Attitude

This file includes Optimism and Pessimism; Curiosity and Boredom; Cynicism; Egotism; and Perfectionism. Also see Gratitude, Acceptance, Worry and Regret and That's Life.

Optimism and Pessimism

Anything can happen to me tomorrow, but at least nothing more can happen to me yesterday.
Being an optimist after you've got everything you want doesn't count. (Kin Hubbard)
Blessed are the pessimists, for they make backups!
Both optimists and pessimists contribute to our society. The optimist invents the airplane and the pessimist the parachute. (Gil Stern)
Cheer up, the worst is yet to come. (Philander Chase Johnson)
Chicken Little only has to be right once.
Clouds may come, but clouds must go, and they have a silver lining,
for beyond them all, you know, the sun or moon is shining.
Don't ever become a pessimist...a pessimist is correct oftener than an optimist, but an optimist has more fun - and neither can stop the march of events. (Robert A. Heinlein)
Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It is already tomorrow in Australia. (Charles Schultz)
Eagles may soar, but weasels don't get sucked into jet engines.
The fact that everything will be all right, does not necessarily make anything all right now.
False hope is better than no hope at all.
A happy person is not a person in a certain set of circumstances, but rather a person with a certain set of attitudes. (Hugh Downs)
How many pessimists end up by desiring the things they fear, in order to prove that they are right. (Robert Mallet)
I don't consider myself a pessimist. I think of a pessimist as someone who is waiting for it to rain. And I feel soaked to the skin. (Leonard Cohen)
I guess I just prefer to see the dark side of things. The glass is always half-empty. And cracked. And I just cut my lip on it. And chipped a tooth. (Janeane Garofalo)
I have a new philosophy. I'm only going to dread one day at a time. (Charles Schultz)
I was going to buy a copy of The Power of Positive Thinking, and then I thought: What the hell good would that do? (Ronnie Shakes)
If all is not lost, where is it?
If the pessimists aren't happy now they never will be.
If you have butterflies in your stomach...invite them into your heart.
I'm a confirmed negaholic. I don't just see a glass that's half full and call it half-empty; I see a glass that's completely full and worry that someone's going to tip it over. (Peter McWilliams)
I'm an optimist, but I don't think it helps.
In the long run the pessimist may be proved right, but the optimist has a better time on the trip. (Daniel L. Reardon)
Is the glass half empty, half full, or twice as large as it needs to be?
It is impossible for an optimist to be pleasantly surprised.
It never hurts your eyesight to look on the bright side of things.
Just because something doesn't do what you planned it to do doesn't mean it's useless. (Thomas Alva Edison)
It will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end.
Life is short, and it's up to you to make it sweet. (Sadie Delany)
Living on Earth is expensive, but it does include a free trip around the sun.
A lot of people become pessimists from financing optimists.
Never tell a young person that anything cannot be done. God may have been waiting centuries for somebody ignorant enough of the impossible to do that very thing. (John Andrew Holmes)
The nice part about being a pessimist is that you are constantly being either proven right or being pleasantly surprised. (George F. Will)
No one has ever injured his eyesight by looking on the bright side of things!
Nobody really cares if you're miserable, so you might as well be happy. (Cythina Nelms)
On staring out at a gloomy day: First you must realize that it is the day that is gloomy, not you. If you want to be gloomy, too, that's all right, but it's not mandatory. (Nora Gallagher)
The optimist is as often wrong as the pessimist, but is far happier.
An optimist is one who sees a light. A pessimist is one who blows it out.
An optimist is the human personification of spring. (Susan L Bissonette)
An optimist laughs to forget. A pessimist forgets to laugh.
The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds; and the pessimist fears this is true. (James Branch Cabell)
The optimist says, "My cup runneth over, what a blessing." The pessimist says, "My cup runneth over, what a mess."
The optimist sees opportunity in every danger; the pessimist sees danger in every opportunity. (Winston Churchill, Sir)
Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional. (M. Kathleen Casey)
A pessimist complains about the noise when opportunity knocks.
The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.
A pessimist's blood type is be-negative.
Pessimism is, in brief, playing the sure game. You cannot lose at it; you may gain. It is the only view of life in which you can never be disappointed. Having reckoned what to do in the worst possible circumstances, when better arise, as they may, life becomes child's play. (Thomas Hardy)
Pessimism, when you get used to it, is just as agreeable as optimism. (Arnold Bennett)
A pessimist is never disappointed.
A pessimist is one who builds dungeons in the air.
A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities, and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties. (Harry Truman)
A pessimist sees only the dark side of the cloud and mopes;
A philosopher sees both sides of the cloud and shrugs.
An optimist doesn't see the clouds at all - he's walking on them.
A pessimist's blood type is B-negative.
The place where optimism most flourishes is the lunatic asylum. (Havelock Ellis)
Smile, they said, it could be worse.
So, I did . . . and it was.
A tea kettle continues to sing even when its up to its neck in hot water.
Try to believe that if you take the leap you'll be taught how to fly.
Turn your face to the sunshine and all shadows fall behind. (Helen Keller)
What passes for optimism is most often the effect of an intellectual error. (Raymond Aron)
When I look at the world I'm pessimistic, but when I look at people I am optimistic. (Carl Rogers)
When you're finally holding all the cards, why does everyone else decide to play chess?
Wherever you go, no matter what the weather, always bring your own sunshine. (Anthony J. D'Angelo)

