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Optimism Quotes

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Optimism Quotes

“Humanity has a strange fondness for following processions. Get four men following a banner down the street, and, if that banner is inscribed with rhymes of pleasant optimism, in an hour, all the town will be afoot, ready to march to whatever tune the leaders care to play.”

IfsMenPlayCareHumanityHoursLeaderFourStreetsStrangeReadyOptimismTownsFollowingPleasantTunesMarchRhymeBannerFondnessProcession
Book:John Dos Passos: the major nonfictional prose
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“I also came to see that liberalism's superficial optimism concerning human nature caused it to overlook the fact that reason is darkened by sin. The more I thought about human nature the more I saw how our tragic inclination for sin causes us to use our minds to rationalize our actions. Liberalism failed to see that reason by itself is little more than an instrument to justify man's defensive ways of thinking. Reason, devoid of the purifying power of faith, can never free itself from distortions and rationalizations.”

ThinkingMenWayMindHumansLittlesReasonFactsUseActionCausesSinSawsHuman NatureOptimismInstrumentsLiberalismTragicJustifySuperficialInclinationOur ActionsWay Of ThinkingDistortionRationalizePurifying
Book:The Essential Martin Luther King, Jr.:
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“Optimism is an alienated form of faith, pessimism an alienated form of despair. If one truly responds to man and his future, ie , concernedly and "responsibly." one can respond only by faith or by despair. Rational faith as well as rational despair are based on the most thorough, critical knowledge of all the factors that are relevant for the survival of man.”

IfsMenWellsFormDespairSurvivalOptimismCriticalRationalFactorsPessimismRelevantThorough
Book:The Anatomy of Human Destructiveness
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“The gravitation constant is the same always. But the economic constants-these elasticities of demand and supply-depending, as they do, upon human consciousness, are liable to vary. The constitution of the atom, as it were, and not merely its position, changes under the influence of environment.”

MenGivingHumansEndsFormDiesStrongBornConsciousnessEconomicDyingEmotionalBirthPeriodsDemandOptimismCrisisConstantErrorsProsperityExcitedErasExcitementGiantsPessimismInfantVaryLiableHuman ConsciousnessNew EraGravitationElasticityStrong Emotional
Author:Arthur Cecil Pigou
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“To talk about the need for perfection in man is to talk about the need for another species. The essence of man is imperfection. Imperfection and blazing contradictions-between mixed good and evil, altruism and selfishness, cooperativeness and combativeness, optimism and fatalism, affirmation and negation.”

MenNeedsEvilPerfectionOptimismEssenceSpeciesSelfishnessContradictionGood And EvilImperfectionAltruismAffirmationBlazingNegationFatalism
Book:Who Speaks for Man?
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“Optimism is a tonic. Pessimism is poison. Admittedly, every businessman must be realistic. He must gather facts, analyze them candidly and strive to draw logical conclusions, whether favorable or unfavorable. He must not engage in self-delusion. He must not view everything through rose-colored glasses. Granting this, the incontestable truth is that America has been built up by optimists, not by pessimists, but by men possessing courage, confidence in the nation's destiny, by men willing to adventure to shoulder risks terrifying to the timid.”

MenHas BeensSelfFactsAmericaPoliticalPoliticsNationsViewsDestinyRiskWillingAdventureTruth IsDrawsBuiltOptimismRoseStriveGlassesShouldersConclusionPoisonDelusionLogicalPessimismRealisticBusinessmanOptimistPessimistPossessingSelf DelusionColored GlassRose Colored Glasses
Author:B. C. Forbes
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“Now the basic impulse behind existentialism is optimistic, very much like the impulse behind all science. Existentialism is romanticism, and romanticism is the feeling that man is not the mere he has always taken himself for. Romanticism began as a tremendous surge of optimism about the stature of man. Its aim - like that of science - was to raise man above the muddled feelings and impulses of his everyday humanity, and to make him a god-like observer of human existence.”

MenHumansFeelingsHumanityBehindsExistenceTakenOptimismAimRaisesMereEverydayOptimisticImpulseExistentialismObserversHuman ExistenceRomanticismStature
Author:Colin Wilson
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“Fortunately for us and our world, youth is not easily discouraged. Youth with its clear vista and boundless faith and optimism is uninhibited by the thousands of considerations that always bedevil man in his progress. The hopes of the world rest on the flexibility, vigor, capacity for new thought, and the fresh outlook of the young.”

MenWorldYoungClearProgressYouthCapacityOptimismConsiderationOur WorldFlexibilityOutlookDiscouragedBoundlessNew ThoughtVigorVistas
Author:Dwight D. Eisenhower
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“For women, marriages foreclosed often resulted in an accumulation of booty; for men, these failed projects of implausible optimism were more likely to manifest themselves in material lack. It was hard to resist the metaphorical impression that women got to keep the past itself, whereas men were simply robbed of it.”

