#ties

If we define optimism broadly as the tendency to maintain a positive outlook, then realistic optimism is the tendency to maintain a positive outlook within the constraints of the available "measurable phenomena situated in the physical and social world" (DeGrandpre, 2000, p. 733). With respect to fuzzy meaning, realistic optimism involves enhancing and focusing on the favorable aspects of our experiences. Examples include being lenient in our evaluation of past events, actively appreciating the positive aspects of our current situation, and routinely emphasizing possible opportunities for the future. With respect to fuzzy knowledge, realistic optimism involves hoping, aspiring, and searching for positive experiences while acknowledging what we do not know and accepting what we cannot know. ↗

— Sandra L. Schneider

#constraints #evaluation #opportunities #optimism #positivity

The main cause of my difficulties stemmed from the tragedy of my daughter's unsound birth and my inability to face my feelings. ↗

— Gene Tierney

#cause #daughter #difficulties #face #feelings

What the government has to do, if it wants to govern for any length of time, is it must appeal primarily to the third parties in the House of Commons to get them to support it. ↗

— Stephen Harper

#appeal #commons #get #govern #government

Many counties in Maryland are above the average unemployment rate for both Maryland and the United States. We need representation in Congress who will make creating jobs the No. 1 priority so the people of Maryland can get back to work. ↗

— Andrew P. Harris

#average #back #both #congress #counties

Don't kid yourself. President Obama's decision to withdraw 33,000 troops from Afghanistan before he stands for reelection is not driven by the United States' 'position of strength' in the war zone as much as it is by grim economic and political realities at home. ↗

— Ron Fournier

#before #decision #driven #economic #grim

Authority is not a quality one person "has," in the sense that he has property or physical qualities. Authority refers to an interpersonal relation in which one person looks upon another as somebody superior to him. ↗

— Erich Fromm

#authority #him #interpersonal #looks #person

I'm a latecomer to the environmental issue, which for years seemed to me like an excuse for more government regulation. But I can see that in rich societies, voters are paying less attention to economic issues and more to issues of the spirit, including the environment. ↗

— David Frum

#economic #economic issues #environment #environmental #environmental issue

There is nobody I know by name who is concerned with collecting information for the Russian authorities. There are people whom I know by sight whom I trusted with my life. ↗

— Klaus Fuchs

#collecting #concerned #i #information #know

I think it is the weak and the young and the minorities that you need to look after to get a healthy creative environment - to get a lot of choices, a lot of different styles of music, a lot experimental stuff that everyone else feeds off. ↗

— Peter Gabriel

#choices #creative #creative environment #different #different styles

Each social formation, through each of its material activities, exerts its influence upon the civic whole; and each of its ideas and ideals wins also its place and power. ↗

— Patrick Geddes

#also #civic #each #exerts #formation