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Quote by Maggie Smith

“Today I think of myself as a ‘recovering pessimist.’ I know that optimism is not at odds with wisdom. It’s quite the opposite. I think of cynicism as cool but lazy, while hope is desperately uncool—it has sweaty palms and an earnest smile on its face. What I know to be true is that one hopeful person will accomplish more than a hundred cynics. Why? Because the hopeful person will try.”

Quote by Maggie Smith

Author

Maggie Smith
Maggie Smith

Maggie Smith is a renowned British actress, celebrated for her exceptional performances in theater, film, and television. Born on December 28, 1934, she embarked on her acting career in 1952, and since then, she has captivated audiences worldwide with her unique acting style and versatile character portrayals. Smith has achieved significant success in the entertainment industry, earning multiple award nominations and wins, including Academy Awards, Tony Awards, and Emmy Awards. Her performances in films such as 'Pride and Prejudice' and the 'Harry Potter' series are particularly memorable. more

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“Thinking based on evil is not pessimistic; it is the thinking based on misfortune that is pessimistic because it wants desperately to escape evil or, alternatively, to revel in it. Thought, for its part, does not cure human misfortune, the terrible obviousness of which it absorbs for purposes of some unknown transformation. Pessimism excludes any depth that eludes its negative judgement, whereas thought wishes to penetrate magically beyond the fracture of the visible. The rays of the black sun of pessimism do not reach down to the floor of the abyss. Absolute depth knows neither good nor evil. Thus the intelligence of evil goes far beyond pessimism. In reality, the only genuinely pessimistic, nihilistic vision is that of good since, at bottom, from the humanist point of view, the whole of history is nothing but crime. Cain killing Abel is already a crime against humanity (there were only two of them!) and isn't original sin already a crime against humanity too? This is all absurd, and, from the standpoint of good, the effort to rehabilitate the world's violence is a hopeless exercise. All the more so as, without all these crimes, there simply wouldn't be any history. 'If the evil in man were eliminated,' says Montaigne, 'you would destroy the fundamental conditions of life.”

“Τα χαϊκού της Άνοιξης Ι. Στο φόρεμά σου - Ω, Άνοιξη πανώρια - Ρόδα ανθίζουν The haiku of Spring Ι. On your dress - Oh, gorgeous Spring - roses bloom ΙΙ. Το φως του ήλιου Στα μαλλιά σου στάθηκε Καλώς σε, Κυρά! II. The sunlight stood still upon your hair Welcome, my Lady! Haiku and Translation by Irene Doura-Kavadia”