The Hope for Future Achievement and
the Capacity for Faith-by Napoleon Hill

Hope is the forerunner of the greatest of all states of mind, Faith! Hope sustains one in times of emergency when, without it, fear would take over. Hope is the basis of the most profound form of happiness which comes from the expectancy of success in some, as yet unattained, plan or purpose. Poor indeed is the person who cannot look toward the future with the hope that he will become the person he would like to be, or attain the position he would like to hold in life, or attain the objective he has failed to acquire in the past. Hope keeps the soul of man alert and active in his behalf, and clears the line of communication by which Faith connects one with Infinite Intelligence. Hope is a right royal person and the Divine Decorator of the other eleven riches of life.
Faith is the means of communication between the conscious mind of man and the great universal reservoir of Infinite Intelligence. It is the fertile soil of the garden of the human mind, wherein may be produced all the riches of life. It is the “eternal elixir” which gives creative power and action to the impulses of thought. It is the élan vital of the soul and it is without limitations. Faith is the spiritual quality which, when mixed with prayer, gives one direct and immediate connection with Infinite Intelligence. Faith is the power which transmutes the ordinary energies of thought into their spiritual equivalent, and it is the only means by which Infinite Intelligence may be appropriated to the uses of man.
Source:  You Can Work Your Own Miracles. Random House. 1996. Pg. 81.
Article by: Napoleon Hill.