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Sol. 5. The hope of an ungodly man is like chaff carried by the wind, and like smoke dispersed by the wind, and has passed away like the remembrance of a guest who tarries but a day.

Sirach 2. Look at the ancient generations, and see: who ever hoped in the Lord and was put to shame, or who ever persevered in His fear, and He overlooked him.

Of Basil. He who hopes in man, or is set on high by anything else in this life, cannot say: In you, O Lord, have I hoped. For it is a commandment not to hope in rulers.

I praise the one who said, that hopes are the dreams of the waking.

Of the Theologian. When having hoped for great things we suddenly encounter those things hoped for, what appears is seen to be less than the expectation.

Do not be exceedingly confident, nor despair too much. For the one weakens; the other overthrows. For what one fears he will suffer, these things he has suffered even if he does not suffer them. For many a ship, while sailing well, has sunk near its moorings. Many have been brought to anchor out of a mighty storm. Neither when despondent should you despair of prosperity, nor when doing well of despondency. One thing is permanent among existing things: the hope toward God; but all other things are not in

nature, but are by convention.

Chrysostom. It is impossible to fail of the goal, for one who hopes in God with his whole mind, and contributes all that is from himself.

Gregory of Nyssa. Affliction is the flower of the good things that are expected. Therefore, for the sake of the fruit, let us also pluck the flower.

Of Nilus. An unexpected evil, having come, certainly causes turmoil; but that which was expected, having found the reason prepared for the trial, makes the terrible thing lighter.

(909) Of Procopius the Sophist. A hoped-for good, having fallen into its opposite, holds an inconsolable suffering.

Plutarch. One should moor neither a ship by a single anchor, nor a life by a single hope.

The hopes of the educated are stable, as if moored in the harbor of reason.

The hopes of virtue are proper to the soul; but those of vice, are bastard.

It is the same thing to moor a vessel with a weak anchor, and a hope from a poor judgment.

Socrates. Wicked hopes, like bad guides, lead to sins.

Neither a woman without a man, nor a good hope without labor, begets anything useful.

Leucippus. For pleasant things, even if they are not present, delight with their hopes

For that which has been hoped for, once it is taken away from the soul; and that which is no longer expected from anywhere, prepares a release for those who are weary.

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Σολ. ε´. Ἐλπίς ἀσεβοῦς, ὡς φερόμενος χνοῦς ὑπό ἀνέμου, καί ὡς καπνός ὑπό ἀνέμου διαλυθείς, καί ὡς μνεία καταλύτου μονοημέρου διωδεύθη.

Σιράχ β´. Ἐμβλέψατε εἰς τάς ἀρχαίας γενεάς, καί ἴδετε, τίς ἤλπισεν ἐπί Κύριον καί κατῃσχύνθη, ἤ τίς ἐνέμεινεν ἐν τῷ φόβῳ αὐτοῦ, καί ὑπερεῖδεν αὐτόν.

Βασιλείου. Ὁ ἐπ᾿ ἄνθρωπον ἐλπίζων, ἤ ἐπ᾿ ἄλλο τι τῶν κατά τόν βίον μετεωριζόμενος, οὐ δύνατι εἶπεῖν· Ἐπί σέ, Κύριε, ἤλπισα, Παράγγελμα γάρ ἐστι μή ἐλπίζειν ἐπ᾿ ἄρχοντας.

Ἐπαινῶ τόν εἰπόντα, τάς ἐλπίδας εἶναι γρηγορούντων ἐνύπνια.

Θεολόγου. Ὅταν μεγάλα ἐλπίσαντες ἀθρόως τοῖς ἐλπισθεῖσιν ἐντύχωμεν, ἐλάττω τῆς δόξης ὁρᾶται τά φαινόμενα.

Μή σφόδρα θαῤῥεῖν, μηδ᾿ ἀπελπίζειν ἄγαν. Τό μέν γάρ ἐκλύει· τό δέ ἀνατρέπει. Ἅ γάρ τις ὡς πεισόμενος δέδοικε, ταῦτα πέπονθε κἄν μή πάθῃ. Πολλοῖς πρός ὅρμοις εὐπλοοῦν ἔδυ σκάφος. Πολλοί προσωρμίσθησαν ἐκ τρικυμίας. Μήτε ἀθυμῶν ἀπελπίσῃς, εὐημερίαν, μήτε καλῶς πράττων ἀθυμίαν. Ἕν ἐστιν ἐν τοῖς οὖσι τό μόνιμον, ἡ πρός Θεόν ἐλπίς· τά δέ ἄλλα πάντα, οὐχί ἐστι τῇ

φύσει, ἀλλά νομίζεται.

Χρυσοστ. Ἀμήχανον τοῦ τέλους ἐκπεσεῖν, τόν ὅλῃ διανοίᾳ ἐπί τόν Θεόν ἐλπίζοντα, καί τά παρ᾿ ἑαυτοῦ πάντα εἰσφέροντα.

Γρηγ. Νύσ. Τῶν προδοκωμένων ἀγαθῶν ἡ θλίψις ἄνθος ἐστί. ∆ιά οὖν τό καρπόν, καί τό ἄνθος δρεψώμεθα.

Νείλου. Τό ἀπροσδόκητον κακόν θορυβεῖ πάντως ἐπελθόν· τό δέ προδοκηθέν εὐτρεπῆ πρός τήν πεῖραν εὑρόν τόν λογισμόν, κουφότερον ποιεῖ τό δεινόν.

(909) Προκοπίου σοφιστοῦ. Τό ἐλπισθέν ἀγαθόν εἰς τοὐναντίον περιπεσόν, ἀπαραμύθητον ἔχει τό πάθος.

Πλουτάρχ. Οὔτε ναῦν ἐξ ἑνός ἀγκυρίου, οὔτε βίον ἐκ μιᾶς ἐλπίδος ὁρμιστέον.

Στάσιμοί εἰσιν αἱ τῶν πεπαιδευμένων ἐλπίδες, ὡς ἐν κιμένι τῷ λογισμῷ ὁρμοῦσαι.

Αἱ μέν τῆς ἀρετῆς ἐλπίδες, ἴδιαί εἰσι τῆς ψυχῆς· αἱ δέ τῆς κακίας, νόθοι.

Ταυτόν ἐστιν ἐξ ἀσθενοῦς ἀγκυρίου σκάφος ὁρμεῖν, καί ἐκ φαύλης γνώμης ἐλπίδα.

Σωκράτ. Αἱ πονηραί ἐλπίδες, ὥσπερ οἱ κακοί ὁδηγοί, ἐπί ἁμαρτήματα ἄγουσιν.

Οὔτε γυνή χωρίς ἀνδρός, οὔτε ἐλπίς ἀγαθή χωρίς πόνου γεννᾷ τι χρήσιμον.

Λευκίππ. Τά γάρ ἡδέα, κἄν μή παρῆ, τέρπει ταῖς ἐλπίσιν

Τό γάρ ἐλπισθέν, ἅπαξ ἐξῄρηται τῆς ψυχῆς· καί τό μηδαμόθεν ἔτι προσδοκώμενον, ἀπαλλαγήν παρασκευάζει τοῖς κάμνουσιν.