The worst enemy of human hope is not brute facts, but men of brains who will not face them.

Eastman contrasts “brute facts” with a more insidious obstacle: intelligent people who evade or rationalize away reality. The line suggests that hope is not defeated by harsh circumstances themselves so much as by willful intellectual dishonesty—especially among those whose education or status gives them influence over public opinion. In that sense, the quote is a critique of sophistry and ideological self-deception: when “men of brains” refuse to acknowledge inconvenient truths, they block the possibility of clear-eyed action and reform. Hope, for Eastman, depends on courage in thought as much as optimism in feeling.