MenHardPastMaterialsProjectsOptimismImpressionManifestAccumulationMetaphoricalBooty
Book:The Post-Birthday World
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“The essence of optimism is that it takes no account of the present, but it is a source of inspiration, of vitality and hope where others have resigned; it enables a man to hold his head high, to claim the future for himself and not to abandon it to his enemy.”

MenInspirationHopeEnemySourceFutureOptimismEssenceAccountsClaimsOptimisticAbandonOptimistVitalityResignedSource Of InspirationOptimism In LifeOptimistic LifeOptimism And Hope
Author:Dietrich Bonhoeffer
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“I'm inspired by the people I meet in my travels--hearing their stories, seeing the hardships they overcome, their fundamental optimism and decency. I'm inspired by the love people have for their children. And I'm inspired by my own children, how full they make my heart. They make me want to work to make the world a little bit better. And they make me want to be a better man.”

PeopleMenWorldWantHeartChildrenLittlesStoriesBitsMy OwnFamilySeeingMy HeartLittle BitOptimismOvercomingFundamentalsInspiredHearingHardshipDecencyBetter Man
Author:Barack Obama
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“Man often becomes what he believes himself to be. If I keep on saying to myself that I cannot do a certain thing, it is possible that I may end by really becoming incapable of doing it. On the contrary, if I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it even if I may not have it at the beginning.”

IfsThinkingMenBelieveMayI CanEndsCertainBeliefCan DoAbilityInspiringStrengthPossibilityPositivePositive ThinkingCollegeConfidenceBecomingCapacityOptimismContraryOptimisticAcquireLove YourselfGraduatesIncapableOptimistBeginningI Can Do ItPower Of Positive ThinkingBeing OptimisticConfidence In YourselfThink Positive Be PositivePositive OptimisticLimiting BeliefsPositive Thinking InspirationalThinking Of YourselfCan Do AttitudeGood OptimisticSkills And Abilities
Book:The Essential Gandhi: His Life, Work, and Ideas : an Anthology
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“For, like almost everyone else in our country, I started out with my share of optimism. I believed in hard work and progress and action, but now, after first being 'for' society and then 'against' it, I assign myself no rank or any limit, and such an attitude is very much against the trend of the times. But my world has become one of infinite possibilities. What a phrase - still it's a good phrase and a good view of life, and a man shouldn't accept any other; that much I've learned underground. Until some gang succeeds in putting the world in a strait jacket, its definition is possibility.”

MenWorldFirstsStillsCountryHardActionViewsAttitudeAcceptingProgressSharePossibilityHard WorkSucceedLimitsOptimismInfiniteDefinitionsOur CountryPhrasesI've LearnedTrendsGangJacketsInfinite Possibilities
Book:Invisible Man
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“I have a history of making decisions very quickly about men. I have always fallen in love fast and without measuring risks. I have a tendency not only to see the best in everyone, but to assume that everyone is emotionally capable of reaching his highest potential. I have fallen in love more times than I care to count with the highest potential of a man, rather than with the man himself, and I have hung on to the relationship for a long time (sometimes far too long) waiting for the man to ascend to his own greatness. Many times in romance I have been a victim of my own optimism.”

MenLoveLongHas BeensSometimesCareRomanceWaitingMy OwnDecisionRiskGreatnessHighestCapableLong TimeOptimismVictimAssumingDisappointmentTendenciesFallenReachingMore TimeHungI CareMeasuringMaking DecisionsPray LoveEat Pray Love BookEat Pray And LoveBest Eat Pray LoveEat Love PrayBali Eat Pray Love
Author:Elizabeth Gilbert
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“Jamie was more than just the woman I loved. In the year Jamie helped me become the man I am today. With her steady hand she showed how important it was to help others; with her patience and kindness she showed me what life really is all about. Her cheerfulness and optimism, even in times of sickness, was the most amazing thing I have ever witnessed . . . Jamie also thought me the value of forgiveness and the transforming power it offers . . . Jamie was not only the angel who saved Tom Thornton, she was the angel who saved us all.”

MenYearsImportantHelpingHandsTodayValuesKindnessOffersAngelOptimismSavedHelping OthersSicknessSteadyTomsTransformingAmazing ThingsCheerfulnessMost AmazingJamieSteady Hands
Author:Nicholas Sparks
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“Such is the influence which the condition of our own thoughts, exercises, even over the appearance of external objects. Men who look on nature, and their fellow-men, and cry that all is dark and gloomy, are in the right; but the sombre colours are reflections from their own jaundiced eyes and hearts. The real hues are delicate, and need a clearer vision.”

MenNeedsLooksHeartRealEyeDarkVisionInfluenceConditionsCryObjectsExerciseReflectionOptimismFellowsAppearanceOptimisticColourDelicateFellow ManGloomyHue
Book:Oliver Twist
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“What I am suggesting is that each of us turn from the negativism that permeates our society and look for the remarkable good among those with whom we associate, that we speak of one another’s virtues more than we speak of one another’s faults, that optimism replace pessimism, that our faith exceed our fears. When I was a young man and was prone to speak critically, my father would say: “Cynics do not contribute, skeptics do not create, doubters do not achieve.”

