Rubem Alves, a Brazilian theologian and psychologist

“Today there are no reasons for optimism. Today it is only possible to have hope. Hope is opposed to optimism. Optimism exists when it is spring outside and then it is spring inside. Hope exists when there is drought outside and still there are fountains of water bubbling in the heart. Optimism is joy ‘because of’ something human, something natural. Hope is joy ‘in spite of’; it is a divine thing. Optimism is having roots in time. Hope is having roots in eternity. The optimism is fed by big things. Without them, optimism dies. Hope is fed by small things. Hope blooms in small things. It is enough to be a strawberry at the abyss’s border.” (from A Esparanica De Paz Nos Vem de Uma Crianca, by Tania Mara Viera Sampaio)