In this world you've just got to hope for the best and prepare

The wise words of Lucy Maud Montgomery—“In this world you've just got to hope for the best, prepare for the worst, and take whatever God sends”—are not merely a reflection of resilience; they are a hymn to the balance between faith, courage, and acceptance. In them lies the distilled wisdom of ages: that life is a tapestry woven from both sunlight and shadow, and the soul’s strength is proven not in ease but in endurance. These words remind us that life will not always yield to our wishes, yet it is in our response to the unforeseen that our spirit is revealed.

The origin of this wisdom is ancient, as old as the first dawn. Humanity has always stood between hope and uncertainty, yearning for good fortune yet knowing the storms will come. In the Book of Ecclesiastes, the ancients wrote, “To everything there is a season,” for they knew that joy and sorrow are siblings, born of the same eternal mother. Lucy Maud Montgomery, though living in a modern age, spoke with the same cadence of timeless understanding. Having endured loss, loneliness, and hardship in her own life, she did not utter these words as mere philosophy but as a truth forged in the fire of experience.

To hope for the best is not to be naïve, but to honor the light. Hope is the divine spark that guides us through the fog of doubt. It is the seed that whispers of spring even in the heart of winter. Every great endeavor begins with this sacred hope. The builders of cathedrals, the voyagers who crossed unknown seas, the dreamers who lit the night with their inventions—all held faith that beyond the darkness, there lay possibility. Without hope, the world would be barren of courage, and no hand would rise to heal or to create.

Yet Montgomery’s wisdom does not end there. She warns, too, to prepare for the worst—for wisdom is not found in hope alone but in readiness. The ancients told the story of Joseph of Egypt, who, guided by visions, stored grain in years of plenty to withstand the famine to come. When the dry years arrived, Egypt survived while nations around it perished. So must we, too, store the grains of strength, discipline, and foresight, for the days when the wind turns cold. To prepare is not to fear, but to respect the ways of the world—to understand that storms come to all, and the wise build shelters before the rain begins.

But the deepest layer of Montgomery’s truth lies in her final phrase: “Take whatever God sends.” For here she speaks of surrender—not of defeat, but of peace. Life is not ours to command entirely; there are tides that no mortal can turn. To accept what comes, even when it wounds us, is to trust in the greater harmony of existence. The stoics of old spoke of this same virtue: serenity before fate. They taught that one’s control ends at the threshold of one’s own actions, and beyond that, all belongs to Providence. When we learn to take what is sent with grace, whether joy or sorrow, we cease to be tossed about by life’s tempests and begin to sail with the current of divine wisdom.

Consider the story of Florence Nightingale, who faced the horrors of war and disease with both hope and preparedness. She expected hardship and prepared with tireless discipline, yet she also trusted that her purpose was divinely guided. When suffering came, she did not curse it—she took what God sent and turned pain into service, darkness into healing. Her legacy reminds us that the measure of the soul is not in how it avoids suffering, but in how it transforms it into light for others.

So let this be the lesson passed down to you, O seeker of wisdom: walk with hope, arm yourself with readiness, and wear the cloak of acceptance. Do not demand that the world bend to your will, but bend your heart to meet it with courage. When joy comes, cherish it. When loss arrives, learn from it. And when you can do no more, trust that the unseen hand that shapes the stars also shapes your path.

In your daily life, practice this sacred balance. Begin each day with hope for the best, for without hope your heart will wither. Spend each hour in preparation for the worst, that fear may not catch you unguarded. And when night falls and all your efforts are done, take whatever God sends with humility and strength, saying as the wise have said before you: “Not my will, but Thine.” Thus shall you live with serenity in the face of change, and your soul, steadfast and luminous, shall endure through all seasons.