Think you can, think you can’t; either way, you’ll be right.
—Henry Ford (1863–1947) American Businessperson, Engineer
The man who works need never be a problem to anyone. Opportunities multiply as they are seized; they die when neglected. Life is a long line of opportunities. Wealth is not in making money, but in making the man while he is making money. Production, not destruction, leads to success.
—John Wicker
I always like to look on the optimistic side of life, but I am realistic enough to know that life is a complex matter.
—Walt Disney (1901–66) American Entrepreneur
There is no sadder sight than a young pessimist, except an old optimist.
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
Success comes in cans, failure in can’ts.
—Unknown
We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them.
—Kahlil Gibran (1883–1931) Lebanese-born American Philosopher, Poet, Painter, Theologian, Sculptor
Each of us makes his own weather, determines the color of the skies in the emotional universe which he inhabits.
—Fulton J. Sheen (1895–1979) American Catholic Religious Leader, Theologian
The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it.
—Marcus Aurelius (121–180) Emperor of Rome, Stoic Philosopher
Persistent prophecy is a familiar way of assuring the event.
—George Gissing (1857–1903) English Novelist
It was his optimism that Freud bequeathed to America and it was the optimism of our youthfulness, our freedom from the sterner, sadder tradition of Europe which enabled us to seize his gift.
—Karl Menninger (1893–1990) American Psychiatrist
The optimist thinks this is the best of all worlds. The pessimist fears it is true.
—J. Robert Oppenheimer (1904–67) American Nuclear Physicist
May the pain you have known and the conflict you have experienced give you the strength to walk through life acing each new situation with courage and optimism.
—Indian Proverb
Life is a mirror and will reflect back to the thinker what he thinks into it.
—Ernest Holmes (1887–1960) American New Thought Writer, Teacher
Great things are not something accidental, but must certainly be willed.
—Vincent van Gogh (1853–90) Dutch Painter
Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.
—W. W. Ziege
Clear your mind of ‘can’t”.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
Thoughts lead on to purpose, purpose leads onto actions, actions form habits, habits decide character, and character fixes our destiny.
—Tryon Edwards American Theologian
Public opinion is a weak tyrant, compared with our private opinion – what a man thinks of himself, that is which determines, or rather indicates his fate.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
So always look for the silver lining
And try to find the sunny side of life.
—P. G. Wodehouse (1881–1975) British Novelist, Short-story Writer, Playwright
Great men are they who see that spiritual is stronger than any material force, that thoughts rule the world.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities; an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties.
—Harry S. Truman (1884–1972) American Head of State
God will help you if you try, and you can if you think you can.
—Anna Delaney Peale (1875–1939) American Author
The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.
—William Arthur Ward (1921–94) American Author
Positive thinking won’t let you do anything but it will let you do everything better than negative thinking will.
—Zig Ziglar (1926–2012) American Author
Man is what he believes.
—Anton Chekhov (1860–1904) Russian Short-Story Writer
Optimist: Day-dreamer more elegantly spelled
—Mark Twain (1835–1910) American Humorist
Why you are born and why you are living depend entirely on what you are getting out of this world and what you are giving to it. I cannot prove that this is a balance of mathematical perfection, but my own observation of life leads me to the conclusion that there is a very real relationship, both quantitatively and qualitatively, between what you contribute and what you get out of this world.
—Oscar Hammerstein II (1895–1960) American Songwriter, Composer, Theater Producer, Writer
Our self-image strongly held essentially determines what we become.
—Maxwell Maltz (1899–1975) American Surgeon, Motivational Writer
An optimist is a proponent of the doctrine that black is white.
—Ambrose Bierce (1842–1913) American Short-story Writer, Journalist
Always borrow money from a pessimist, he doesn’t expect to be paid back.
—Unknown