a counsel of despair

a counsel of despair

An admission of defeat, hopelessness, or resignation to a particular negative outcome or situation. It saddens me to hear such a counsel of despair from our president about the situation regarding our healthcare system. Though obviously spruced up with media-friendly spin, the PR statement amounted to little more than a counsel of despair regarding the company's future outlooks.
See also: counsel, despair, of
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

a counsel of despair

an action to be taken when all else fails.
2003 Guardian This is not a counsel of despair. The argument in favour of the euro can be won, as Winning From Behind, a pamphlet published today by Britain in Europe, argues.
See also: counsel, despair, of
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
See also:
  • despair
  • counsel
  • drive (one) to despair
  • drive to despair
  • fall into despair
  • counsel (someone) about (something)
  • counsel about
  • sink into despair
  • like a dying duck in a thunderstorm
  • by the board
References in periodicals archive
The last option seems to me no more than a counsel of despair.
Letter: Disgruntled passenger
Is this not a counsel of despair that plays right into the tendency of some educators to say, "We're doing all that should be expected of us, given the kids we're being sent from the homes they're being sent from, so stop demanding more from us?"
Class and Schools: Using Social, Economic, and Educational Reform to Close the Black-White Achievement Gap