What I am against is false optimism: the notion either that things have to go well, or else that they tend to, or else that the default condition of historical trajectories is characteristically beneficial in the long-run.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
There's probably a little greater case for pessimism than optimism. But I do not rule out optimism.
There are really two kinds of optimism. There's the complacent, Pollyanna optimism that says, 'Don't worry - everything will be just fine,' and that allows one to just lay back and do nothing about the problems around you. Then there's what we call dynamic optimism. That's an optimism based on action.
History can bring luck: this is what we can call optimism.
These days I wonder more and more why people are pessimistic when American history actually supports optimism.
If I advocate cautious optimism it is not because I do not have faith in the future but because I do not want to encourage blind faith.
Well, optimism's a good thing. It - makes people go out and - you know, start businesses and spend and do whatever is necessary to get the economy going.
Pessimism, when you get used to it, is just as agreeable as optimism.
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.
I always have an optimistic view, no matter what it is.
Optimism doesn't wait on facts. It deals with prospects. Pessimism is a waste of time.