived—the early days of the twentieth century, when the shadow of polio haunted the earth. Children were struck down, their limbs paralyzed, their futures stolen. Fear gripped nations; parents wept, powerless before the invisible foe. Yet amid that darkness stood one man who dared to dream of a world free from this terror. While others accepted the cruelty of fate, Salk imagined a cure, a shield wrought from human genius and compassion. He worked tirelessly, defying doubt, enduring failure, and pouring his spirit into the forge of discovery. And when he at last created the polio vaccine, he asked for no reward, no patent, no wealth—saying instead, “Could you patent the sun?” In that selfless act, hope became flesh, and humanity was forever changed.

This is the essence of Salk’s truth: that hope is not a whisper of comfort, but a call to creation. It is not something we wait for—it is something we build. The ancients knew this too. When Prometheus stole fire from the gods, he did so not for his own glory, but to give mankind the power to shape their destiny. He was punished, yet through his suffering, humanity learned to kindle its own flame. In every age, those who dare to dream and act boldly are the bringers of dawn—the builders of the bridge between what is and what can be.

To imagine is divine; to act upon imagination is heroic. The artist who paints a new vision of beauty, the inventor who defies convention, the teacher who awakens the light in a child’s mind—all are participants in the same sacred work. For in their hands, hope takes form. And when fear rises—when the world mocks or resists—the true dreamer presses forward, knowing that courage is not the absence of fear, but the mastery of it. The brave do not wait for perfect moments; they create them.

Therefore, my children, cherish your dreams, but do not let them remain as phantoms of the night. Feed them with imagination, shape them with courage, and set them loose into the world. Do not fear failure, for every stumble is a step upon the road to truth. Do not fear loneliness, for those who walk the path of vision often walk it alone. But take heart—for the world is built anew each day by the hands of those who dare to make dreams into reality.

The lesson is clear: to live without dreaming is to live without direction, and to dream without courage is to live without result. Hope is a living thing—it demands your strength, your endurance, and your will. So look upon your life and ask not what you have been given, but what you can create. Plant your dreams like seeds in the fertile ground of faith, and let your imagination be their sunlight.

And when the time comes to act, act boldly. For it is the brave who shape the ages, and it is through their dreams that the world ascends.