There are more defects in temperament than in the mind.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
Think of only three things: your God, your family and the Green Bay Packers—in that order.
—Vince Lombardi (1913–70) American Football Coach
A pessimist is one who, when he has the choice of two evils, chooses both.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
I have become my own version of an optimist. If I can’t make it through one door, I’ll go through another door—or I’ll make a door. Something terrific will come no matter how dark the present.
—Joan Rivers (1933–2014) American Comedienne, Writer
Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein.
—The Holy Bible Scripture in the Christian Faith
We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them.
—Kahlil Gibran (1883–1931) Lebanese-born American Philosopher, Poet, Painter, Theologian, Sculptor
One of the illusions of life is that the present hour is not the critical, decisive hour. Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year. No man has learned anything rightly, until he knows that every day is Doomsday.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
Thoughts lead on to purpose, purpose leads onto actions, actions form habits, habits decide character, and character fixes our destiny.
—Tryon Edwards American Theologian
Our belief at the beginning of a doubtful undertaking is the one thing that insures the successful outcome of our venture.
—William James (1842–1910) American Philosopher, Psychologist, Physician
If I were to wish for anything, I should not wish for wealth and power, but for the passionate sense of the potential, for the eye which, ever young and ardent, sees the possible. Pleasure disappoints, possibility never. And what wine is so sparkling, what so fragrant, what so intoxicating, as possibility!
—Soren Kierkegaard (1813–55) Danish Philosopher, Theologian
The road to positivity is strewn with the abandoned vehicles of the faint-hearted.
—Peter McWilliams (1949–2000) American Author, Activist
Act so as to elicit the best in others and thereby in thyself.
—Felix Adler (1851–1933) German-Born American Philosopher
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
Most of the time we think we’re sick it’s all in the mind.
—Thomas Wolfe (1900–38) American Novelist
My sun sets to rise again.
—Robert Browning (1812–89) English Poet
Man does not simply exist, but always decides what his existence will be, what he will become in the next moment.
—Viktor Frankl (1905–97) Austrian Psychiatrist, Psychotherapist
When you have seven percent unemployed, you have ninety-three percent working.
—John F. Kennedy (1917–63) American Head of State, Journalist
If you are possessed by an idea, you find it expressed everywhere, you even smell it.
—Thomas Mann (1875–1955) German Novelist, Short Story Writer, Social Critic, Philanthropist, Essayist
Bad times, hard times-this is what people keep saying; but let us live well, and times shall be good. We are the times: Such as we are, such are the times.
—Augustine of Hippo (354–430) Roman-African Christian Philosopher
Go to college and get some knowledge. Stay there till you’re through. If they can make penicillin out of mouldy bread, they can sure make something out of you.
—Muhammad Ali (1942–2016) American Sportsperson
All seems infected that the infected spy, as all looks yellow to the jaundiced eye.
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744) English Poet
The universe is change; our life is what our thoughts make it.
—Marcus Aurelius (121–180) Emperor of Rome, Stoic Philosopher
People deal too much with the negative, with what is wrong. Why not try and see positive things, to just touch those things and make them bloom?
—Thich Nhat Hanh (1926–2022) Vietnamese Buddhist Religious Leader, Teacher, Author, Peace Activist
We awaken in others the same attitude of mind we hold toward them.
—Elbert Hubbard (1856–1915) American Writer, Publisher, Artist, Philosopher
Getting people to like you is merely the other side of liking them.
—Norman Vincent Peale (1898–1993) American Clergyman, Self-Help Author
It’s better to be an optimist who is sometimes wrong than a pessimist who is always right
—Indian Proverb
Every noble work is at first impossible.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
As is our confidence, so is our capacity.
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English Essayist
An optimist is a person who sees only the lights in the picture, whereas a pessimist sees only the shadows. An idealist, however, is one who sees the light and the shadows, but in addition sees something else: the possibility of changing the picture, of making the lights prevail over the shadows.
—Felix Adler (1851–1933) German-Born American Philosopher
A man is what he thinks about all day long.
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–82) American Philosopher
We trust, that somehow, good will be the final goal of ill.
—Alfred, Lord Tennyson (1809–92) British Poet
It’s such an act of optimism to get through a day and enjoy it and laugh and do all that without thinking about death. What spirit human beings have!
—Gilda Radner (1946–89) American Comedian, Actress
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
Man’s rise or fall, success or failure, happiness or unhappiness depends on his attitude … a man’s attitude will create the situation he imagines.
—Muhammad Ali (1942–2016) American Sportsperson
Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.
—Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–68) American Civil Rights Leader, Clergyman
If you constantly think of illness, you eventually become ill; if you believe yourself to be beautiful, you become so.
—Shakti Gawain (b.1948) American Author, Environmentalist
One of the things I learned the hard way was that it doesn’ t pay to get discouraged. Keeping busy and making optimism a way of life can restore your faith in yourself.
—Lucille Ball (1911–89) American Actor, Comedian, Model
OPTIMISM, n. The doctrine, or belief, that everything is beautiful, including what is ugly, everything good, especially the bad, and everything right that is wrong. It is held with greatest tenacity by those most accustomed to the mischance of falling into adversity, and is most acceptably expounded with the grin that apes a smile. Being a blind faith, it is inaccessible to the light of disproof—an intellectual disorder, yielding to no treatment but death. It is hereditary, but fortunately not contagious.
—Ambrose Bierce (1842–1913) American Short-story Writer, Journalist
The realist sees reality as concrete. The optimist sees reality as clay.
—Robert Brault
The place where optimism flourishes most is in the lunatic asylum.
—Havelock Ellis (1859–1939) British Sexologist, Physician, Social Reformer
The nice part about being a pessimist is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised.
—George Will (b.1941) American Columnist, Journalist, Writer
I have found that if you love life, life will love you back.
—Arthur Rubinstein (1888–1982) Polish-born American Pianist
One could do worse than be a swinger of birches.
—Robert Frost (1874–1963) American Poet
It isn’t our position, but our disposition, that makes us happy.
—Unknown
If you pretend to be good, the world takes you very seriously. If you pretend to be bad, it doesn’t. Such is the astounding stupidity of optimism.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
Hope is like a road in the country; there was never a road, but when many people walk on it, the road comes into existence.
—Lu Xun (1881–1936) Chinese Writer
Clear your mind of ‘can’t”.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
A man’s as miserable as he thinks he is.
—Seneca the Younger (Lucius Annaeus Seneca) (c.4 BCE–65 CE) Roman Stoic Philosopher, Statesman, Tragedian
Misery is almost always the result of thinking.
—Joseph Joubert (1754–1824) French Writer, Moralist
If you think it’s going to rain, it will.
—Clint Eastwood (b.1930) American Film Director, Film Producer, Film Actor