Pessimism Quotes - Page 3

• 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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• Pessimism becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy; it reproduces itself by crippling our willingness to act.

  Howard Zinn

  Fear, Self, Prophecy

  Howard Zinn (1994). “You can't be neutral on a moving train: a personal history of our times”, Beacon Press (MA)

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• Pessimism is a luxury that a Jew can never allow himself.

  Golda Meir

  Luxury, Judaism, Yiddish

  The Observer, December 29, 1974.

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• Blending hard-bitten realism with long-view optimism, Obama said that every 20 or 30 years brings a new cycle of pessimism in America.

  Ron Fournier

  Views, Years, America

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• Bull markets are born on pessimism, grown on skepticism, mature on optimism and die on euphoria. The time of maximum pessimism is the best time to buy, and the time of maximum optimism is the best time to sell.

  John Templeton

  Optimism, Investing, Bulls

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• Younger people have so many opportunities. I don't see any pessimism among them.

  Freeman Dyson

  Opportunity, People

  "Freeman Dyson's brain". Interview with Stewart Brand, www.wired.com. February 1, 1998.

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• The optimist sees the donut, the pessimist sees the hole.

  Oscar Wilde

  Inspirational, Optimism, Perspective

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• You'll never find rainbows, If you're looking down...

  Charlie Chaplin

  Uplifting, Cheer Up, Optimistic

  "Swing High Little Girl". Opening song written and sung by Charlie Chaplin for the re-release of "The Circus" (1928), 1969.

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• If pessimism is despair, optimism is cowardice and stupidity. Is there any need to choose between them?

  Francis Parker Yockey

  Stupid, Optimism, Despair

  Francis Parker Yockey (2013). “Imperium: The Philosophy of History and Politics”, p.80, The Palingenesis Project (Wermod and Wermod Publishing Group)

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• The average pencil is seven inches long, with just a half-inch eraser - in case you thought optimism was dead.

  Robert Breault

  Optimistic, Average, Long

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• To the pessimist the light at the end of the tunnel is another train.

  Joan Rivers

  Humor, Las Vegas, Tunnels

  Joan Rivers (1997). “Bouncing back: I've survived everything-- and I mean everything-- and you can too!”, Thorndike Pr

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• I don't think you lead by pessimism and cynicism. I think you lead by optimism and enthusiasm and energy.

  Patricia Ireland

  Thinking, Optimism, Being Positive

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• Pessimism of the spirit; optimism of the will.

  Antonio Gramsci

  Optimism, Spirit

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• Pessimism is my default setting.

  Miranda Hart

  Default, Settings, Setting

  "Britain's funniest women". Interview with Stuart Husband, Horatia Harrod, www.telegraph.co.uk. October 27, 2010.

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• Pessimism blunts the tools you need to succeed.

  Bruce Lee

  Needs, Tools, Succeed

  "Striking Thoughts: Bruce Lee's Wisdom for Daily Living". Book edited by John Little, p. 121, 2000.

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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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  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 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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• What I am suggesting is that each of us turn from the negativism that permeates our society and look for the remarkable good among those with whom we associate, that we speak of one another’s virtues more than we speak of one another’s faults, that optimism replace pessimism, that our faith exceed our fears. When I was a young man and was prone to speak critically, my father would say: “Cynics do not contribute, skeptics do not create, doubters do not achieve.

  Gordon B. Hinckley

  Happiness, Father, Positive Thinking

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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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• 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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• I still think sincere pessimism the unpardonable sin.

  Gilbert K. Chesterton

  Thinking, Sin, Stills

  Gilbert K. Chesterton (2013). “The Essential Gilbert K. Chesterton”, p.63, Simon and Schuster

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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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• 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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• 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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