From the book
Stobaeus, Volume I
John Stobaeus · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Hope
ἐλπίς
elpisElpis is hope or expectation.
Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordElpis is hope or expectation.
- In StobaeusThe lamenting souls anticipate wrongful actions driven by bad hopes while obtaining necessities for mortal bodies.
- In this edition“Hope” is natural, provided its moral quality is not assumed in advance.
- A place to beginBad hopes accompany the anticipated difficulties of embodiment.
- English renderings
- hope; expectation
Meaning
Elpis is hope or expectation. It does not guarantee that the expected object is good or that the expectation will be fulfilled.
Use in the book
The lamenting souls anticipate wrongful actions driven by bad hopes while obtaining necessities for mortal bodies. Later Fire asks the creator to fill life with good hopes. The explicit qualifiers matter: the same capacity for expectation can accompany disorder or a better ordered life.
Places to read
- I.49.44.39Bad hopes accompany the anticipated difficulties of embodiment.
- I.49.44.66Good hopes are requested as part of divine ordering.
Translation in this edition
“Hope” is natural, provided its moral quality is not assumed in advance.
Source note
Wachsmuth, volume I, printed pp. 396, 403. The soul’s lament includes a rejected poetic quotation, which is not used as independent evidence for this entry.
From the book
The Notebooks of Joseph Joubert, Volumes I–II
Joseph Joubert · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Hope
espérance
Espérance is directed toward something not yet possessed.
Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordEspérance is directed toward something not yet possessed.
- In JoubertThe faith/light analogy makes hope a participation in possession without actual holding.
- In this editionThe English translation renders espérance as hope and the verb espérer as “hope.” It preserves the conditional seroit in the analogy and the difference between “foresee” and “have a presentiment.” Neither English choice licenses completion of the unfinished comparison.
- A place to beginHope is to possession as faith is to light.
- English renderings
- hope
Meaning
Espérance is directed toward something not yet possessed. Joubert connects it with faith, with immortality and with the way providence is felt.
Use in the book
The faith/light analogy makes hope a participation in possession without actual holding. This is stronger than a mere prediction of a favorable outcome and weaker than ownership of the thing hoped for. The fragment on mortality couples fear of death and hope of immortality but does not finish its claim about animals. The later preference for hopeful people over fearful people concerns their knowledge and feeling of providence. Hope thus has inward and cognitive effects without being identified with proof.
Places to read
- I, p. 440, entry begun p. 437, no. 3, ¶36Hope is to possession as faith is to light.
- II, p. 567, entry 11, ¶1Hope is associated with a presentiment of immortality.
- II, p. 859, entry 11, ¶1Hope gives a steadier feeling of providence than fear.
Translation in this edition
The English translation renders espérance as hope and the verb espérer as “hope.” It preserves the conditional seroit in the analogy and the difference between “foresee” and “have a presentiment.” Neither English choice licenses completion of the unfinished comparison.
Source note
Beaunier 1938, I, pp. 440; II, pp. 567, 859.
From the book
Centuries of Meditations
Thomas Traherne · Diotimos Editions · 2026
Browse this book’s lexicon →Hope
hope; hopeful expectation; confidence in promised good
Hope is an anticipatory relation to good not yet fully possessed.
Orientation
At a Glance
- The wordHope is an anticipatory relation to good not yet fully possessed.
- In TraherneIn the lonely field hope comes from the same distant borders that provoke fear, showing that an unknown world can promise as well as threaten.
- In this editionHope is neither a guarantee that each imagined prospect will occur nor mere passive waiting.
- A place to beginHope and fear meet at the borders of the child’s apparently empty world.
Meaning
Hope is an anticipatory relation to good not yet fully possessed. It may begin obscurely, as a child’s expectation, and mature through trust in a giver and his promises.
Use in the book
In the lonely field hope comes from the same distant borders that provoke fear, showing that an unknown world can promise as well as threaten. Knowledge of Christ gives hope a more definite object: restored friendship, enjoyment, and eternal glory. In difficulty, the foundation is divine love rather than an assumption that other people will always provide what charity requires. Hope also belongs to the special worth of present action, since one can act faithfully amid obscurity and danger in ways no longer possible under completed vision.
Places to read
- III.23Hope and fear meet at the borders of the child’s apparently empty world.
- I.76Christ restores the hope of eternal glory alongside friendship and present enjoyment.
- IV.23Hope rests upon divine provision when human charity fails.
- IV.93Action by faith and hope gives the present life a distinctive place within eternity.
In this edition
Hope is neither a guarantee that each imagined prospect will occur nor mere passive waiting. Its mature form supports endeavour and faithful action before the good is fully seen.