
28 Nov Do not be seduced by the absurd idea that there is danger in having too much hope (WAYNE W. DYER)
The greater danger
for most of us
is not that our aim is
too high
and we miss it,
but that it is
too low
and we reach it.
MICHELANGELO
(1475-1564)
Italian painter, sculptor, architect, and poet, Renaissance artist Michelangelo Buonarroti is an
outstanding figure in the history of the visual arts.
Over the past twenty-five or so years, I have appeared regularly on radio and
television talk shows, conversing with listeners who call in and join the dis-
cussion. One of the most frequent criticisms I have received from the
hosts of these shows is that I offer far too much hope for people in dire
circumstances and that this could be a dangerous thing. Despite this kind of
fault-finding, I am still at a loss to understand how having too much
hope could be a dangerous thing.
When people tell me of a medical diagnosis that implies no cure being
possible, I encourage them to shift their aim to a completely opposite outcome. I talk frequently about the law that has allowed any miracle that has ever occurred, since the inception of
time, to take place. I explain that that law has never been repealed and is
still on the books. I cite cases of people who were told to go home and wait
to die, who were given six months to live and who freed themselves of their
illnesses and their diagnosis. I receive mail every day from people who re-
fused to listen to the low aims and the low hopes that others have had for them, describing how grateful they were for a message of hope in difficult times.
I believe that Michelangelo, who lived a few days shy of eighty-nine
years, still sculpting, painting, writing, and designing in an age when ninety
was about sixty years beyond normal life expectancy, was speaking to this
idea of having very high hopes and aims in this famous quotation of his.
The danger is not in false hope, rather it is in no hope or low hope, and
consequently our objectives and aims are diminished by our beliefs before
they can be worked on and materialized.
This not only concerns the overcoming of physical maladies, it in-
cludes virtually everything in our lives.
The world is full of people who have aimed low and thought small who
want to impose this diminutive thinking on any who will listen. The real
danger is the act of giving up or setting standards of smallness for our-
selves with low expectations. Listen carefully to Michelangelo, the man
whom many consider the greatest artist of all time.
I recall standing in front of the statue of David in Florence and being transfixed. The size, the majesty, the spirit that seemed to jump right out of the marble was Michelangelo saying
to all of us, “Aim high.” When he was asked how he could create such a
masterpiece, he responded that David was already in the marble, he simply
had to chip away the excess to allow him to escape. High aim indeed. And
speaking of high, take a look sometime at the Sistine Chapel where
Michelangelo painted the ceiling by lying on his back and working every
day for four years between 1508 and 1512. It was a project that lesser artists
would have considered impossible, yet Michelangelo took it on and many
more in a lifetime crammed full of high energy, high talent, and, yes, high
aim.
Virtually all of Michelangelo’s artistry gave expression to the idea
that love helps human beings in their struggles to ascend to the divine. This
was true in some three hundred sonnets that he wrote, and it showed itself
in his depiction of spiritual themes in his painting, sculpting, and archi-
tectural design. From a humble beginning as a banker’s son in Italy, this
man, because of his high hopes, big dreams, and intolerance for low expectations that we hold for our-
selves.
Michelangelo’s advice is just as applicable today in your life as it was
in his, over five hundred years ago.
Never listen to those who try to influence you with their pessimism. Have
complete faith in your own capacity to feel that love that shines through
David, Madonna and Child, and the heavenly frescoes on the ceiling of the
Sistine Chapel. The love is your conscious contact with this artist who
shared the same universal spirit of oneness with you and every human
being who has ever lived.
His accomplishments arose from the message he offers all of us at the
beginning of this piece. Aim high,refuse to choose small thinking and
low expectations, and above all, do not be seduced by the absurd idea that
there is danger in having too much hope.
The paradox of love
WAYNE W. DYER