Quotes About Pessimism

I always like to write something that will paint a cynical picture, but provide hope at the same time; I like to do that with my writing, even in the worst of times.

If you're not being pessimistic, you're not being very realistic. But I think one must always have hope, and when you have children, of course, you have no choice but to work your tail off to try and protect the future for your children. And that is infused by hope in the end.

The imagination is a cynic.

For James, disgust with American hypocrisy and self-deception was pointless unless accompanied by an effort to give America reason to be proud of itself in the future. The kind of proto-Heideggerian cultural pessimism which Adams cultivated seemed, to James, decadent and cowardly.

We should accept the likelihood that male violence and male dominance over women have long been a part of our history. But with an evolutionary perspective we can firmly reject the pessimists who say it has to stay that way. Male demonism is not inevitable.

Don't ever become a pessimist, Ira; a pessimist is correct oftener than an optimist, but an optimist has more fun--and neither can stop the march of events.

Never appeal to a man's better nature. He may not have one.

A note to confirmed pessimists: Prigogine's analysis is based on probability-theory and, hence, is not certain. Thus, if you have found these lyrical pages unduly alarming, take comfort in the thought that, although human success is highly probable, there is still a small chance that we can blow ourselves up or that your favorite apocalyptic scenarios might still occur, despite the general trend toward higher coherence and higher intelligence.

2) for the reasons sketched above, and developed more fully in the text to follow, I do not think pessimism is the only possible outlook on the universe, but merely the one that is currently ubiquitous;

When things are at their blackest, I say to myself, 'Cheer up, things could be worse.' And sure enough, they get worse.

Probably the easiest and most efficient approach was to hate everybody. Where have you gone, Jackie Robinson?

Everything was going too well. Something had to be wrong.

To hope without hope, which would be wise, is impossible. —MARCEL PROUST, Les Plaisirs et les Jours

There cannot be a personal God without a pessimistic religion. As soon as there is a personal God he is a disappointing God.

Optimism is denial for chumps with no life experience". "What's pessimism?" I said. "Religion without God.

A cynic is a kind of romantic who has aged.

There was the advantage in believing I was old already because it released me from having to be young. There was the possibility of death, which allowed one to bypass digressions into a life that had to be lived in detail. Pritchett called Turgenev's pessimism absolute. The absoluteness -- whether it is pessimism or optimism or fatalism -- is the most effective defense against what haunts one.

I was born with a gloomy nature. I do not think I have ever known what it is to be cheerful and at ease.

There's no difference between a pessimist who says, 'It's all over, don't bother trying to do anything, forget about voting, it won't make a difference,' and an optimist who says, 'Relax, everything is going to turn out fine.' Either way the results are the same. Nothing gets done.

The secret to a long-lasting relationship is perpetually imagining the worst. It's a world view tracing back to my Eastern European ancestry and one I draw upon regularly.

A pessimist finds the darkness around the light but an optimist becomes the light in the darkness.

For an optimist life is beautiful, for a pessimist life is beautiful for the fool.

El pesar nos envejece prematuramente, cuando estas en deuda emocional eres pesimista con respecto al futuro, y aun en tus años de plenitud, ansias volver al pasado para remediar las carencias de amor y oportunidad que sufriste. a veces ansias mas atención, pasar mas tiempo con alguien que ya no esta, tener la oportunidad de hablar francamente y desprenderte de tu carga emocional, o solo resolver tu confusión descubriendo, por fin, lo que realmente ocurrió

Optimism may sometimes be delusional, but pessimism is always delusional.