There can be no whole without a thought which grasps it as a whole; and this grasping of what is before the mind as a whole can be effected only by a… - Gabriel Marcel

The great pessimists in the history of thought [...] have prepared our minds to understand that despair can be what it was for Nietzsche (though on an infra-ontological level and in a domain fraught with mortal dangers) the springboard to the loftiest affirmation.

speaking metaphysically, the only genuine hope is hope in what does not depend on ourselves, hope springing from humility and not from pride.

No philosopher would be willing to accept the idea of philosophy as a way of escape, but might there not be a question of the philosopher being in duty bound to refuse to accept a world, like our real world here, of disorder and crime where the values of the mind and spirit can no longer find a home?