“hope is the thing with feathers” said Emily Dickinson.

Two other quotes from unknown authors:

“Hope can change the world. We don’t know what our actions have done to change the world for good. We only know that we must continue to hope. ? Hope alone won’t get you very far. Hope combined with action that moves toward that hope will move not just mountains, but worlds.”

“The downside of all of the focus on the current economic problems is that so much of the focus is on the darkness and so little attention on the flickers of light. Sometimes it has the effect of blowing out the
candles “in case we need them later,” yet the candles are the very thing needed to dispel the darkness and show the way out. In this deep dark hole, we have a match, a candle, a lantern, and a bon fire. Which do we light first? The match. Then we can light the others. Got a match? Hope so. May your “little puppet show” be the light in someone’s hour, day, or life.”

SOURCE:
puptcrit digest (online community of puppetry)

The third quote really spoke to me, it suggests that art can create hope for people, and keep it going. The candles seem to by symbolic of inspiration. If I am inspired by something it does tend to give me hope.

The second quote made me think a lot about acting on new found inspiration. Sometimes when I find inspiration I will use it later, other times I will let it go or forget about it, but this quote made me think about making an effort to act on it in order to inspire others.

The first quote I am presuming is refering to the dove? I think the thing that the dove was carrying is more of a symbol of hope; it was carrying a small branch from a tree it had found. Does new life create hope? Or is it the fact that the tree meant that there was dry land? I would say that hope comes from all sorts of places, but seeing what others have achieved can often encourage people, so art is a form of hope.

St Paul said that faith, hope and charity are the only things that last… so giving people reasons for hope is part of building the future. But charity (love) is the greatest thing in the world.