Pessimist Quotes - Page 6

• We did it!" I said, feeling limp with relief. "It actually worked!" Dr. Turgenev rubbed his forehead. "I had very big doubts." "Big doubts?" I said weakly. The Russian scientist shrugged. "I am pessimist," he said.

  Kenneth Oppel

  Feelings, Doubt, Relief

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• The intelligent investor is a realist who sells to optimists and buys from pessimists.

  Benjamin Graham

  Intelligent, Investing, Realist

  Benjamin Graham (2009). “The Intelligent Investor, Rev. Ed”, p.13, Harper Collins

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• What if the Soviet intervention was a blessing in disguise? It saved the myth that if the Soviets were not to intervene, there would have been some flowering authentic democratic socialism and so on. I'm a little bit more of a pessimist there. I think that the Soviets - it's a very sad lesson - by their intervention, saved the myth.

  Slavoj Žižek

  Thinking, Blessing, Democratic Socialism

  "'Everybody in the World Except US Citizens Should Be Allowed to Vote and Elect the American Government' - Leading Intellectual Slavoj Žižek". "Democracy Now!" with Amy Goodman, www.democracynow.org. March 11, 2008.

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• Which is more subversive-and corrosive-to believe in altruism or to see it simply as a cloak of self interest? Even if altruism did not exist, it would be necessary to believe in it. Pessimists in power are prone to despotism.

  Frank Prochaska

  Believe, Self, Volunteer

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• we find that the optimists have an undeniable advantage over the pessimists. Many studies show that they do better on exams, in their chosen profession, and in their relationships, live longer and in better health, enjoy a better chance of surviving postoperative shock, and are less prone to depression and suicide.

  Matthieu Ricard

  Suicide, Chance, Study

  Matthieu Ricard (2011). “The Art of Happiness: A Guide to Developing Life's Most Important Skill”, p.169, Atlantic Books Ltd

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• 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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• I'm a pessimist, but I have many painstakingly applied coats of optimism.

  George Meyer

  Optimism, Coats

  Interview with Eric Spitznagel, www.ericspitznagel.com. September 1, 2004.

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• I'm a pessimist, so I find everything limiting.

  Grumpy Cat

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• There's no difference between a pessimist who says, "Oh it's hopeless, so don't bother doing anything." and an optimist who says, "Don't bother doing anything, it's going to turn out fine anyways. Either way, nothing happens."

  Yvon Chouinard

  Differences, Way, Hopeless

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• How happy are the pessimists! What joy is theirs when they have proved there is no joy.

  Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach

  Joy, Pessimism

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• To be honest I'm not going to sell dreams like everybody else does and say, "Sure, it can be changed." I don't want to seem like a pessimist, but nothing's getting better.

  Q-Tip

  Dream, Get Better, Doe

  Source: www.interviewmagazine.com

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• A life-worshipper's philosophy is comprehensive. He is at one moment a positivist and at another a mystic: now haunted by the thought of death and now a Dionysian child of nature; now a pessimist and now, with a change of lover or liver or even the weather, an exuberant believer that God's in his heaven and all's right with the world.

  Aldous Huxley

  Love, Children, Philosophy

  Aldous Huxley (1970). “Collected Works: Do what you will”

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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. Hope is the feeling that life and work have a meaning. You either have it or you don't, regardless of the state of the world that surrounds you. Life without hope is an empty, boring, and useless life. I cannot imagine that I could strive for something if I did not carry hope in me. I am thankful to God for this gift. It is as big as life itself.

  Vaclav Havel

  Hope, Heart, Thankful To God

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• The positive outlook that optimists project does not come from ignoring or denying problems. Optimists simply assume that problems are temporary and can be solved, so optimists naturally want more information about problems because then they can get to work and do something. Pessimists are more likely to believe that there is nothing they can do anyway, so what's the point of even thinking about it?

  Rosabeth Moss Kanter

  Believe, Thinking, Optimism

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• Unsatisfied desire is the characteristic feature of human life. That is the common fact out of which both pessimism and optimism are constructed. Dwell on the impossibility of ever getting a state of complete and permanent satisfaction with what you have, and you become a pessimist. Dwell on the opportunity for endless growth and conquest which this same fact makes possible, and you become an optimist.

  William DeWitt Hyde

  Opportunity, Optimism, Growth

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• This is the crux of the moral pessimists: if they really wanted to promote their neighbor's redemption, then they would have to resolve themselves to spoiling existence for him, and thus to being his misfortune; out of pity, they would have to--become evil!

  Friedrich Nietzsche

  Evil, Redemption, Morality

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• I am such a pessimist that every project has surpassed what I envisioned.

  Colin Mochrie

  Planning, Management, Projects

  Biography/Personal Quotes, www.imdb.com.

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• A Pessimist sees the glass as half empty; A Cub Fan wonders when it's gonna spill.

  Mike Royko

  Glasses, Fans, Half

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• A regret understood by no one: the regret to be a pessimist. It’s not easy to be on the wrong foot with life.

  Emile M. Cioran

  Regret, Feet, Easy

  "The Book of Delusions". Book by Emile M. Cioran, 1936.

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• Scratch a pessimist and you will often find a defender of privilege.

  William Beveridge

  Philosophy, Political, Scratches

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• Pessimists beat their heads against walls, while optimists open doors.

  Wes Fesler

  Wall, Doors, Optimism

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• Turbulence is a condition that we all experience during a flight when the plane is bouncing around by competing air currents. By analogy, the economy may bounce around a lot because of competing currents of public moods and investments. One week everyone might be optimistic and then suddenly something happens to turn everyone into pessimists. Investment dries up and investors become risk averse. A sudden piece of good news then turns around the public mood.

  Philip Kotler

  Optimistic, Air, Risk

  Source: bobmorris.biz

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• Pessimists are second rate people. They do not believe in life. ... All they want to do is drag you down and appease their own feelings of mediocrity and fear.

  Uell Stanley Andersen

  Believe, Optimistic, People

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• Pessimists are usually kind. The gay, bubbling over, have no time for the pitiful.

  Sean O Faolain

  Optimistic, Gay, Kind

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• I'm a pessimist about probabilities, I'm an optimist about possibilities.

  Lewis Mumford

  Optimism, Possibility, Optimist

  "Lewis Mumford Remembers". The New York Times, July 6, 1977.

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