hope and promises 1

Having made a reference to Gertrude Stein and receiving no feedback, I became worried that maybe I'd erroneously attributed that quote to her. It has been a long time, you know. So I looked it up. Of course I was right. (grin). I also found the following quote, that refutes a blog I wrote yesterday, but haven't posted. I will post it by and by, but first, I thought I'd have some fun and try to refute Ms. Stein in her own style. I'm no writer, and I really enjoy reading her stuff. So don't expect a writer to emerge here, or an apologist for that matter. Just having some Steinlich fun with a very serious and passionate subject.
Here's the quote:

It is natural to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are apt to shut our eyes to that siren until she “allures” us to our death.

And here is my attempted Steinlich response:

See, that's just utter non-sense. But self-fulfilling prophecy. Without hope, what else is there. At any moment, there is hope, there is no hope, and there may or may not be that which is hoped for or not hoped for. Let's say that the hoped for are promises. Then there are the hopeful, but without promise. There are promises that few dare to hope for and so are seldom claimed. There are promises hoped for and kept.
So there are a bunch of people existing together on the same planet, lives overlapping, paths intersecting. Some hope for what is not promised, others dare not hope for what is promised, and some hope and are rewarded.
He who hopes in the hopeless, at least may be led to the hopeful, if only by having a heart that is capable of believing. He who does not hope, misses not only the reward, but any relief that could be acquired by looking beyond.
So how does one know what is worth hoping for. Seek testimony on the promises. There are promises yet to be kept that can be trusted because of the historically proven trustworthiness of the promise maker.