--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Despair is the price one pays for setting…" description: "\"Despair is the price one pays for setting oneself an impossible aim. It is, one is told, the unforgivable sin, but it is a sin the corrupt or evil man ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/224/graham-greene-441_aim_despair-is-the-price-one-pays-for-settin_2757329.jpg" --- # Despair is the price one pays for setting oneself an… ![“Despair is the price one pays for setting oneself an impossible aim. It is, one is told, the unforgivable sin, but it is a sin the corrupt or evil man never practices. He always has hope. He never reaches the freezing-point of knowing absolute failure. Only the man of goodwill carries always in…” quote by Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/224/graham-greene-441_aim_despair-is-the-price-one-pays-for-settin_2757329.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/224/graham-greene-441_aim_despair-is-the-price-one-pays-for-settin_2757329.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/224/graham-greene-441_aim_despair-is-the-price-one-pays-for-settin_2757329.jpg) > “Despair is the price one pays for setting oneself an impossible aim. It is, one is told, the unforgivable sin, but it is a sin the corrupt or evil man never practices. He always has hope. He never reaches the freezing-point of knowing absolute failure. Only the man of goodwill carries always in his heart this capacity for damnation.” [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Despair follows impossible goals; yet hope persists, preventing total surrender to failure. **In simple terms:** Impossible aims cause despair, but hope remains. Key Takeaway Balance ambition with realistic hope. Themes despair hope ambition Mood somber hopeful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - career planning - creative projects - personal growth Key Concepts existentialism psychology Questions to Reflect On - What impossible goal drives you? - How do you sustain hope amid setbacks? A Different Perspective Unrealistic goals can be harmful. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Aim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aim/) [Capacity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/capacity/) [Damnation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/damnation/) [Despair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despair/) [Despair Price](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/despair-price-375039/) [Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) [Evil man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil-man/) [Goodwill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/goodwill/) [Having hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/having-hope/) [Heart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/heart/) [Impossible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impossible/) [Knowing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knowing/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Oneself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/oneself/) [Pay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pay/) [Practice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/practice/) [Sin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sin/) [Sin Corrupt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sin-corrupt-375040/) [Unforgivable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unforgivable/) [Unforgivable sin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unforgivable-sin/) ## Related quotes > [Despair is the price one pays for setting oneself an impossible aim. It is, one is told, the unforgivable sin, but it is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/despair-is-the-price-one-pays-for-setting-oneself-an-impossible-aim/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Despair is the price one pays for setting himself an impossible aim.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/despair-is-the-price-one-pays-for-setting-himself-an-impossible-aim/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Despair is the price one pays for setting oneself an impossible aim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/despair-is-the-price-one-pays-for-setting-oneself-an-impossible-aim-2/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Beckett does not believe in God, though he seems to imply that God has committed an unforgivable sin by not existing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-burgess/beckett-does-not-believe-in-god-though-he-seems-to-imply-that-god-has/) [Anthony Burgess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-burgess/) > [“Spoiling stories… is an unforgivable sin in this world.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-baskerville-pandora-hearts/spoiling-stories-is-an-unforgivable-sin-in-this-world/) [Leo Baskerville Pandora Hearts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-baskerville-pandora-hearts/) > [That is the one unforgivable sin in any society. Be different and be damned!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mitchell/that-is-the-one-unforgivable-sin-in-any-society-be-different-and-be/) [Margaret Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mitchell/) > [The unforgivable sin is the refusal to pardon.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-santayana/the-unforgivable-sin-is-the-refusal-to-pardon/) [George Santayana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-santayana/) > [The only unforgivable sin is deliberate cruelty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tennessee-williams/the-only-unforgivable-sin-is-deliberate-cruelty/) [Tennessee Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tennessee-williams/) > [There is no word more "dangerous" than liberalism, because to oppose it is the new "unforgivable sin."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/there-is-no-word-more-dangerous-than-liberalism-because-to-oppose-it/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [“In the eyes of his contemporaries, he was a man who had committed the one unforgivable sin; he was proud of his wealth.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/in-the-eyes-of-his-contemporaries-he-was-a-man-who-had-committed-the/) [Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/) > [That we are capable only of being what we are remains our unforgivable sin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gene-wolfe/that-we-are-capable-only-of-being-what-we-are-remains-our/) [Gene Wolfe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gene-wolfe/) > [Despair has been called the unforgivable sin-not presumably because God refuses to forgive it, but because it despairs of the possibility of being forgiven.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-buechner/despair-has-been-called-the-unforgivable-sin-not-presumably-because/) [Frederick Buechner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-buechner/) > [The unforgivable sin of Hitler's Germany was to develop a new economic system by which the international bankers were deprived of their profits.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-unforgivable-sin-of-hitler-s-germany-was-to-develop-a-new/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [All you have done is to be different from other women and you have made a little success of it. This is unforgivable sin…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-mitchell/all-you-have-done-is-to-be-different-from-other-women-and-you-have/) [Margaret Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-mitchell/) > [Success is the only unforgivable sin against your neighbor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/faina-ranevskaya/success-is-the-only-unforgivable-sin-against-your-neighbor/) [Faina Ranevskaya](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/faina-ranevskaya/) ## More by Graham Greene > [“Time gives poetry to a battlefield...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/time-gives-poetry-to-a-battlefield/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“What is cowardice in the young is wisdom in the old, but all the same one can be ashamed of wisdom.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/what-is-cowardice-in-the-young-is-wisdom-in-the-old-but-all-the-same/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Pity is cruel. Pity destroys.