Pandora's Box: Is Hope good or evil?

[the_bob_delusion]

Discuss.

[j*oono]

She's a little bit too good.  Goodie goodie two shoes.  Go team Steffie!

[Anonymous]

I've always thought hope was good.

[cherry*135]

In reality, hope is the worst of all evils, because it prolongs man's torments.
- Friedrich Nietzsche

[bright.ton42]

I never did like Nietzschke I honestly think he was severely depressed. 

I can't begin to imagine what he means by that quote

To me life without hope just wouldn't be worth living. 

[fourandsixpants]

It's neither .

Hope fits into the area signposted 'grey area'. Depends on each and every situation

There's nothing right or wrong about having or advising someone to have hope.

Hope is okay a bit like Plum Jam really......

An explanation/analogy using plum jam :

You've hurt your big toe, badly, many months ago and it won't get better. An operation is not warranted. You have consulted with all the doctors, alternative health professionals in the land and beyond and tried all the medications and tonics nothing seems to help.....you happened to hear from a friends' friend that they had the same thing!! and they tried rubbing Plum Jam on their big toe every day and eventually it healed like new......so you buy/make a large pot of plum jam and dutifully apply gobs of it to your big toe, every morning. Lo and Behold! Your toe heals!

You were not harmed and the outcome was very satisfactory.

It gave you something 'positive' to do whilst the toe healed instead of just worrying about it.

I see 'hope' as negative if it is used as a lazy replacement for 'effort' to achieve a result otherwise I see nothing too evil about it.

[the_bob_delusion]

---

@am*3 wrote:

In reality, hope is the worst of all evils, because it prolongs man's torments.
- Friedrich Nietzsche

---

I can understand this. Say your daughter goes missing. Hope, even the slightest prolongs the agony as oppose to just finding out she has passed. 

[the_bob_delusion]

---

@paintsew007 wrote:

It's neither .

Hope fits into the area signposted 'grey area'. Depends on each and every situation

There's nothing right or wrong about having or advising someone to have hope.

Hope is okay a bit like Plum Jam really......

An explanation/analogy using plum jam :

You've hurt your big toe, badly, many months ago and it won't get better. An operation is not warranted. You have consulted with all the doctors, alternative health professionals in the land and beyond and tried all the medications and tonics nothing seems to help.....you happened to hear from a friends' friend that they had the same thing!! and they tried rubbing Plum Jam on their big toe every day and eventually it healed like new......so you buy/make a large pot of plum jam and dutifully apply gobs of it to your big toe, every morning. Lo and Behold! Your toe heals!

You were not harmed and the outcome was very satisfactory.

It gave you something 'positive' to do whilst the toe healed instead of just worrying about it.

I see 'hope' as negative if it is used as a lazy replacement for 'effort' to achieve a result otherwise I see nothing too evil about it.

---

I don't see your analogy as a good description of hope. 

[lakeland27]

hope is a prime motivator, without it you can't even bother getting out of bed. i'd say the most miserable sod still holds hope, its just not that easy to recognise.

[siggie-reported-by-alarmists]

What is life without hope?

Not much of a life....

[siggie-reported-by-alarmists]

If you have no hope Bob...create some.