Pessimist Quotes

• A pessimist is somebody who complains about the noise when opportunity knocks.

  Oscar Wilde

  Opportunity, Optimism, Complaining

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• Pessimism is only the name that men of weak nerve give to wisdom.

  Mark Twain

  Wisdom, Men, Names

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• I like pessimists. They’re always the ones who bring life jackets for the boat.

  Lisa Kleypas

  Boat, Jackets

  Lisa Kleypas (2012). “Christmas with Holly”, p.101, Macmillan

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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 one who makes difficulties of his opportunities and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties.

  Harry S. Truman

  Change, Attitude, Optimistic

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• Creeds matter very little... The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds; and the pessimist fears this is true. So I elect for neither label.

  James Branch Cabell

  Optimistic, Optimism, Labels

  The Silver Stallion bk. 4, ch. 26 (1926) See Leibniz 3; Voltaire 7; Voltaire 8

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• To the optimist all doors have handles and hinges; to the pessimist, all doors have locks and latches.

  William Arthur Ward

  Doors, Locks, Latches

  William Arthur Ward (1968). “Thoughts of a Christian Optimist: The Words of William Arthur Ward”

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• An optimist may see a light where there is none, but why must the pessimist always run to blow it out?

  Rene Descartes

  Running, Attitude, Optimistic

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• A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.

  Winston Churchill

  Inspirational, Motivational, Positive

  Winston S. Churchill (2013). “Churchill By Himself”, p.1089, RosettaBooks

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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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• Always borrow money from a pessimist. He won't expect it back.

  Oscar Wilde

  Funny, Life, Hilarious

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• A pessimist is a man who thinks all women are bad. An optimist is a man who hopes they are.

  Chauncey Depew

  Funny, Women, Silly

  "FPA Book of Quotations : A New Collection of Famous Sayings". Book by Franklin Pierce Adams, 1952.

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• Don't ever become a pessimist... a pessimist is correct oftener than an optimist, but an optimist has more fun, and neither can stop the march of events.

  Robert A. Heinlein

  Happiness, Fun, Optimism

  Robert A. Heinlein (1987). “Time Enough for Love”, p.109, Penguin

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• A pessimist is a man who thinks everybody is as nasty as himself, and hates them for it.

  George Bernard Shaw

  Inspirational, Funny, Hate

  An Unsocial Socialist (1887) ch. 5

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• Contrary to what you may assume, I am not a pessimist but an indifferentist- that is, I don't make the mistake of thinking that the... cosmos... gives a damn one way or the the other about the especial wants and ultimate welfare of mosquitoes, rats, lice, dogs, men, horses, pterodactyls, trees, fungi, dodos, or other forms of biological energy.

  H. P. Lovecraft

  Dog, Horse, Mistake

  Letter to James F. Morton (1929), quoted in "H.P. Lovecraft, a Life" by S.T. Joshi, p. 483,

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• I am not a pessimist; to perceive evil where it exists is, in my opinion, a form of optimism

  Roberto Rossellini

  Evil, Optimism, Opinion

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• Man, at least when educated, is a pessimist. He believes it safer not to reflect on his achievements; Jove is known to strike such people down.

  John Kenneth Galbraith

  Believe, Men, People

  "The Age of Uncertainty". Book by John Kenneth Galbraith. Chapter 12, p. 324, 1977.

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• Pessimists see a problem behind every opportunity. Optimists see an opportunity behind every problem.

  Denis Waitley

  Opportunity, Problem, Optimist

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• If I regarded my life from the point of view of the pessimist, I should be undone. I should seek in vain for the light that does not visit my eyes and the music that does not ring in my ears. I should beg night and day and never be satisfied. I should sit apart in awful solitude, a prey to fear and despair. But since I consider it a duty to myself and to others to be happy, I escape a misery worse than any physical deprivation.

  Helen Keller

  Inspirational, Happiness, Encouragement

  Helen Keller (2010). “The World I Live In and Optimism: A Collection of Essays”, p.102, Courier Corporation

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• An optimist will tell you the glass is half-full; the pessimist, half-empty; and the engineer will tell you the glass is twice the size it needs to be.

  Oscar Wilde

  Glasses, Optimism, Needs

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• When you wake up every day, you have two choices. You can either be positive or negative; an optimist or a pessimist. I choose to be an optimist. It's all a matter of perspective.

  Harvey Mackay

  Positive Thinking, Two, Perspective

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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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• No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit.

  Helen Keller

  Inspirational, Life, Positive

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

  Oscar Wilde

  Inspirational, Optimism, Perspective

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• Only one endowed with restless vitality is susceptible to pessimism. You become a pessimist-a demonic, elemental, bestial pessimist-only when life has been defeated many times in its fight against depression.

  Emile M. Cioran

  Depression, Fighting, Vitality

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