MenLooksHappinessYoungTurnsFatherSpeakVirtueAchievePositive ThinkingOptimismFaultsYoung ManRemarkableOur SocietyPessimismAssociatesExceedSkepticSuggestingDoubters
Author:Gordon B. Hinckley
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“I am strongly of the opinion that, after the age of twenty-one, a man ought not to be out of bed and awake at four in the morning. The hour breeds thought. At twenty-one, life being all future, it may be examined with impunity. But, at thirty, having become an uncomfortable mixture of future and past, it is a thing to be looked at only when the sun is high and the world full of warmth and optimism.”

MenWorldMayAgePastHoursOpinionMorningSunFourOughtBedOptimismTwentiesUncomfortableAwakeThirtyWarmthMixturesInsomniaTwenty OneImpunity
Book:The Little Nugget
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“Hope is not blind optimism. It's not ignoring the enormity of the task ahead or the roadblocks that stand in our path. It's not sitting on the sidelines or shirking from a fight. Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it, and to work for it, and to fight for it. Hope is the belief that destiny will not be written for us, but by us, by the men and women who are not content to settle for the world as it is, who have the courage to remake the world as it should be.”

IfsMenWorldShouldFightingBeliefDestinyPathWrittenSittingEvidenceMen And WomenTasksOptimismBlindContraryDespiteSettlingSomething BetterRemakesSidelinesRoadblockBlind Optimism
Author:Barack Obama
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“Though all three men faced the same hardship, their differing perceptions of it appeared to be shaping their fates. Louie and Phil's hope displaced their fear and inspired them to work toward their survival, and each success renewed their physical and emotional vigor. Mac's resignation seemed to paralyze him and the less he participated in their efforts to survive, the more he slipped. Though he did the least, as the days passed, it was he who faded the most. Louie and Phil's optimism, and Mac's hopelessness, were becoming self-fulfilling.”

MenSelfThreeEffortFateEmotionalBecomingPerceptionSurvivalOptimismInspiredHardshipFulfillingHopelessnessResignationFadedVigorMacsUnbroken
Book:Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption
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“In my ninety-plus years, I have learned a secret. I have learned that when good men and good women face challenges with optimism, things will always work out! Truly, things always work out! Despite how difficult circumstances may look at the moment, those who have faith and move forward with a happy spirit will find that things always work out.”

MenYearsLooksMayMomentsFacesMovingSpiritDifficultChallengesSecretCircumstancesOptimismWork OutMoving ForwardDespiteGood ManPlusHave FaithI Have LearnedNinetyGood WomanDifficult CircumstancesHappy Spirit
Author:Gordon B. Hinckley
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“The most successful men in the end are those whose success is the result of steady accretion. It is the man who carefully advances step by step, with his mind becoming wider and wider - and progressively better able to grasp any theme or situation - persevering in what he knows to be practical, and concentrating his thought upon it, who is bound to succeed in the greatest degree.”

KnowsMenMindEndsAbleSuccessResultsSituationStepsSuccessfulFailingHe ManBecomingSucceedDegreesOptimismOvercomingPerseveranceBoundsPracticalsThemeSteadyConcentratingSuccessful Man
Author:Alexander Graham Bell
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“Magic enables man to carry out with confidence his important tasks, to maintain his poise and his mental integrity in fits of anger, in the throes of hate, of unrequited love, of despair and anxiety. The function of magic is to ritualize man's optimism, to enhance his faith in the victory of hope over fear. Magic expresses the greater value for man of confidence over doubt, of steadfastness over vacillation, of optimism over pessimism.”

MenMindImportantScienceValuesHateDoubtGreaterMagicVictoryFitIntegrityDespairAnxietyTasksOptimismFunctionPessimismUnrequited LoveUnrequitedPoiseSteadfastnessVacillation
Author:Bronislaw Malinowski
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“If I were required to guess off-hand, and without collusion with higher minds, what is the bottom cause of the amazing material and intellectual advancement of the last fifty years, I should guess that it was the modern-born and previously non-existent disposition on the part of men to believe that a new idea can have value.”

IfsMenLifeInspirationalShouldYearsMindBelieveIdeasHandsInspirationMotivationalLastsMotivationValuesCausesBornModernMaterialsHigherIntellectualOptimismBottomFiftyNew IdeasDispositionAdvancementCollusion
Book:MARK TWAIN Ultimate Collection: 370+ Titles in One Volume (Illustrated): The Adventures of Tom Sawyer & Huckleberry Finn, The Prince and the Pauper, The £1,000,000 Bank Note, A Horse’s Tale, Yankee in King Arthur's Court, The Innocents Abroad, Life on the Mississippi…
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