Straw Man

Hope is the straw with which fools stuff their mattresses. They think they will find comfort there for their dreams, but it pricks them in their dark slumber. And when the fire of adversity comes, the flames greedily consume it, leaving but the charred embers of their souls. Still the straw is better for repose than the cold hard stone of life without it. But the fire will merely heat the the stone, not destroy it. The fool is burnt either way.