fbpx

Do not be seduced by the absurd idea that  there is danger in having too much  hope (WAYNE W. DYER)

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 I explain that that law has never been repealed and is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

 

 

 



Facebook

Instagram

Follow Me on Instagram