Jesmyn Ward

Young people have a right to optimism, and rightly so; human beings have grown and developed and accomplished wonderful feats in the world. But what mires me in pessimism is the fact that so much of life is pain and sorrow and willful ignorance and violence, and pushing back against that tide takes so much effort, so much steady fight. It's tiring.

American Novelist

Ruth Prawer Jhabvala

The older books were quite light-hearted. But I think most of my novels do end on a deep note of pessimism. Shadows seem to be closing in. The final conclusion isn't that life is wonderful and everything is bright and cheery and in the garden.

German Novelist

James Gunn

Science fiction always has had strains of pessimism and optimism weaving through its historical development, sometimes one dominating and then the other, usually depending on the state of the world.

American Director

Antony Beevor

I believe passionately in preemptive pessimism, especially before a book comes out. I expect the worst both from reviewers and sales, and then, with any luck, I may be proved wrong.

British Historian

Rivers Cuomo

I wouldn't say that I relax and enjoy anything. But I think my pessimism helps. I never really expect anything good to happen, so when it does, it's a nice surprise.

American Musician

Said Sayrafiezadeh

We were poor, my mother and I, living in a world of doom and gloom, pessimism and bitterness, where storms raged and wolves scratched at the door.

American Playwright

Rosabeth Moss Kanter

Confidence isn't optimism or pessimism, and it's not a character attribute. It's the expectation of a positive outcome.

American Businesswoman

John Ortberg

Both hope and pessimism are deeply contagious. And no one is more infectious than a leader.

American Clergyman

Alain de Botton

I think a certain degree of pessimism is actually helpful to love.

English Writer

Ian Mcewan

One has to have the courage of one's pessimism.

British Author

Pessimism often implies a belief that efforts will not succeed.

Expecting Failure

Pessimism can reflect someone's temporary mood, not their entire personality.

Emotional State

Pessimism isn't always based on facts but can be a general negative outlook.

Not Always Rational

Philosophical pessimism affects how one perceives world events and human actions.

Worldview Impact

Philosophical pessimism can arise from certain historical or cultural contexts.

Historical Context

Distinguish philosophical pessimism from a temporary negative mood; the former is a deeper belief system.

Philosophy vs. Mood

 So why bother with all this pessimism? Because at their heart, dystopias are cautionary tales, not about some particular government or technology, but the very idea that humanity can be molded into an ideal shape. Think back to the perfect world you imagined. Did you also imagine what it would take to achieve?

How to recognize a...

 and realize we have agency in the scheme of life. We need to put an end to this game of blame that has prevented us from taking full responsibility for our own lives. For too long, we have been prisoners of our past. We have allowed despair and pessimism to drain us, drain our energies, limit our imaginations

Why I choose humanism...

 of communication and navigation. They learn colors and scents. And they can map their environment out. All with a brain the size of a milligram. It's a little, tiny thing. And, and now according to some work we think-- we find out they might have emotions. They might possess pessi-- pessimism.

National Geographic...

 We have to prioritize social progress, and really scale solutions around the world. I believe the Global Goals are a historic opportunity, because the world's leaders have promised to deliver them. Let's not dismiss the goals or slide into pessimism; let's hold them to that promise.

How We Can Make the...

 to rake the muck, to speak truth to power? Well, not exactly. It's good to be accurate. Of course we should be aware of suffering and danger wherever they occur, but we should also be aware of how they can be reduced, because there are dangers to indiscriminate pessimism.

Is the world getting...

 out of work. And consequently, low aggregate demand, which in a never-ending cycle, reinforces the pessimism of the investors, who, fearing low demand, reproduce it by not investing -- exactly like Oedipus' father, who, terrified by the prophecy of the oracle

Capitalism will eat...

 In difficult times, pessimism is a self-fulfilling, self-inflicted death sentence." The truth is, we can build a better world, and we can do so right now. We have the we saw a hint of that a moment ago, and we're coming up with new ones all the time.

Jamais Cascio: Tools for...

 who I'm sure some of you mutual fund Empire builders must know or have heard of and he said look for the points of maximum pessimism and invest there well I am and me and my friends are we work

Who owns your view? PIPE...

 The second principle is hope, and I want to say this about hope. Hope is not naive, and hope is not an opiate. Hope may be the single greatest act of defiance against a politics of pessimism

It's time to reclaim...

 pessimism um spectrum i would try to kind of summarize my my my views like that things today are better than ever for humanity things are still quite bad and things