#pessimism

The optimist lives on the peninsula of infinite possibilities; the pessimist is stranded on the island of perpetual indecision. ↗

— William Arthur Ward

#pessimism #optimism

Keep a light, hopeful heart. But ­expect the worst. ↗

— Joyce Carol Oates

#hope #optimism #pessimism #pragmatism #worst

If you reach for the stars, you just might land on a decently sized hill. ↗

— Stuart Hill

#pessimism #accomplishments

I particularly scorn my fondness for paradox. I despise pessimism, narcissism, solipsism, truculence, word-play, and pusillanimity, my chiefer inclinations; loathe self-loathers ergo me; have no pity for self-pity and so am free of that sweet baseness. I doubt I am. Being me’s no joke. ↗

— John Barth

#paradox #pessimism

But suspense presupposes uncertainty. No matter how nightmarish the situation, real suspense is impossible when we know in advance that the protagonist will prevail (as we would if Woolrich had used series characters) or will be destroyed. This is why, despite his congenital pessimism, Woolrich manages any number of times to squeeze out an upbeat resolution. Precisely because we can never know whether a particular novel or story will be light or dark, allegre or noir, his work remains hauntingly suspenseful. ("Introduction") ↗

— Francis M. Nevins

#noir #noir-fiction #suspense #pessimism

The only value of this world lay in its power - at certain times - to suggest another world. ↗

— Thomas Ligotti

#pessimism #vastarien #dreams

Those might not be the very best judges of the relation of religion to happiness who, by their own account, had neither one nor the other. ↗

— G.K. Chesterton

#pessimism #skepticism #faith

‎I was cursed with the pessimism of both the Russians and the Jews two of the gloomiest tribes in the world. Still if there wasn't greatness in me maybe I had the talent to recognize it in others even in the most irritating others. ↗

— David Benioff

#history #inspirational #jewish #jews #pessimism

You better watch out, or you're going to be defeated by pessimism! ↗

— Matthew Quick

#pessimism #inspirational

An egocentric pessimist is a person who thinks he hasn't changed, but that other people are behaving worse than before. ↗

— Idries Shah

#egocentrism #pessimism #change