There is no Hope. Hope is synonymous to ‘An illusion of positivity that surrounds mediocrity’. It’s candyfloss invented by a society sympathetic to silver medallists. It’s a disease that should have remained shut in pandora’s box.

Look at the history of this world. Hope did not eradicate smallpox. It did not prevent world wars from happening. It didn’t shut down the school when your homework was incomplete. In fact, even a million combined ‘hopes’ failed to convict O.J.Simpson. Hope, actually, is a conniving underachiever who steals credit from the one who makes it happen.

Belief. Blind, Irrational, Belief. Those who stand above number 1 on podiums never won on ‘Hope’. They made it because they believed in an unwritten law: “Humans can turn sweat into gold”. Belief makes people cross the English Channel. Those who hope, drown clutching a piece of straw. Belief put the man on the moon. It scribbled the theory of relativity. It wrote the laws of gravity. Belief, that a solitary man can free a billion souls, made one stand up against an entire empire. Belief runs every known religion. And it’s belief that convicted O.J.Simpson in a million minds.

Hope just walked in time for the applause. Hope is like a set of car keys that you loose when you need it the most. Belief gets you to your destination. ‘Hope’, the leader of inconsequence, can only make you keel before the starting gun. Eventually it is belief that will make you run.

Courtesy: We are not sure who the original author of the above is, but we will credit it to the Hindustan Times newspaper in India, where it was published on December 29, 2005.