Knitting a Sweater

(Denny Davis)

I spent my whole life knitting a sweater
with no pattern or instructions.
I used dull, bent needles and poor quality yarn.
However I worked very hard
to make the best sweater I could possibly make.

After 53 years I ended up with something
that was not at all like I had envisioned.
It was poorly fitting -
so tight it restricted my movements,
very uncomfortable and irritating,
a dull, dreary color
with many dropped stitches.

I decided I would unravel it just a bit
and try to fix it a little -
pick up some dropped stitches,
improve the pattern,
maybe add some color.

However things got out of hand
and it started to unravel on its own
in spite of my attempts to stop it.

You might think I would be glad
to see such a poor quality sweater destroyed.
However I have very mixed feelings about it.
In the first place it was the only sweater I had.
It was far from perfect, even ugly,
but it did keep out some of the drafts
and it was known and familiar.

Now the only thing to do is to start over.

The problem is that I still have no pattern,
and I still have the same dull, bent needles
and poor quality yarn to work with.
If I try again I might well end up with
the same kind of sweater as before.
And even if I do a little better
I am not sure if it is worth the effort.

Maybe it would be easier just to stay cold.

Cynicism

Be careful what you wish for, you might get it.
A city is a large community where people are lonesome together.
A cynic is a person searching for an honest man with a stolen lantern. (E. A. Shoaff)
A cynic is someone who not only reads bitter lessons from the past, but who is prematurely disappointed with the future.
A cynic smells flowers and looks for the casket.
Cynicism is an unpleasant way of saying the truth. (Lillian Hellman)
Cynicism is intellectual treason. (Norman Cousins)
Cynicism is not realistic and tough. It's unrealistic and kind of cowardly because it means you don't have to try. (Peggy Noonan)
The cynics are right nine times out of ten. (Henry Louis Menchken)
The day a person becomes a cynic is the day he loses his youth. (Marvin D. Levy)
Every morning is the dawn of a new error.
Every silver lining has a cloud.
For every action, there is an equal and opposite criticism.
Glory is fleeting, but obscurity is forever.
Idealism is what precedes experience; cynicism is what follows. (David T. Wolf)
If Barbie is so popular, why do you have to buy her friends?
If truth and justice are on your side, don't expect to have people, too.
It IS as bad as you think, and they ARE out to get you.
It takes a clever man to turn cynic and a wise man to be clever enough not to. (Fannie Hurst)
It's hard to argue against cynics - they always sound smarter than optimists because they have so much evidence on their side. (Molly Ivins)
It's just life...wake up and smell the thorns.
A lie can be half 'round the world before the truth gets it's boots on. (James Callaghan)
The light at the end of the tunnel is probably an oncoming train.
The lion will lay down with the lamb...but every morning they'll have to provide a new lamb.
Maybe this world is another planet's hell. (Aldous Huxley)
The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. (Henry David Thoreau)
No matter how cynical you get, it is impossible to keep up. (Lily Tomlin)
Nowadays most men lead lives of noisy desperation. (James Thurber)
The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it. (G. B. Shaw)
Today is the last day of the first part of your life (John Hovancin)
We can destroy ourselves by cynicism and disillusion, just as effectively as by bombs. (Kenneth Clark)
What if the hokey pokey really IS what it's all about?
When everything is coming your way, you're in the wrong lane.
Why is it that if someone tells you there are a billion stars in the universe you believe them, but if they tell you a wall has wet paint you have to touch it to be sure?
You no sooner get your head above water than someone pulls your flippers off.

