Quotes About Pessimism

History never repeats, but there are the obvious precedents that pessimists can reach for: Sarajevo, 1914; the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia, 1938. But equally relevant might be the tragically meaningless guarantees Britain extended to Poland in 1939.

He seemed born to find flaws in everything, a task at which he excelled and in which he seemed to delight.

Pessimism is only the name that men of weak nerves give to wisdom.

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.

Myths project an ideal personality acting on the basis of superego demands, while fairy tales depict an ego integration which allows for appropriate satisfaction of id desires. This difference accounts for the contrast between the pervasive pessimism of myths and the essential optimism of fairy tales.

I'm English, and as such I crave disappointment. I actively seek it out.

The tone of pessimism and defeat that marked Carter's first day in office came to define his entire presidency.

An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.

In falling markets, there is nothing that has not happened before. The bear or pessimist sees only the past, which imprisons the wretched financial soul in eternal circles of boom and bust and boom again.

I got fed up with the human race, really. I got a very negative feeling about human potentials. And for a while, I thought I might write a book without any human beings in it whatsoever.

We only have babies when we're young enough not to know how grim life turns out.

I don't believe that happiness is possible, but I think tranquility is.

The world is going to become bloody stupid and from now on will be a very boring place. We're lucky to be living now.

Het is vreemd met hoe weinig vertrouwen in geluk ik geboren ben. Heel jong al voorvoelde ik precies wat het leven zou worden. Het was als een weerzinwekkende etensgeur, die uit een keldergat ontsnapte. Je hoeft er niet van gegeten te hebben om te weten dat je er kotsmisselijk van wordt. - Gustave Flaubert

After all, life is never so jolly or so miserable as people seem to think.

La vie, voyez-vous, ça n'est jamais si bon ni si mauvais qu'on croit.

Then she added, no doubt in answer to her own thoughts: 'You see, life is never as good or as bad as one thinks.'  

Látja…az élet nem olyan jó…De nem is olyan rossz, amilyennek hisszük.

I lean towards traditionally what people would consider the more negative side of life.

A political convention is not a place where you can come away with any trace of faith in human nature.

The reason why there is more pessimism about technology in Europe has to do with history, the use of databases to keep track of people in the camps, ecological disasters.

And he did see--that life was rotten, that there were no heroes, really, and that you couldn't trust anybody, not even yourself.

Share your optimisms and keep your pessimisms to yourself.

tell them that both optimists and pessimists die in the end, but the optimist leads a hopeful and happy existence while the pessimist spends his days cynical and downtrodden. It is too high a price to pay. Besides, optimism is a prerequisite of progress. It provides the inspiration we need, especially in hard times.