quotations about pessimism
The test of all beliefs is their practical effect in life. If it be true that optimism compels the world forward, and pessimism retards it, then it is dangerous to propagate a pessimistic philosophy.
HELEN KELLER
Optimism: An Essay
Pessimism: A valuable protection against quackery.
JOHN RALSTON SAUL
The Doubter's Companion
If pessimism is true, happiness is nothing but a chimera, and to make it the end of conduct is to bid oneself and others to grasp at the unattainable.
JAMES SULLY
Pessimism: A History and a Criticism
My pessimism extends to the point of even suspecting the sincerity of other pessimists.
JEAN ROSTAND
Journal of a Character
It will scarcely be doubted, therefore, that there does exist a real and a very grave danger lest Poetry should, in these perplexing and despondent days, not only be closely associated with Pessimism, but should become for the most part its voice and echo.
ALFRED AUSTIN
The Bridling of Pegasus
A pessimist is a man who has been compelled to live with an optimist.
ELBERT HUBBARD
The American Bible
It takes a fine sense of pessimism to brood with any sort of respectability.
BRANDON SANDERSON
Elantris
If I make dark my countenance,
I shut my life from happier chance.
ALFRED TENNYSON
The Two Voices
Pessimism becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy; it reproduces itself by crippling our willingness to act.
HOWARD ZINN
You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train