“The difference between a pessimistic and an optimistic mind is of such controlling importance in regard to every intellectual function, and especially for the conduct of life, that it is out of the question to admit that both are normal, and the great majority of mankind are naturally optimistic.”
Source: A Neglected Argument for the Reality of God (1908), V
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Charles Sanders Peirce121
American philosopher, logician, mathematician, and scientist 1839–1914Related quotes
“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
Robert Anton Wilson (1932–2007) American author and polymath
Source: Cosmic Trigger: Die letzten Geheimnisse der Illuminaten oder An den Grenzen des erweiterten Bewusstseins
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
Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965) French-German physician, theologian, musician and philosopher
Epilogue, p. 242
Out of My Life and Thought : An Autobiography (1933)
“To the optimist, pessimists are neurotic; to the pessimist, optimists are deluded.”
David H. Levy (1948) Canadian astronomer
Humor in Psychotherapy (2007)
Shimon Peres (1923–2016) Israeli politician, 8th prime minister and 9th president of Israel
As quoted in Serving "60 Years to Life", Newsweek Europe (12 December 2005)
“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)
Winston S. Churchill (1874–1965) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
This quote is commonly attributed to Churchill, but appears in the "Red Herrings: False Attributions" appendix of Churchill by Himself : The Definitive Collection of Quotations (2008) by Richard Langworth, without citation as to where it originates. <br class="br">In American Character, a 1905 address by Brander Matthews, a similar quotation is attributed to L. P. Jacks ( link http://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015059451156?urlappend=%3Bseq=238). <br class="br">""Our civilization is a perilous adventure for an uncertain prize... Human society is not a constructed thing but a human organization... We are adopting a false method of reform when we begin by operations that weaken society, either morally or materially, by lower its vitality, by plunging it into gloom and despair about itself, by inducing the atmosphere of the sick-room, and then when its courage and resources are at a low ebb, expecting it to perform some mighty feat of self-reformation... Social despair or bitterness does not get us anywhere... Low spirits are an intellectual luxury. An optimist is one who sees an opportunity in every difficulty. A pessimist is one who sees a difficulty in every opportunity... The conquest of great difficulties is the glory of human nature." L. P. Jacks, quoted in American character, by Brander Matthews, 1906 <br class="br">Misattributed <br class="br">Variant: A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.