The essence of hope is to freely expect all the graces necessary for salvation as gifts freely given by God. The free will that dares to hope in God's gifts recognizes that its own act of hope is also a gift from God – and simultaneously sees that if it did not want to hope, it would not allow God to move it. Hope is the marriage of two freedoms, human and divine, in the acceptance of love, which is both a promise and the beginning of fulfillment.
(Thomas Merton /1915–1968/, No Man Is an Island, 2.10)
