Mark Twain
Writer, Humorist
"It's better to be an optimist who is sometimes wrong than a pessimist who is always right"
Optimism quotes
Optimism
626 quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
Saint Augustine
Theologian, Philosopher
"Where your pleasure is, there is your treasure: where your treasure, there your heart; where your heart, there your happiness"
Nancy Reagan
Political Figure, First Lady
"I am a big believer that eventually everything comes back to you. You get back what you give out."
Plato
Philosopher
"He who is of a calm and happy nature, will hardly feel the pressure of age"
Oscar Wilde
Writer
"A pessimist is somebody who complains about the noise when opportunity knocks."
Explore further
Topics related to Optimism
Browse quotes that often appear alongside optimism — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
Quote collection
Optimism quotes (page 1 of 32)
Follow a thought to its author, or read the full quote page.
"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."
Read quote
100 likes
"Hope is not optimism, which expects things to turn out well, but something rooted in the conviction that there is good worth working for."
Read quote
82 likes
"The human heart refuses To believe in a universe Without a purpose."
Read quote
78 likes
"One day everything will be well, that is our hope. Everything's fine today, that is our illusion."
Read quote
77 likes
"Some people see the glass half full. Others see it half empty. I see a glass that's twice as big as it needs to be."
Read quote
74 likes
"Regardless of who wins, an election should be a time for optimism and fresh approaches."
Read quote
70 likes
"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."
Read quote
68 likes
"Optimism, pessimism, f**k that; we're going to make it happen. As God is my bloody witness, I'm hell-bent on making it work."
Read quote
63 likes
"Patience is the ability to idle your motor when you feel like stripping your gears."
Read quote
57 likes
"I believe in optimism & plenty of white paint."
Read quote
55 likes
"Nearly all the best things that came to me in life have been unexpected, unplanned by me."
Read quote
52 likes
"Turn all things to honey; this is the law of divine living."
Read quote
52 likes
"To lose patience is to lose the battle."
Read quote
51 likes
"My deepest impulses are optimistic; an attitude that seems to me as spiritually necessary and proper as it is intellectually suspect."
Read quote
48 likes
"The biggest emotion in creation is the bridge to optimism."
Read quote
47 likes
"I like my coffee with cream and my literature with optimism."
Read quote
46 likes
"I've always been the opposite of a paranoid. I operate as if everyone is part of a plot to enhance my well-being."
Read quote
45 likes
"If you pretend to be good, the world takes you very seriously. If you pretend to be bad, it doesn't. Such is the astounding stupidity of optimism."
Read quote
42 likes
"The optimist sees the donut, the pessimist sees the hole."
Read quote
41 likes
"Don't ask 'Why', ask instead, 'Why not'."
Read quote
39 likes