Pessimist Quotes - Page 11

• I went to bed last night utterly dejected; I thought I was never going to amount to anything, and that you had thrown away your money for nothing. But what do you think? I woke up this morning with a beautiful new plot in my head, and I've been going about all day planning my characters, just as happy as I could be. No one can ever accuse me of being a pessimist! If I had a husband and twelve children swallowed by an earthquake one day, I'd bob up smilingly the next morning and commence to look for another set. ~Jershua Abbott

  Jean Webster

  Beautiful, Morning, Children

  Jean Webster (2016). “Daddy Long-Legs and Dear Enemy: Illustrated”, p.102, Jester House Publishing

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• I have a lot of faith in us. I have a lot of faith in humanity. It's based, though, on my own life; I've come too far to be a pessimist.

  Alice Walker

  Humanity

  "Alice Walker discusses two new collections". Interview with Kevin Nance, articles.chicagotribune.com. July 12, 2013.

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• What is an optimist? The man who says, "It's worse everywhere else. We're better off than the rest of the world. We've been lucky." He is happy with things as they are and he doesn't torment himself. What is a pessimist? The man who says, "Things are fine everywhere but here. Everyone else is better off than we are. We're the only ones who've had a bad break." He torments himself continually.

  Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

  Men, Lucky, World

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• An egocentric pessimist is a person who thinks he hasn't changed, but that other people are behaving worse than before.

  Idries Shah

  Thinking, People, Pessimism

  Idries Shah (1983). “Reflections”, p.61, Octagon Press Ltd

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• Pessimist: The optimist who didn't arrive.

  Mark Twain

  Pessimistic, Optimist

  Mark Twain (2016). “The Wit and Wisdom of Mark Twain”, p.142, Chartwell

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• I'm sort of a pessimist about tomorrow and an optimist about the day after tomorrow.

  Eric Sevareid

  Tomorrow, Optimist

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• I always look on the black side of life. That way, you won't be disappointed and I'm cheerful if it doesn't work out. I'm a cheerful pessimist.

  Paul Davies

  Spring, Work Out, Black

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• I am glad I am an optimist. The pessimist is half-licked before he starts. The optimist has won half the battle, the most important half that applies to himself, when he begins his approach to a subject with the proper mental attitude. The optimist may not understand, or if he understands he may not agree with, prevailing ideas; but he believes, yes, knows, that in the long run and in due course there will prevail whatever is right and best.

  Thomas Buckner

  Running, Attitude, Believe

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• Am I a pessimist? Not at all. I am convinced that the history of the human race, no matter how tragic, will ultimately lead to the Kingdom of God. I am convinced that all the works of humankind will be reintegrated in the work of God, and that each of us, no matter how sinful, will ultimately be saved.

  Jacques Ellul

  Race, Kingdoms, Matter

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• He who thinks all mankind is vile is a pessimist who mistakes his introspection for observation; he looks into his own heart and thinks he sees the world.

  William George Jordan

  Mistake, Heart, Thinking

  William George Jordan (1903). “Great truths”

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• A pessimist looks at his glass and says it is half empty; an optimist looks at it and says it is half full.

  Josiah Stamp

  Glasses, Looks, Half

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• I am not an optimist, because I am not sure that everything ends well. Nor am I a pessimist, because I am not sure that everything ends badly. I just carry hope in my heart.

  Vaclav Havel

  Hope, Heart, Ends

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• If you expect the worst from a person, you can't ever be disappointed... The pessimist takes a sort of gloomy pleasure in observing the depths to which human behaviour can sink. The more sin he sees, the more his belief in Original Sin is confirmed. Everyone likes to have his deepest convictions confirmed; that is one of the most abiding of human satisfaction.

  Anthony Burgess

  Depth, Abiding, Behaviour

  "The Wanting Seed".

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• Realism is for pessimists. An optimist creates his own reality.

  David Harley

  Reality, Entrepreneur, Realism

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• I mean, I think there's a lot of hope in my work. I don't think I'm a total pessimist, so I think you can find hope in all my films. Some more than others, but there's definitely... I think we want to convey the feeling of hope with the montage at the end.

  Spike Lee

  Thinking, Feelings, Want

  "Q+A: Spike Lee Goes Back to Brooklyn". Interview with Simon Abrams, www.esquire.com. January 25, 2012.

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• Things of the spirit are what count: brotherhood – in a day when there is too much hatred at home and abroad; cheerfulness – in a day when the pessimists have the floor and cynics are popular; service – in a day when millions are interested in getting or grasping, rather than giving

  E. Urner Goodman

  Hate, Home, Giving

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• No one really knows enough to be a pessimist.

  Norman Cousins

  Inspirational, Enough, Knows

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• Pessimists are not boring. Pessimists are right. Pessimists are superfluous.

  Elias Canetti

  Fear, Pessimism, Boring

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• The optimist is right. The pessimist is right. Point of view is the determining factor in the life of each.

  Ralph Waldo Trine

  Views, Perspective, Point Of View

  Ralph Waldo Trine (2013). “In Tune With the Infinite: Fullness of Peace, Power and Plenty (New Thought Edition)”, p.7, Lulu Press, Inc

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• In South Africa, they dig for diamonds. Tons of earth are moved to find a little pebble not as large as a little fingernail. The miners are looking for the diamonds, not the dirt. They are willing to lift all the dirt in order to find the jewels. In daily life, people forget this principle and become pessimists because there is more dirt than diamonds. When trouble comes, don’t be frightened by the negatives. Look for the positives and dig them out. They are so valuable it doesn't matter if you have to handle tons of dirt.

  Robert Ringer

  Jewels, Order, People

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• Do you know the difference between an optimist and a pessimist? A pessimist says ‘Oh dear, things can’t possibly get any worse.’ And an optimist says, ‘Don’t be so sad. Things can always get worse.

  Steven Galloway

  Differences, Optimist, So Sad

  Steven Galloway (2009). “The Cellist of Sarajevo”, p.53, Atlantic Books Ltd

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• Although the optimist may be a little giddy when foreseeing the future, telling himself that it will all work out in the end when that isn't always the case, his attitude is more fruitful since, in the hope of undertaking a hundred projects, followed up by diligent action, the optimist will end up completing fifty. Conversely, in limiting himself to undertake a mere ten, the pessimist might complete five at best and often fewer, since he'll devote little energy to a task he feels to be doomed from the start.

  Matthieu Ricard

  Attitude, Work Out, Energy

  Matthieu Ricard (2011). “The Art of Happiness: A Guide to Developing Life's Most Important Skill”, p.173, Atlantic Books Ltd

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• I'm a technological optimist in that I do believe that technology will provide solutions that will allow the world in 2050 to support 9 billion people at an acceptable standard of living. But I'm a political pessimist in that I am concerned about whether the science will be appropriately applied.

  Martin Rees

  Believe, Technology, People

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• I'm not a pessimist by nature. I'm not someone who sees things in a bleak way.

  Nouriel Roubini

  Way, Bleak

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• A pessimist and an optimist, so much the worse; so much the better.

  Jean de La Fontaine

  Attitude, Optimist

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