Pessimism Quotes

• An optimist is a person who sees a green light everywhere, while a pessimist sees only the red stoplight... the truly wise person is colorblind.

  Albert Schweitzer

  Wise, Wisdom, Attitude

  1965 Quoted in CBS News tribute,14 Jan.

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• The man who is a pessimist before 48 knows too much; if he is an optimist after it, he knows too little.

  Mark Twain

  Inspirational, Optimistic, Men

  Notebook, Dec. 1902

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• The optimist sees the rose and not its thorns; the pessimist stares at the thorns, oblivious to the rose.

  Khalil Gibran

  Inspirational, Meaningful, Spiritual

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• The nice part about being a pessimist is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised.

  George Will

  Inspirational, Funny, Nice

  George F. Will (1995). “The Leveling Wind: Politics, the Culture, and Other News, 1990-1994”, Penguin Group USA

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• A pessimist is a person who has had to listen to too many optimists.

  Don Marquis

  Funny, Life, Witty

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• Pessimism is playing the sure game. You cannot lose at it; you may gain. It is the only view of life in which you can never be disappointed. Having reckoned what to do in the worst possible circumstances, when better arise, as they may, life becomes child's play.

  Thomas Hardy

  Children, Views, Games

  Notebook, 1 Jan. 1902

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• Noise is the most impertinent of all forms of interruption. It is not only an interruption, but also a disruption of thought.

  Arthur Schopenhauer

  Noise, Form, Disruption

  Arthur Schopenhauer (2012). “Collected Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer”, p.269, Simon and Schuster

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• Pessimists are the people who have no hope for themselves or for others. Pessimists are also people who think the human race is beneath their notice, that they're better than other human beings.

  James A. Baldwin

  Thinking, Race, People

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• Every state of welfare, every feeling of satisfaction, is negative in its character; that is to say, it consists in freedom from pain, which is the positive element of existence.

  Arthur Schopenhauer

  Pain, Character, Feelings

  Arthur Schopenhauer (2015). “The Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer - Studies in Pessimism (illustrated)”, p.7, Full Moon Publications

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• Pessimism and optimism are slammed up against each other in my records, the tension between them is where it's all at, it's what lights the fire.

  Bruce Springsteen

  Fire, Light, Optimism

  "Bruce Springsteen: 'What was done to my country was un-American'". Interview with Fiachra Gibbons, www.theguardian.com. February 17, 2012.

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• Whatever pretended pessimists in search of notoriety may say, most people are naturally kind, at heart.

  James Branch Cabell

  Heart, People, May

  James Branch Cabell (2001). “The Cream of the Jest”, p.78, Wildside Press LLC

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• Pessimism: A valuable protection against quackery.

  John Ralston Saul

  Protection, Valuable, Quackery

  John Ralston Saul (2012). “The Doubter's Companion: A Dictionary of Aggressive Common Sense”, p.230, Simon and Schuster

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• Optimism and pessimism are mere matters of optics, of how you look at things, and that can change from day to day, or with a new prescription for your glasses - or with a new set of ideological filters.

  George Weigel

  Glasses, Optimism, Filters

  George Weigel (2015). “Letters to a Young Catholic”, p.100, Basic Books

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• Pessimism only describes an attitude, and not facts, and hence is entirely subjective.

  Francis Parker Yockey

  Attitude, Subjectivity, Facts

  Francis Parker Yockey (2013). “Imperium: The Philosophy of History and Politics”, p.72, The Palingenesis Project (Wermod and Wermod Publishing Group)

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• The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds. The pessimist fears it is true.

  J. Robert Oppenheimer

  Inspirational, Funny, Life

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• A depression is a situation of self-fulfilling pessimism.

  Joan Robinson

  Self, Economics, Situation

  Joan Robinson (1973). “Economic heresies: some old-fashioned questions in economic theory”

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• No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars.

  Helen Keller

  Nature, Stars, Optimistic

  Helen Keller (2012). “Optimism”, p.17, Simon and Schuster

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• I don't believe in pessimism. If something doesn't come up the way you want, forge ahead. If you think it's going to rain, it will.

  Clint Eastwood

  Business, Famous Inspirational, Rain

  "7 Habits Of Famous People Who Have No Intention Of Slowing Down" by Yagana Shah, www.huffingtonpost.com. January 25, 2016.

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• The pessimist is seldom an agitating individual. His creed breeds indifference to others, and he does not trouble himself to thrust his views upon the unconvinced.

  Agnes Repplier

  Views, Doe, Indifference

  Agnes Repplier (1888). “Books and Men”

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• I don't believe in pessimism.

  Clint Eastwood

  Positive, Believe, Don't Believe

  "Biography / Personal Quotes". www.imdb.com.

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• Optimism doesn't wait on facts. It deals with prospects. Pessimism is a waste of time.

  Norman Cousins

  Positive, Optimistic, Optimism

  "Human Options". Book by Norman Cousins, 1981.

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• It is a quite remarkable fact that the great religions of the most civilized peoples are more deeply fraught with sadness than the simpler beliefs of earlier societies. This certainly does not mean that the current of pessimism is eventually to submerge the other, but it proves that it does not lose ground and that it does not seem destined to disappear.

  Emile Durkheim

  Sadness, Mean, Doe

  Emile Durkheim (2005). “Suicide: A Study in Sociology”, p.333, Routledge

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• I don't consider myself a pessimist. I think of a pessimist as someone who is waiting for it to rain. And I feel soaked to the skin.

  Leonard Cohen

  Rain, Optimistic, Reality

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  The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.

  William Arthur Ward

  Inspirational, Inspiring, Leadership

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• The basis of optimism is sheer terror.

  Oscar Wilde

  Positive, Funny Inspirational, Attitude

  Oscar Wilde, Russell Jackson, Joseph Bristow, Ian Small (2000). “The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde: The picture of Dorian Gray : the 1890 and 1891 texts”, p.52, Oxford University Press on Demand

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