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Despondency Quotes

On resisting despair, publicly and privately.

One quote sets a clear standard for democratic life: no arrogance in victory, and no despondency in defeat, treating both extremes as equally worth avoiding. Another extends the idea to an entire nation, warning that widespread despondency has settled over a poor population even though the country itself isn't poor — a matter of collective Character as much as economics.

Winning and losing have their significance in a democracy. But there should be no arrogance in victory, nor should there be any despondency in defeat.

Quotes by Yogi Adityanath

If we despond, public confidence is destroyed, the people will no longer yield their support to a hopeless contest, and American liberty is no more. Through the darkness which shrouds our prospects, the ark of safety is visible. Despondency becomes...

Quotes by Samuel Adams

Ours is not a poor country and even though we are now a poor people, there should be no room for the despondency that has settled on large sections of the population.

Quotes by John Agyekum Kufuor

There is a sort of jealousy which needs very little fire; it is hardly a passion, but a blight bred in the cloudy, damp despondency of uneasy egoism.

George Eliot

Arrogance Quotes

Sin pulls a man down into despondency and despair.

Quotes by Ezra Taft Benson

Frequently Asked Questions

What does 'no arrogance in victory, nor despondency in defeat' mean?
It argues that both extreme reactions, overconfidence after winning and despair after losing, should be avoided in a healthy democracy. The quote treats emotional steadiness as a marker of good Character regardless of outcome.
Why does one quote say a country isn't poor but its people feel despondent?
It draws a distinction between a nation's actual resources and the mood of its population, arguing that despondency has settled over people even though the country itself has means. It's a comment on morale being separate from material conditions.
What historical warning is given about public despondency?
One quote warns that if the public gives in to despondency, confidence collapses, support for a difficult cause disappears, and even liberty itself is put at risk. It frames despondency as a real political danger, not just a private mood.
How is despondency connected to jealousy in one of these quotes?
That quote describes a quieter, less dramatic form of jealousy, calling it hardly a passion but rather a blight that grows out of a damp, cloudy kind of despondency rooted in self-focus. It's a more psychological take than the political quotes elsewhere on the page.
Do these quotes treat despondency as something to fight or accept?
Mostly to resist — each quote treats despondency, whether personal or national, as a state worth pushing back against rather than settling into. That consistent push against giving in to despair runs through every quote here.

A more historical warning goes further still, arguing that if the public gives in to despond, confidence collapses and even liberty itself is at risk. A final, more personal quote traces a quieter kind of despondency back to jealousy, describing it as a faint Blight that grows out of damp self-focus rather than any real, forceful passion.