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Vazha-Pshavela

(1861–1915)

An author and essayist, Georgian classical writer

Contemplations on New Year’s Eve

It is only human and natural for us to hope for a better tomorrow. By all means, we
expect tomorrow to bring something good. This is what keeps us going, encourages
us, gives us strength, quenches everyday worries in our hearts, and moves us to love
life. Anyone who does not expect anything from tomorrow is hopeless, as good as dead,
no longer considered among the living…. Every job, move, or action such people take
is dull and soulless. They have no self-respect, no love of others or their jobs; they are
in a state of suspended animation. The same is true of a nation as a unity of people.
Miserable is a country – and pathetic is a nation – that has lost the hope of tomorrow,
of a better future. I say boldly that a nation, however downtrodden, will never vanish,
will never die, as long as it keeps anticipating a better future and keeps hope alive,
never so much as saying, “This is it! I am finished!” Even at death’s door, hope will turn
the tables and gain the upper hand. You must be aware of examples from everyday life,
such as a physician’s bedside manner and word of hope healing dying patients – good
words nourishing hope in their hearts and bringing them back to life. But let’s not forget
either that, when giving hope, a physician also administers appropriate medicine to the
patient, a kind of medicine suitable for the given ailment, not poison. A patient may
make it through on hope alone, without medicine, without anything. But an ailing, infirm
nation can never be made whole through hope alone, unless it is complemented with
medicine. No nation can ever remain hopeful unless it finds the medicine within, that is,
discovers a promise of a better future.

Speaking of a better future, we must also point out that a nation will never succumb
to despair, give in to hopelessness, and give up hope. Hopelessness about the future
is just an antic peculiar to our so-called intelligentsia, and nothing else – a pastime of
idlers and the wicked. Are they mindful of the nation? Are they aware of the nation’s
heart and soul? This knowledge is unattainable for them – those who poison hope for
a better future – for they are unable to produce anything, they are completely inept,
they know nothing in this life, and they are unaware of the nation’s strength. Worse
still, those unacquainted with their own strength, how can they be aware of the nation
and its strengths and weaknesses? A disgruntled reader may object: “This is no time to

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