"Pessimism leads to weakness. Optimism leads to..." - Quote by William James
Pessimism leads to weakness. Optimism leads to power.
More by William James
“The worst thing that can happen to a good teacher is to get a bad conscience about her profession because she feels herself hopeless as a psychologist.”
“Footnotes -- little dogs yapping at the heels of the text”
“(Five) thinkers since Galileo, each informing his successor of what discoveries his own lifetime had seen achieved, might have passed the torch of science into our hands as we sit here in this room. Indeed, for the matter of that, an audience much smaller than the present one, an audience of some 5 or 6 score people, if each person in it could speak for his own generation, would carry us away to the black unknown of the human species, to days without a document or monument to tell their tale.”
More on Optimism
“It is only after the deepest darkness that the greatest light can come; it is only after extreme grief that the greatest joy can come.”
“Don't curse the darkness, light a candle.”
“Out there things can happen, and frequently do, To people as brainy and footsy as you. And when things start to happen, don't worry, don't stew. Just go right along, you'll start happening too!”
More on Pessimism
“One cannot bring children into a world like this. One cannot perpetuate suffering, or increase the breed of these lustful animals, who have no lasting emotions, but only whims and vanities, eddying them now this way, now that.”
“A pessimist is a man who has been compelled to live with an optimist.”
“There is no sadder sight than a young pessimist.”