Pessimism and Optimism

The British League of Pessimists is against anything and everything . . .
 
“Optimism is a happiness magnet. If you stay positive, good things and good people will be drawn to you.” -Mary Lou Retton (Mary Lou ‘Loo’ Retton (born 1968))
 
“One of the things I learned the hard way was that it doesn’t pay to get discouraged. Keeping busy and making optimism a way of life can restore your faith in yourself.” -Lucille Ball (Lucille Désirée Ball (1911 - 1989))
 
“Always think positive. For example, I fell down the stairs today and thought, ‘Wow! I sure fell down those stairs fast!’” -Author Unknown
 
“An optimist is one who makes the best of it when he gets the worst of it.” -Laurence J. Peter (Laurence Johnston Peter (1919 - 1990))
 
“No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new heaven to the human spirit.” -Helen Keller (Helen Adams Keller (1880 - 1968)): “My Key of Life, Optimism: An Essay” (1904)
 
“No sense in being pessimistic - it probably wouldn’t work anyway.” -Author Unknown
 
“An optimist is a person who undertakes a seemingly impossible task in a spirit of immeasurable enthusiasm, unbounded determination, unbelievable excitement, indestructible confidence, uncompromising thoroughness, and indefatigable persistence . . . with understandable success.” -William A. Ward (William Arthur Ward (1921 - 1994))
 
“Being an optimist after you’ve got everything you want doesn’t count.” -Kin Hubbard (Frank McKinney ‘Kin’ Hubbard (1868 - 1930))
 
“No one really knows enough to be a pessimist.” -Norman Cousins (1915 - 1990)
 
“Optimists don’t internalize pain or criticism. They take it for what it is worth and carry on.” -Robert M. Sherfield at http://www.RobertSherfield.com/
 
“Distance yourself from negativity or it will deplete your well of optimism.” -Jeff Sheehan
 
“An optimist may see a light where there is none, but why must the pessimist always run to blow it out?” -René Descartes (1596 - 1650)
 
Optimist and Pessimist
 
Twixt optimist and pessimist,
     The difference is droll*:
The optimist sees the doughnut,
     The pessimist sees the hole.
 
by McLandburgh Wilson (Florence McLandburgh (1850 - 1934)): poem (1915)
*droll: amusing in an odd way
 
“You will find yourself refreshed by the presence of cheerful people. Why not make earnest effort to confer that pleasure on others? Half the battle is gained if you never allow yourself to say anything gloomy.” -Lydia M. Child (Lydia Maria Child (born Lydia Maria Francis (1802 - 1880)))
 
“A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities; an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties.” -Reginald B. Mansell (Reginald Baynes Mansell (1897 - 1945))
 
“An optimist is someone who gets treed by a lion but enjoys the scenery.” -Walter Winchell (1897 - 1972)
 
“Pessimism is contagious. One of the ways people catch it is from exposure to news shows on television, radio, and online.” -David Hugh Beaumont (born 1966)
 
“It can be done.” -Author Unknown
 
“If the pessimists aren’t happy now, they never will be!” -Author Unknown
 
“Real optimism has reason to complain but prefers to smile.” -William A. Ward (William Arthur Ward (1921 - 1994))
 
“Pessimist: A person who says ‘o’ is the last letter of zero, instead of the first letter of opportunity.” -David Hugh Beaumont (born 1966)
 
“Optimism is essential to achievement and is also the foundation of courage and true progress.” -Nicholas Murray Butler (1862 - 1947)
 
“A pessimist looks at his glass and says it is half empty; an optimist looks at it and says it is half full.” -Josiah Stamp (1880 - 1941): as attributed in the “New York Times” (13 November 1935) newspaper
 
“I find, when you’re an optimist, life has a funny way of looking after you.” -Simon Sinek (Simon Oliver Sinek (born 1973))
 
“Avoid destructive thinking. Improper negative thoughts sink people. A ship can sail around the world many, many times, but just let enough water get into the ship and it will sink. Just so with the human mind: Let enough negative thoughts or improper thoughts get into the human mind and the person sinks just like a ship.” -Alfred A. Montapert (Alfred Armand Montapert (1906 - 1997))
 
“The optimist regards the future as uncertain.” -Eugene Paul Wigner (also known as E. P. Wigner (born Wigner Jenő Pál (1902 - 1995)))
 
“Optimism. It’s not just a mind-set, it is behavior.” -Larry Elder (Laurence Allen ‘Larry’ Elder (born 1952)) at www.LarryElder.com
 
“Criticism and pessimism destroy families, undermine institutions of all kinds, defeat nearly everyone, and spread a shroud of gloom over entire nations.” -Gordon B. Hinckley (Gordon Bitner Hinckley (1910 - 2008))
 
Optimist: The glass is half-full.
Pessimist: The glass is half-empty.
Efficiency Expert: The glass is twice the required size.
 
