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Pessimism
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“The first-rate mind is always curious, compassionate, original, and pessimistic.”
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“No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new heaven to the human spirit.”
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“... one thing we know beyond all doubt: Nothing has ever been achieved by the person who says, 'It can't be done.'”
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“People who 'view with alarm' never build anything.”
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“How happy are the pessimists! What joy is theirs when they have proved that there is no joy.”
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“Now the pessimist proper is the most modest of men. ... under no circumstances does he presume to imagine that he, a mere unit of pain, can in any degree change or soften the remorseless words of fate.”
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“The pessimist, however, — be it recorded to his credit, — is seldom an agitating individual. His creed breeds indifference to others, and he does not trouble himself to thrust his views upon the unconvinced.”
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“First, I was an idealist (that was early — fools are born, not made, you know); next I was a realist; now I am a pessimist, and, by Jove! if things get much worse I'll become a humorist.”
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“Pessimism is the affectation of youth, the reality of age.”
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“O, merry is the Optimist, / With the troops of courage leaguing. / But a dour trend / In any friend / Is somehow less fatiguing.”
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“It is important to possess a short-term pessimism and a long-term optimism ... ”
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“To the pessimist the light at the end of the tunnel is another train.”
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“The prophet who fails to present a bearable alternative and yet preaches doom is part of the trap that he postulates.”
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“The prophets of doom, in my experience, are generally ignored and usually right.”
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“... an optimist is the man who looks after your eyes, and the pessimist the person who looks after your feet.”
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“... the most common type of pessimism is neither philosophical nor religious: it is the pessimism of thwarted desire. ... It is the cynical sneer of the man who, seeking roses, finds only ashes.”
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“Expect the worst, and you won't be disappointed.”
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“You get into the habit of being angry and hurt by life, and then when something good happens you can't accept it because it doesn't fit the pattern.”
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“Men are always optimists when they look inwards, and pessimists when they look round them.”
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“To be a prophet it is sufficient to be a pessimist.”
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“... got to see it, hear it, touch it, smell it, know it by our own senses to believe it — if it's good. But if it's bad — it's true.”
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“Defensive pessimism is a strategy that helps us to work through our anxious thoughts rather than denying them, so that we may achieve our goals ... transform[ing] anxiety into action.”
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“[He] has learnt to expect the skinny leg of the chicken.”
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“'Twixt optimist and pessimist / The difference is droll: / The optimist sees the doughnut, / The pessimist, the hole.”