As a mood, a fundamental mood, hope is pre-linguistic. It attunes [be-stimmt] language. Hope, experienced in its highest intensity, cannot be a habit or virtue that we acquire or consciously bring about. Inherent in it is a transcendence that exceeds the immanence of the will. As a mood, anxiety, too, lies beyond our will.15 It overcomes us. A mood differs categorically from a habit. Habits do not form quickly. By contrast, we are simply put into moods. We fall into them. They can ambush, capture and transform us.
