“A stumbling block to the pessimist is a stepping-stone to the optimist.”

“To be free is to learn, to test yourself constantly, to gamble. It is not safe. I had learnt to use my fears as stepping stones rather than stumbling blocks, and”

Robyn Davidson (1950) Australian writer

“To the optimist, pessimists are neurotic; to the pessimist, optimists are deluded.”

David H. Levy (1948) Canadian astronomer

“Both optimists and pessimists contribute to society. The optimist invents the aeroplane, the pessimist the parachute.”

George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish playwright

“Between the optimist and the pessimist, the difference is droll. The optimist sees the doughnut; the pessimist the hole! ”

Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish writer and poet

“Both optimists and pessimists contribute to our society. The optimist invents the airplane and the pessimist the parachute.”

Gladys Bronwyn Stern (1890–1973) British writer

“To the question whether I am a pessimist or an optimist, I answer that my knowledge is pessimistic, but my willing and hoping are optimistic.”

Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965) French-German physician, theologian, musician and philosopher

“The block of granite which was an obstacle in the pathway of the weak becomes a stepping-stone in the pathway of the strong.”

Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish philosopher, satirical writer, essayist, historian and teacher

“Don't ever become a pessimist, Ira; a pessimist is correct oftener than an optimist, but an optimist has more fun--and neither can stop the march of events.”

Robert A. Heinlein (1907–1988) American science fiction author

“The optimist sees the donut, the pessimist sees the hole.”

Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish writer and poet