
[199709041935.MAA27136@wall.org, 1997]
Usenet postings, 1997
[199709041935.MAA27136@wall.org, 1997]
Usenet postings, 1997
[199709041935.MAA27136@wall.org, 1997]
Usenet postings, 1997
“Optimism is an alienated form of faith, pessimism an alienated form of despair.”
Source: The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness (1973), p. 483
Context: Optimism is an alienated form of faith, pessimism an alienated form of despair. If one truly responds to man and his future, ie, concernedly and "responsibly." one can respond only by faith or by despair. Rational faith as well as rational despair are based on the most thorough, critical knowledge of all the factors that are relevant for the survival of man.
Song lyrics, 50 Words for Snow (2011)
Source: Said while giving tour of Starbase to Tim Dodd, July 30, 2021, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t705r8ICkRw
“When you've exhausted all possibilities, remember this: You Haven't!”
Not located in Edison's writings, but found in Robert H. Schuller's self-help book Tough Times Never Last, But Tough People Do! from 1983 https://books.google.com/books?id=8oTOa4n3k4oC&pg=PA28&dq=%22exhausted+all+possibilities%22+remember&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiL88bb6-vKAhVD-mMKHVzNDVEQ6AEIHTAA#v=onepage&q=%22exhausted%20all%20possibilities%20remember%20this%22&f=false.
Disputed
"Issues of Ultimate Explanation," in On Certainty and Other Philosophical Essays on Cognition (2011), Section 7, "Noophelia is the Crux," pp. 79-80
“I don’t believe in optimism. I believe in optimal behavior. That’s a different thing.”
The Paris Review interview (2010)