Have great, secret, big, fat hopes for yourself.

The line urges an inward, self-protective ambition: cultivate hopes that are expansive (“great…big, fat”) yet “secret,” kept close until they are resilient enough to withstand scrutiny or sabotage. Vanderbilt’s phrasing mixes extravagance with privacy, suggesting that aspiration can be both lush and vulnerable—something to nourish internally rather than perform publicly. The quote also implies self-authorship: hopes “for yourself” are not borrowed from family, fashion, or public expectation, but chosen and guarded as a personal compass. Its significance lies in reframing hope as an active, almost bodily practice—fed, sheltered, and allowed to grow before being exposed to the world.