Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965) French-German physician, theologian, musician and philosopher
Epilogue, p. 242
Out of My Life and Thought : An Autobiography (1933)
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)
Buckminster Fuller (1895–1983) American architect, systems theorist, author, designer, inventor and futurist
From 1980s onwards, Only Integrity is Going to Count (1983)
Context: I find the audiences very excited. But then they come and say to me, "Your optimism has brushed off on me. I didn't know we had an option. I feel so much better." They say, "Your optimism." And I am not optimistic or pessimistic. I feel that optimism and pessimism are very unbalanced. I am a very hard engineer. I am a mechanic. I am a sailor. I am an air pilot. I don't tell people I can get you across the ocean with my ship unless I know what I'm talking about.
“I am by nature an optimist and by intellectual conviction a pessimist.”
William Golding (1911–1993) British novelist, poet, playwright and Nobel Prize for Literature laureate
“[…] You see, you are an optimist and live on hope. I am a pessimist and live on experience.”
Malcolm Bradbury (1932–2000) English author and academic
Page 352-353.
Stepping Westward (1965)
“To the optimist, pessimists are neurotic; to the pessimist, optimists are deluded.”
David H. Levy (1948) Canadian astronomer
Humor in Psychotherapy (2007)
Kamila Shamsie (1973) Pakistani writer
Source: On balancing pessimism and optimism in “Kamila Shamsie: 'We have to find reasons for optimism’” https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jun/08/kamila-shamsie-we-have-to-find-reasons-for-optimism-home-fire in The Guardian (2018 Jun 8)
“Optimists and pessimists differ only on the date of the end of the world.”
Stanisław Jerzy Lec book Unkempt Thoughts
p, 125
Unkempt Thoughts (1957)
“If I insist on being pessimistic, there is always tomorrow. Today I am blessed.”
Maya Angelou (1928–2014) American author and poet