“Real optimism knows the difficulties but believes they can be overcome.” -William A. Ward (William Arthur Ward (1921 - 1994))
 
“I’ve never seen a monument erected to a pessimist.” -Paul Harvey (1918 - 2009)
 
“For myself I am an optimist - it does not seem to be much use being anything else.” -Winston Churchill (Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill (1874 - 1965)): speech (9 November 1954) at the Lord Mayor’s banquet in London, England
 
“How happy are the pessimists! What joy is theirs when they have proved there is no joy.” -Marie von Ebner-Eschenbach (1830 - 1916): as quoted in Maturin M. Ballou: “Edge-Tools of Speech” (1886), page 251
 
“Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will.” -Zig Ziglar (Hilary Hinton ‘Zig’ Ziglar (1926 - 2012))
 
══════════════════════════════════════════════════
l i v e ☆ l a u g h ツ l o v e ♥ g r o w ☼ l i v e ☆ l a u g h ツ l o v e ♥ g r o w ☼ 
══════════════════════════════════════════════════
 
The Pessimist
 
Nothing to do but work,
     Nothing to eat but food,
Nothing to wear but clothes
     To keep one from going nude.

Nothing to breathe but air
     Quick as a flash it is gone;
Nowhere to fall but off,
     Nowhere to stand but on.
 
Nothing to comb but hair,
     Nowhere to sleep but in bed,
Nothing to weep but tears,
     Nothing to bury but dead.

Nothing to sing but songs,
     Ah, well, alas! alack!
Nowhere to go but out,
     Nowhere to come but back.

Nothing to see but sights,
     Nothing to quench but thirst,
Nothing to have but what we’ve got;
     Thus thro’ life we are cursed.

Nothing to strike but a gait;
     Everything moves that goes.
Nothing at all but common sense
     Can ever withstand these woes. 
 
by Benjamin Franklin King (1857 - 1894)
 
══════════════════════════════════════════════════
l i v e ☆ l a u g h ツ l o v e ♥ g r o w ☼ l i v e ☆ l a u g h ツ l o v e ♥ g r o w ☼ 
══════════════════════════════════════════════════
​ 
“Many an optimist has become rich by buying out a pessimist.” -Robert G. Allen (Robert Grant Allen (born 1948))
 
“Both optimists and pessimists contribute to our society. The optimist invents the airplane and the pessimist the parachute.” -G. B. Stern (Gladys Bronwyn Stern (born Gladys Bertha Stern (1890 - 1973))): as quoted in Karen Weekes: “Women Know Everything!: 3,241 Quips, Quotes, and Brilliant Remarks” (1 March 2007), page 41
 
“Stick with the optimists. It’s going to be tough enough even if they’re right.” -James Reston (James Barrett ‘Scotty’ Reston (1909 - 1995))
 
“Pessimism leads to weakness, optimism to power.” -William James (1842 - 1910)
 
“As I say yes to life, life says yes to me!” -Louise L. Hay (Louise Lynn Hay (1926 - 2017)) at www.louisehay.com
 
“The best things in life are free . . . and so are the worst things.” -Author Unknown
 
“The right train of thought can take you to a better station in life.” -Author Unknown
 
“So a pessimist walked into a restaurant and said, ‘You’re closed, aren’t you?’” -Author Unknown
 
“An optimist is the human personification of spring.” -Susan J. Bissonette (Susan Jean Bissonette (born 1938)): as quoted in “Readers Digest” (1979)
 
══════════════════════════════════════════════════
l i v e ☆ l a u g h ツ l o v e ♥ g r o w ☼ l i v e ☆ l a u g h ツ l o v e ♥ g r o w ☼ 
══════════════════════════════════════════════════
​ 
The Hymn of the Pessimist
 
My grandpa notes the world’s worn cogs,
And says we’re going to the dogs.
 
