Optimist Quotes - Page 8

• I am somewhat of a meliorist. That is to say, I act as an optimist because I find I cannot act at all, as a pessimist. One often feels helpless in the face of the confusion of these times, such a mass of apparently uncontrollable events and experiences to live through, attempt to understand, and if at all possible, give order to; but one must not withdraw from the task if he has some small things to offer - he does so at the risk of diminishing his humanity.

  Bernard Malamud

  Order, Giving, Confusion

  "The Fixer". Book by Bernard Malamud, Part Five, 1966.

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• Because one has to be an optimist to begin an ambitious project, it is not surprising that underestimation of completion time is the norm.

  Fernando J. Corbato

  Ambitious, Projects, Norm

  "On Building Systems That Will Fail". Communications of the ACM, Volume 34 Issue 9, dl.acm.org. September 1991.

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• The world belongs to optimists; the pessimists are only spectators.

  Francois Guizot

  Investing, World, Pessimist

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• Communists are the last optimists.

  Nadine Gordimer

  Lasts, Communist

  Nadine Gordimer (2012). “Burger's Daughter”, p.37, Bloomsbury Publishing

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• I believe we can prevent or delay most disease until the 9th or 10th decade. The goal is to prevent anything that can affect your quality of life prior to those years! By the time many of us get to the 9th or 10th decade, who knows where the new medical and science will take us? I am an optimist!

  David Agus

  Believe, Years, Goal

  "‘The End of Illness’ Author David Agus Answers Readers’ Questions" by Stephen J. Dubner, www.huffingtonpost.com. March 20, 2012.

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• In real life, I'm pretty much an eternal optimist.

  Abbie Cornish

  Real, Real Life, Eternal

  "Abbie Cornish Talks THE GIRL, Relating to Her Character, The Remake of ROBOCOP, and More". Interview with Christina Radish, collider.com. December 14, 2012.

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• I'm an optimist about humanity in general, I suppose.

  Tim Berners-Lee

  Humanity

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• Conservatism is pessimistic, with a negative tendency - which we mostly resist - towards despair. Liberals are optimists, with a negative tendency, rarely resisted, towards utopianism.

  John Derbyshire

  Despair, Pessimistic, Negative

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• I've been thinking about disowning some of my genes lately. I have a few healthy, happy, long-living optimists in my family tree - most of them fans of Christian Science founder Mary Baker Eddy, a major champion of positive thinking. But I've got plenty of ancestors who played out more tortured hands.

  Ariel Gore

  Christian, Positive Thinking, Hands

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• Progress is more of a challenge for the cynic but also more important and urgent, since for the optimist things aren't that bad and are bound to get better anyway.

  Julian Baggini

  Challenges, Get Better, Progress

  "In praise of cynicism" by Julian Baggini, www.theguardian.com. July 10, 2013.

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• If there's one thing that makes me cynical, it's optimists. They are just far too cynical about cynicism. If only they could see that cynics can be happy, constructive, even fun to hang out with, they might learn a thing or two.

  Julian Baggini

  Fun, Two, Cynical

  "In praise of cynicism" by Julian Baggini, www.theguardian.com. July 10, 2013.

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• By nature, I am not an optimist, though I try to act as if I am.

  Howard Gardner

  Trying, Ifs

  "Living Legends: An Interview With Howard Gardner". Interview with Matthew Lynch, Ed.D., www.huffingtonpost.com. January 11, 2012.

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• I've been depressed many times in my life. But under it all I'm an optimist.

  Janet Fitch

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• I'm very much an optimist. I don't think I could do my work if I didn't believe there was some kind of hope for humanity.

  Sandra Bernhard

  Believe, Thinking, Humanity

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• Pessimists fear becoming the dupes of Hope. Optimists enjoy Hope's company, and consider being duped no great matter.

  Mason Cooley

  Hope, Fear, Optimism

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• An optimist is presented with a problem and sees an opportunity. A pessimist is presented with an opportunity and sees a problem.

  Harry S. Truman

  Opportunity, Problem, Pessimist

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• I'm enough of an optimist and a patriot to believe that in U.S. you have a lot of opportunity and can do pretty much anything you want in some form. For me, the idea of failure is far preferable to the idea of regret.

  Michael Ian Black

  Regret, Believe, Opportunity

  "The Best-Laid Plans of Michael Ian Black". Interview with Royal Young, www.interviewmagazine.com. February 27, 2012.

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• To stand together against homophobic, sexist, misogynistic, anti-Semitic and racist agendas. I’m an optimist and I can’t help but feel hopeful about the future of film - especially looking at all the beautiful people in this room. Martin Luther King Jr. said, ‘Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.’ I would like to encourage everyone in this room to please speak up.

  Jessica Chastain

  Beautiful, Kings, People

  "Watch Jessica Chastain’s Impassioned Speech For Diversity In Hollywood" by Christopher Rosen, www.huffingtonpost.com. January 26, 2015.

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• An optimist is a person who sees only the lights in the picture, whereas a pessimist sees only the shadows. An idealist, however, is one who sees the light and the shadows, but in addition sees something else: the possibility of changing the picture, of making the lights prevail over the shadows.

  Felix Adler

  Optimistic, Light, Optimism

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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, Pessimist

  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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• I'm an optimist. I hope if a movie's good that it will be a success, but that's not always true, just because of popular taste or any other reasons. When something doesn't do better than it deserves to in your mind, it's pretty transparent - you usually know why. Is that a comfort? Yes, because it's logical. Does it make you happy? No, because if you think a movie is beautiful or interesting, you want to share it. Sometimes you make very interesting movies that aren't meant for everybody. But this is a capitalist society, so everything conspires to put value on whether it sells or not.

  Willem Dafoe

  Beautiful, Thinking, Interesting

  Source: film.avclub.com

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• An optimist in Canada is someone who think things could be worse

  Preston Manning

  Thinking, Canada

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• I'm not an optimist. I'm a prisoner of hope.

  Desmond Tutu

  Prisoner

  "Post-Apartheid South Africa". "Religion & Ethics Newsweekly" with Fred de Sam Lazaro, www.pbs.org. July 2, 2010.

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• Optimists are usually inexperienced.

  Wayne Gerard Trotman

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• A pessimist is a well-informed optimist.

  Mark Twain

  Pessimist, Wells

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