Quotes from C.R. Snyder

Hope is the sum of the mental willpower and waypower that you have for your goals.

This simple idea—anchoring hope to a concrete goal—provided a starting point in my model of hope.6 In this venture, I join recent social scientists who suggest that hope involves the perception that one's goals can be met.

Or, in the intriguing words of existential philosopher Gabriel Marcel, hope is "a piercing through time … a kind of memory of the future.

Simply put, hope reflects a mental set in which we have the perceived willpower and the waypower to get to our destination.

This lesson happened to be in the context of fishing, but the basic high-hope message was the same across situations: Set clear goals and then get energized about ways to reach those objectives.

In the words of one high-hope individual, "All the steps involved in getting there are as much fun as actually finishing a project." Consistent with this sentiment, I have found that high-hope people are quite patient with experiencing the course of unfolding events.

There I met my granddaughter for the first time. As I held her, I wanted to give her a gift. Surely I could come up with something very special for my first grandchild. Not the usual stuffed animals and outfits, but something she could use for the rest of her life. She should get a lasting gift from her grandfather. It came to me that I'd like to give her hope.