Irving Caesar (1895–1996) American composer and lyricist
This is actually James Branch Cabell from The Silver Stallion (1926)
Misattributed
This is derived from a statement of James Branch Cabell, in The Silver Stallion (1926) : The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds; and the pessimist fears this is true.
Misattributed
Variant: The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds. The pessimist fears it is true.
Irving Caesar (1895–1996) American composer and lyricist
This is actually James Branch Cabell from The Silver Stallion (1926)
Misattributed
Ivar Ekeland (1944) French mathematician
Introduction, p. 1.
The Best of All Possible Worlds (2006)
James Branch Cabell (1879–1958) American author
Coth, in Book Four : Coth at Porutsa, Ch. XXVI : The Realist in Defeat
Source: The Silver Stallion (1926)
Context: Yet creeds mean very little... The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds; and the pessimist fears this is true. So I elect for neither label.
“I'm a pessimist about probabilities, I'm an optimist about possibilities.”
Lewis Mumford (1895–1990) American historian, sociologist, philosopher of technology, and literary critic
As quoted in "Lewis Mumford Remembers" by Carey Winfrey in The New York Times (6 July 1977)
“To the optimist, pessimists are neurotic; to the pessimist, optimists are deluded.”
David H. Levy (1948) Canadian astronomer
Humor in Psychotherapy (2007)
“A pessimist is a man who thinks all women are bad. An optimist is a man who hopes they are.”
Chauncey Depew (1834–1928) American politician
As quoted in FPA Book of Quotations : A New Collection of Famous Sayings (1952) by Franklin Pierce Adams
“A pessimist is a man who thinks all women are bad. An optimist is one who hopes they are. ”
Chauncey Depew (1834–1928) American politician
“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)
George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish playwright
Variant: Both optimists and pessimists contribute to society. The optimist invents the aeroplane, the pessimist the parachute.