His grandpa in his house of logs,
Said things were going to the dogs.
 
His grandpa in the Flemish bogs,
Said things were going to the dogs.
 
His grandpa in his hairy togs,
Said things were going to the dogs.
 
But this is what I wish to state,
The dogs have had an awful wait.
 
by Author Unknown
 
══════════════════════════════════════════════════
l i v e ☆ l a u g h ツ l o v e ♥ g r o w ☼ l i v e ☆ l a u g h ツ l o v e ♥ g r o w ☼ 
══════════════════════════════════════════════════
​ 
“It’s not that optimism solves all of life’s problems; it is just that it can sometimes make the difference between coping and collapsing.” -Lucy MacDonald
 
“A pessimist is someone who complains about the noise when opportunity knocks.” -Michael Levine
 
“An optimist stays up until midnight to see the New Year in; a pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.” -Bill Vaughan (William Edward ‘Bill’ Vaughan also known by pseudonym Burton Hillis (1915 - 1977)): “Senator Soaper Opines” (31 December 1963) newspaper column in the “Evening World-Herald,” page 16, column 2
 
“Always look on the bright side of life. Otherwise it’ll be too dark to read.” -Author Unknown
 
“Optimism is the one quality more associated with success and happiness than any other.” -Brian Tracy (born 1944)
 
“In the long run, the pessimist may be proved right, but the optimist has a better time on the trip.” -Daniel L. Reardon
 
“Be courageous. Change and improve each day. Do your best and don’t look back. See learning and change as opportunities. Try new things. Consider several options. Meet new people. Ask lots of questions. Keep track of your mental and physical health. Be optimistic.” -Donald Martin
 
“Pessimist: A person who views the world through woes-colored glasses.” -Author Unknown
 
Overheard: I would like to be an optimist, but I doubt that it would work out.
 
“One day someone showed me a glass of water that was half full. And he said, ‘Is it half full or half empty?’ So I drank the water. No more problem.” -Alexander Jodorowsky
 
“What people forget is a journey to nowhere starts with a single step, too.” -Chuck Palahniuk: “Survivor” (17 February 1999)
 
“The habit of looking on the best side of every event is worth more than a thousand pounds a year.” -Samuel Johnson (1709 - 1784)
 
“If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked something.” -Steven Wright (Steven Alexander Wright (born 1955))
 
“The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds; and the pessimist fears this is true.” -James Branch Cabell (1879 - 1958): “The Silver Stallion” (1926), Chapter 6
 
“People who wonder whether the glass is half full or half empty miss the point. The glass is refillable.” -Author Unknown
 
“Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement; nothing can be done without hope.” -Helen Keller (Helen Adams Keller (1880 - 1968)): “Optimism” (1903)
 
“A stumbling-block to the pessimist is a stepping-stone to the optimist.” -Eleanor Roosevelt (Anna Eleanor ‘Eleanor’ Roosevelt (1884 - 1962))
 
“Optimist: Someone who figures that taking a step backward after taking a step forward is not a disaster, it’s a cha-cha.” -Robert Brault (born 1938) at RBrault.blogspot.com
 
“I’m so optimistic I’d go after Moby Dick in a row boat and take the tartar sauce with me.” -Zig Ziglar (Hilary Hinton ‘Zig’ Ziglar (1926 - 2012))
 
“Optimism refuses to believe that the road ends without options.” -Robert H. Schuller (Robert Harold Schuller (1926 - 2015))
 
Marcella: How many pessimists does it take to change a light bulb?
Marcia: None; a new one will not work any better than the burned-out one did.
 
“Optimism will grow like a flower if the soil be properly prepared.” -Arthur Lynch
 
“Pessimism wilts everything around it.” -Michael Levine
 
“Optimists find joy in small things. They enjoy sunsets, a good conversation with a close friend; and they enjoy life in general. They are more concerned with having many small joys rather than having one huge joy.” -Robert M. Sherfield at http://www.RobertSherfield.com/
 
“Optimism is the sunshine of the soul.” -Author Unknown
 
“Optimism inspires, energizes, and brings out our best. It points the mind toward possibilities and helps us think creatively past problems.” -Price Pritchett
 
“An optimistic point of view will always look much better on you!” -Susan Librener
 
This is MFOL! . . . where life is good - who are we kidding - life is great!