"I'm a pessimist about probabilities, I'm an optimist about possibilities."
Optimism quotes
Optimism
626 quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
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Optimism quotes (page 7 of 32)
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"But the nearer the dawn the darker the night, And by going wrong all things come right. Things have been mended that were worse, and the the worse, the nearer they are to mend."
"It is always easier to believe than to deny. Our minds are naturally affirmative."
"I also came to see that liberalism's superficial optimism concerning human nature caused it to overlook the fact that reason is darkened by sin. The more I thought about human nature the more I saw how our tragic inclination for sin causes us to use our minds to rationalize our actions. Liberalism failed to see that reason by itself is little more than an instrument to justify man's defensive ways of thinking. Reason, devoid of the purifying power of faith, can never free itself from distortions and rationalizations."
"Let a man once see himself as others see him, and all enthusiasm vanishes from his heart."
"The ups and downs, the problems and stress, along with all the happiness, have given me optimism and hope because I am living proof of survival."
"I believe in plenty of optimism and white paint."
"Fortunately for us and our world, youth is not easily discouraged. Youth with its clear vista and boundless faith and optimism is uninhibited by the thousands of considerations that always bedevil man in his progress. The hopes of the world rest on the flexibility, vigor, capacity for new thought, and the fresh outlook of the young."
"Americans are optimists. They hope they'll be wealthy someday - and they're positive they can get one more brushful of paint out of an empty can."
"If empathy channels our optimism, we will see the empathy and the diseases and the poor school. We will answer with our innovations and we will surprise the pessimists."
"If we have optimism without empathy then it doesn't matter how much we master the secrets of science. We're not really solving problems, we're just working on puzzles."
"I’ve questioned everything about myself, every step of the way. You have to have the same amount of fear and self-doubt as you do hope and blind optimism."
"They [Americans] want to believe that Good and Evil can be defined in precise categories, that Good is already, or will be easily achieved. ... if this optimism appears too superficial, they will try to create a kind of anti-God: the U.S.S.R. That is Evil, and it only needs to be annihilated to re-establish the reign of Good."
"American life is a powerful solvent. It seems to neutralize every intellectual element, however tough and alien it may be, and to fuse it in the native good will, complacency, thoughtlessness, and optimism."
"If a person lost would conclude that after all he is not lost, he is not beside himself, but standing in his own old shoes on thevery spot where he is, and that for the time being he will live there; but the places that have known him, they are lost,--how much anxiety and danger would vanish."
"Rebels defy the rules of society, risking everything to retain their humanity. If the world Atwood depicts is chilling, if 'God is losing,' the only hope for optimism is a vision that includes the inevitability of human struggle against the prevailing order."
"We are never present with, but always beyond ourselves; fear, desire, hope, still push us on toward the future."
"My aesthetic is derived from my point of view which is one of optimism and hope. The camera became a conduit for my need to create a more beautiful world around me."
"We must have a pure, honest, and warm-hearted motivation, and on top of that, determination, optimism, hope, and the ability not to be discouraged. The whole of humanity depends on this motivation."
"Optimism is normal, but some fortunate people are more optimistic than the rest of us. If you are genetically endowed with an optimistic bias, you hardly need to be told that you are a lucky person - you already feel fortunate."