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/pity-is-cruel-pity-destroys/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Hate is a lack of imagination.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/hate-is-a-lack-of-imagination/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Despair is the price one pays for setting oneself an impossible aim. It is, one is told, the unforgivable sin, but it is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/despair-is-the-price-one-pays-for-setting-oneself-an-impossible-aim/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“Knowledge was the great thing--not abstract knowledge in which Dr. Forester had been so rich, the theories which lead one enticingly on with their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/knowledge-was-the-great-thing-not-abstract-knowledge-in-which-dr/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [With Your great schemes, You ruin our happiness like a harvester ruins a mouse's nest: I hate You, God, I hate You as though…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/with-your-great-schemes-you-ruin-our-happiness-like-a-harvester-ruins/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Heresy is only another word for freedom of thought.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/heresy-is-only-another-word-for-freedom-of-thought/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“He had thought that home was something one possessed, but the things one had possessed were cursed with change; it was what one didn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/he-had-thought-that-home-was-something-one-possessed-but-the-things/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Perhaps the comparison is closer to the Chinese cook who leaves hardly any part of a duck unserved.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/perhaps-the-comparison-is-closer-to-the-chinese-cook-who-leaves/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“He said, ‘Oh god, help her. Damn me, I deserve it, but let her live forever.’ This was the love he should have felt…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/he-said-oh-god-help-her-damn-me-i-deserve-it-but-let-her-live-forever/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“A police photograph is like a passport photograph: the intelligence which casts a veil over the crude common shape is never recorded by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/a-police-photograph-is-like-a-passport-photograph-the-intelligence/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [ “I tossed up whether I'd see \[the critic\] or not: I knew too well the pompous phrases of his article, the buried significance he… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/i-tossed-up-whether-i-d-see-the-critic-or-not-i-knew-too-well-the/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [Success is more dangerous than failure, the ripples break over a wider coastline.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/success-is-more-dangerous-than-failure-the-ripples-break-over-a-wider/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [“But we do not love people for what they do for us. Love happens to us; it isn't created.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/but-we-do-not-love-people-for-what-they-do-for-us-love-happens-to-us/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) [Explore all 550 Graham Greene quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) ## More Aim quotes > [If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zig-ziglar/if-you-aim-at-nothing-you-will-hit-it-every-time/) [Zig Ziglar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zig-ziglar/) > [A good aim surveys the present state of experience of pupils, and forming a tentative plan of treatment, keeps the plan constantly in view…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dewey/a-good-aim-surveys-the-present-state-of-experience-of-pupils-and/) [John Dewey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dewey/) > [The Christian man must aim at that complete obedience to God in which life finds its highest happiness, its greatest good, its perfect consummation,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-barclay/the-christian-man-must-aim-at-that-complete-obedience-to-god-in-which/) [William Barclay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-barclay/) > [ He \[an earnest young reporter\] seemed to share the view of many intelligent, well-educated, well-meaning people that, while adult literature may aim to be… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katherine-paterson/he-an-earnest-young-reporter-seemed-to-share-the-view-of-many/) [Katherine Paterson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katherine-paterson/) > [In Bosnia, little children shot in the head by a guy who thinks it's okay to aim his gun at a child.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christiane-amanpour/in-bosnia-little-children-shot-in-the-head-by-a-guy-who-thinks-it-s/) [Christiane Amanpour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christiane-amanpour/) > [Design certainly has a cosmetic, aesthetic aim. It always aims at making things beautiful. But relevance is just as important. I often say, 'If…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yves-behar/design-certainly-has-a-cosmetic-aesthetic-aim-it-always-aims-at/) [Yves Behar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yves-behar/) > [My aim was to make money for the bank. You lose track of the amounts involved when you are engaged in this kind of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-kerviel/my-aim-was-to-make-money-for-the-bank-you-lose-track-of-the-amounts/) [Jerome Kerviel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-kerviel/) > [My only aim is to clock a time that everyone remembers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hima-das/my-only-aim-is-to-clock-a-time-that-everyone-remembers/) [Hima Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hima-das/) > [My main aim has always been to do good quality films with roles that have some substance. With Power and Beauty there were loads…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natasha-henstridge/my-main-aim-has-always-been-to-do-good-quality-films-with-roles-that/) [Natasha Henstridge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natasha-henstridge/) > [ I really enjoyed it - being involved in watching rushes and playback \[in "The Invisible Woman"\]. Ralph \[Fiennes\] was very open to my input,… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felicity-jones/i-really-enjoyed-it-being-involved-in-watching-rushes-and-playback-in/) [Felicity Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felicity-jones/) > [My aim is to be counted among the top players.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/babar-azam/my-aim-is-to-be-counted-among-the-top-players/) [Babar Azam](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/babar-azam/) > [The single aim of my life is that every child is: free to be a child, free to grow and develop, free to eat,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kailash-satyarthi/the-single-aim-of-my-life-is-that-every-child-is-free-to-be-a-child/) [Kailash Satyarthi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kailash-satyarthi/) > [The aim of good prose words is to mean what they say. The aim of good poetical words is to mean what they do…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/the-aim-of-good-prose-words-is-to-mean-what-they-say-the-aim-of-good/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [Prescribing hard work for the soft, or easy work for the hardy, is generally nonsense. What is always needed in any aim is right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/idries-shah/prescribing-hard-work-for-the-soft-or-easy-work-for-the-hardy-is/) [Idries Shah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/idries-shah/) > [To be normal is the ultimate aim of the unsuccessful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/to-be-normal-is-the-ultimate-aim-of-the-unsuccessful/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) [Browse all 3,047 Aim quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/aim/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Despair is the price one pays for setting oneself an impossible aim. It is, one is told, the unforgivable sin, but it is a sin the corrupt or evil man never practices. He always has hope. 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