Oscar Wilde The Importance of Being Earnest
Lady Bracknell, Act I
The Importance of Being Earnest (1895)
“[A] pessimist gets nothing but pleasant surprises, an optimist nothing but unpleasant.”
— Rex Stout, book Fer-de-Lance
Source: Fer-de-Lance
Last update June 3, 2021. History
Help us to complete the source, original and additional information
Do you have more details about the quote "[A] pessimist gets nothing but pleasant surprises, an optimist nothing but unpleasant." by Rex Stout?
Rex Stout30
American writer 1886–1975Related quotes
“To the optimist, pessimists are neurotic; to the pessimist, optimists are deluded.”
David H. Levy (1948) Canadian astronomer
Humor in Psychotherapy (2007)
George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish playwright
Variant: Both optimists and pessimists contribute to society. The optimist invents the aeroplane, the pessimist the parachute.
Gladys Bronwyn Stern (1890–1973) British writer
Quoted in Women Know Everything!: 3,241 Quips, Quotes, and Brilliant Remarks By Karen Weekes, p. 41
Hans Hofmann (1880–1966) American artist
As quoted in The Artist's Voice : Talks With Seventeen Modern Artists (1962) by Katharine Kuh, p. 119
1960s
Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965) French-German physician, theologian, musician and philosopher
Epilogue, p. 242
Out of My Life and Thought : An Autobiography (1933)
“The optimist sees the donut, the pessimist sees the hole.”
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish writer and poet
“A stumbling block to the pessimist is a stepping-stone to the optimist.”
Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American politician, diplomat, and activist, and First Lady of the United States