Optimism Quotes - Page 25

• The essential tendency of life is toward happiness . . . . Optimism is the only true condition for a reasonable man.

  Phillips Brooks

  Men, Essentials, Life Is

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• I've been driven all my life by a spirit of adventure and a criminal level of optimism. I believed in my dreams because they were my only option. The people who make it to the top are addicted to their calling. You have to honor the gift God has given you. The people who get the call are the ones who'd be doing whatever it is they love, even if they weren't being paid.

  Quincy Jones

  Dream, Adventure, People

  Quincy Jones (2002). “Q: The Autobiography of Quincy Jones”, p.266, Three Rivers Press

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• True optimism is not the prospect of control over pain or elimination of it but survival through it.

  David Richo

  Pain, Survival, Elimination

  David Richo (1999). “Shadow Dance”, p.39, Shambhala Publications

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• Real optimism is aware of problems but recognizes the solutions, knows about difficulties but believes they can be overcome, sees the negatives but accentuates the positives, is exposed to the worst but expects the best, has reason to complain but chooses to smile.

  William Arthur Ward

  Real, Believe, Overcoming

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• The intellectual and moral satisfaction that I failed to gain from the utilitarianism of Bentham and Mill, the revolutionary methods of Marx and Lenin, the social contract theory of Hobbes, the "back to nature" optimism of Rousseau, and the superman philosophy of Nietzsche, I found in the nonviolent resistance philosophy of Gandhi. I came to feel that this was the only morally and practically sound method open to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Philosophy, Struggle, People

  Martin Luther King (Jr.) (1964). “A Martin Luther King Treasury”

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• The spiritual uplift, the goodwill, cheerfulness and optimism that accompanies every expedition to the outdoors is the peculiar spirit that our people need in times of suspicion and doubt...No other organized joy has values comparable to the outdoor experience.

  Herbert Hoover

  Uplifting, Spiritual, People

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• Christmas Day is the festival of optimism.

  Helen Keller

  Christmas, Festivals, Christmas Day

  Helen Keller (2013). “Optimism: An Essay”, p.29, The Floating Press

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• I do not believe that true optimism can come about except through tragedy.

  Madeleine L'Engle

  Believe, Tragedy

  Madeleine L'Engle (2016). “Two-Part Invention: The Story of a Marriage”, p.94, Open Road Media

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• As idiotic as optimism can sometimes seem, it has a weird habit of paying off.

  Michael Lewis

  Sometimes, Habit, Idiotic

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• Hope is not optimism, which expects things to turn out well, but something rooted in the conviction that there is good worth working for.

  Seamus Heaney

  Conviction, Wells, Turns

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• If empathy channels our optimism, we will see the empathy and the diseases and the poor school. We will answer with our innovations and we will surprise the pessimists.

  Bill Gates

  School, Empathy, Innovation

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• Hope differs from optimism. Hope does not arise from being told to "think positively," or from hearing an overly rosy forecast. Hope, unlike optimism, is rooted in unalloyed reality.

  Jerome Groopman

  Hope, Thinking, Reality

  Jerome Groopman (2003). “The Anatomy of Hope: How People Prevail in the Face of Illness”, p.6, Random House

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• Optimism is a faith that leads to success.

  Bruce Lee

  Martial Arts, Martial Arts Inspirational, Dissolving

  Bruce Lee (2015). “Bruce Lee Striking Thoughts: Bruce Lee's Wisdom for Daily Living”, p.120, Tuttle Publishing

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• If we lean into what we love instead of soldiering toward what we 'should,' our pace quickens, our energy rises, optimism sets in. What we love is nutritious for us.

  Julia Cameron

  Love Is, Energy, Pace

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• Sorrow, anger and resentment look back, worry looks around, while faith, hope, and optimism look to the future.

  Dan Miller

  Worry, Sorrow, Looks

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• May the optimism of tomorrow be your foundation for today.

  Wale

  Foundation, May, Today

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• It was his optimism that Freud bequeathed to America and it was the optimism of our youthfulness, our freedom from the sterner, sadder tradition of Europe which enabled us to seize his gift.

  Karl A. Menninger

  Europe, America, Tradition

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• It's the attitude about life, man. Looking at the light instead of the dark. Looking at love instead of fear.

  Quincy Jones

  Attitude, Dark, Men

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• I was born optimistic...I was laughing from the beginning of my life.

  Alice Herz-Sommer

  Optimistic, Laughing, Born

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• I could never be cynical, not that I think there's anything wrong with cynicism. I think it can be quite funny at times. But I just feel so grateful to be alive.

  Drew Barrymore

  Grateful, Thinking, Cynical

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• I am glad I am an optimist. The pessimist is half-licked before he starts.

  Thomas Buckner

  Half, Pessimist, Optimist

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• Most people think that I am too optimistic, but my optimism is based on the thought that negative thinking is a luxury that we can't afford.

  Yoko Ono

  Optimistic, Thinking, Luxury

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• I came out of my mom's stomach thinking I was going to own America.

  Caprice Bourret

  Mom, Thinking, America

  Chat show "Live from Studio Five", Channel 5 (UK) television, November 18, 2009.

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• When we play a game, we tackle tough challenges with more creativity, more determination, more optimism, and we're more likely to reach out to others for help.

  Jane McGonigal

  Inspirational, Motivational, Determination

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• The American Dream means being part of a society that allows you to be or do whatever you want, and to have a sense that your individual optimism and hard work will be rewarded. It exists outside of the U.S. as well as inside. People continue to come here because they want to improve their lives, they want to be able to support themselves and they want to live in freedom. A lot of people who criticize this country still send their children here to study.

  Madeleine Albright

  Dream, Country, Children

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