#pessimism

What a pessimist you are!" exclaimed Candide. "That is because I know what life is," said Martin. ↗

— Voltaire

#pessimism #satire #life

What New England is, is a state of mind, a place where dry humor and perpetual disappointment blend to produce an ironic pessimism that folks from away find most perplexing ↗

— Willem Lange

#dry-humor #humor #new-england #perplexing #pessimism

I hope to-morrow will be a fine day, Lane. It never is, sir. Lane, you're a perfect pessimist. I do my best to give satisfaction, sir. ↗

— Oscar Wilde

#pessimism #humor

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

One can only tolerate the absolute idiocy of Man for so long before bringing out the bat. ↗

— Dean Hale

#pessimism #humor

A pessimist is a man who thinks everybody is as nasty as himself, and hates them for it. ↗

— George Bernard Shaw

#humor #optimism #pessimism #funny

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

You'll never find a rainbow if you're looking down ↗

— Charles Chaplin

#optimism #pessimism #wonder #inspirational

‎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