“Hope sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible” (also “The positive thinker sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible”) is an inspirational saying of uncertain authorship. In 1984, the saying was credited to John R. Chiles, a longtime Southern Baptist minister in Florida who organized two Baptist churches in Apopka and north Orlando.
 
The saying has been credited to American author Elbert Hubbard (1856-1915) in 2005, to English cleric and writer Charles Caleb Colton (1780-1832) in 2006, to American author Helen Keller (1880-1968) in 2014, and to British politician Winston Churchill (1874-1965) in 2015.
 
 
29 January 1908, Augusta (GA) Chronicle, “State Treasurer Well Defended,” pg. 2, col. 5:
“Only the man who can see the invisible; who can touch the intangible; who can hear the inaudible and think the unthinkable is capable of doing the impossible.”
 
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Ministers Manual (Doran’s)
By James William Cox
San Francisco, CA: Harper & Row
1985, ©1984
Pg. 65:
Hope sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible. — John R. Chiles
   
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14,000 Quips & Quotes:
For Speakers, Writers, Editors, Preachers, and Teachers
By E. C. McKenzie
Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House
1990, ©1980
Pg. 242:
Hope sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible.
   
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Defining Moment:
Motivating People to Take Action
By Brent Filson
Williamstown, MA: Williamstown Pub. Co.
1993
Pg. 17:
Dreams as well as facts motivate people to take action. I’m not talking about sleeping dreams, but waking dreams (“Hope,” said Aristotle, “is a waking dream.”), those dreams in which we see the invisible, feel the intangible, and do what may seem impossible.
   
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The Advancement President and the Academy:
Profiles in Institutional Leadership
BY Mary Kay Murphy (Council for Advancement and Support of Education)
Phoenix, AZ: Oryx Press
1997
Pg. 102:
“Hope sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible” (McKee, 1992).
 
10 June 2004, Gettysburg (PA) Times, pg. 1, col. 2 photo caption:
“The positive thinker sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible.”
—Valedictorian Caitlin White, quoting the Biglerville Class of 2004 motto
   
Google News Archive
3 November 2004, Ogden (IA) Reporter, pg. 3, col. 7:
“HOPE sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible.”
—Anonymous
   
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Make Your Own Miracle:
Surviving Cancer
By Paul Huff; Julie Valeant Yenichek and Kim Huff
Southern Mountains Press
2005
Pg. 32:
“The positive thinker sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible” —Elbert Hubbard
 
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Finding Hope:
Cultivating God’s Gift of a Hopeful Spirit
By Marcia Ford
Woodstock, VT: SkyLight Paths Pub.
2006
Pg. 23:
Hope sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible. — Charles Caleb Colton
 
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Hope Heals
By Jodi Netting
Bloomington, IN: Inspiring Voices
2014
Pg. 199:
Hope sees the invisible, feels the intangible andachieves the impossible.
Helen Keller
 
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Naturalopy:
The Complete Reference
By Trung Nguyen
EnCognitive.com
2015
Pg. 408:
The positive thinker sees the invisible, feels the intangible, and achieves the impossible.
Winston Churchill