Egotism

Egotist: A person of low taste, more interested in himself than in me. (Ambrose Bierce)
An egotist always resents meeting another egotist as if he alone had the right to be one. (Jules Renard)
An egotist is a man who thinks that, if he hadn't been born, people would have wondered why.
An egotist is a man whose self-importance makes his mind shrink while it makes his head swell.
An egotist is usually me-deep in conversation.
Egotists are a legend in their own mind.
Don't be so humble...you're not that great. (Golda Meir)
Don't go around thinking the world owes you a living. The world owes you nothing. It was here first. (Mark Twain)
Egotism is an anesthetic that dulls the pain of stupidity. (Frank Leahy)
Egotism is nature's compensation for mediocrity. (L.A. Safian)
He who lives only to benefit himself confers on the world a benefit when he dies. (Tertullian)
Humility is such an elusive thing. Just when you think you've got it, you've lost it.
I am not conceited...I just can't stand mortals.
I hate being so intolerant, and I wouldn't be if people didn't deserve it.
I used to be conceited, but now I'm absolutely perfect.
It is a curious fact that of all the illusions that beset mankind none is quite so curious as that tendency to suppose that we are mentally and morally superior to those who differ from us in opinion. (Elbert Hubbard)
Mastery is often taken for egotism. (Johann Wolfgang von Goethe)
Never let your ego get so close to your position that when your position goes, your ego goes with it. (Colin Powell)
The most intolerable thing about an egotist is that he talks about himself when you want to talk about yourself.
The nice thing about egotists is that they don't talk about other people. (Lucille S. Harper)
People who are wrapped up in themselves are overdressed.
Pride is what we have. Vanity is what others have.
Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live. (Oscar Wilde)
Some people are born on third base and go through life thinking they hit a triple. (Barry Switzer)
Some people have delusions of adequacy.
Squint when you approach me, lest you be blinded by my beauty.
There is nothing noble about being superior to some other person. The true nobility is in being superior to your previous self.
What a pity human beings can't exchange problems. Everyone knows exactly how to solve the other fellow's. (Olin Miller)
What can you possibly add to a mind that's full, especially one that's full of itself. (Joseph Joubert)
When science finally locates the center of the universe, some people will be surprised to learn they're not it.

Perfectionism

Aim for success, not perfection. Never give up your right to be wrong, because then you will lose the ability to learn new things and move forward with your life. (Dr. David M. Burns)
Better to do something imperfectly than to do nothing flawlessly. (Robert Schuller)
Does "anal retentive" have a hyphen?
For peace of mind, resign as general manager of the universe.
Have no fear of perfection - you'll never reach it. (Salvador Dali)
I think perfectionism is based on the obsessive belief that if you run carefully enough, hitting each stepping-stone just right, you won't have to die. The truth is that you will die anyway and that a lot of people who aren't even looking at their feet are going to do a whole lot better than you, and have a lot more fun while they're doing it. (Anne Lamott)
In order to go on living one must try to escape the death involved in perfectionism. (Hannah Arendt)
It is reasonable to have perfection in our eye that we may always advance toward it, though we know it can never be reached. (Samuel Johnson)
It's pretty hard to be efficient without being obnoxious. (Kin Hubbard)
Nothing would be done at all if one waited until one could do it so well that no one could find fault with it. (Cardinal Newman)
People throw away what they could have by insisting on perfection, which they cannot have, and looking for it where they will never find it. (Edith Schaeffer)
Perfection does not exist in doing extraordinary things, but in doing ordinary things extraordinarily well. (Angelique Arnauld)
Perfection, fortunately, is not the only alternative to mediocrity. A more sensible alternative is excellence. Striving for excellence is stimulating and rewarding; striving for perfection - in practically anything - is both neurotic and futile. (Edwin Bliss)
Perfectionism is a dangerous state of mind in an imperfect world. (Robert Hillyer)
Perfectionism is the enemy of creation, as extreme self-solicitude is the enemy of well-being. (John Updike)
Perfectionism is the voice of the oppressor. (Anne Lamott)
A perfectionist is a person who chooses a picnic site as if it were to be a permanent home.
A perfectionist is one who takes great pains, and gives them to everyone else.
A person determined never to be wrong won't likely accomplish much. (Ken Wisdom)
Plan to be spontaneous tomorrow.
The pursuit of perfection often impedes improvement. (George Will)
Remember that fear always lurks behind perfectionism. Confronting your fears and allowing yourself the right to be human can, paradoxically, make you a far happier and more productive person. (Dr. David M. Burns)
Striving for excellence motivates you; striving for perfection is demoralizing. (Harriet Braiker)
The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself. (Anna Quindlen)
When a man imagines, even after years of striving, that he has attained perfection, his decline begins. (Theodore Martin)
When you aim for perfection, you discover it's a moving target. (George Fisher)
While one person hesitates because he feels inferior, another is busy making mistakes and becoming superior. (Henry C. Link)
You shouldn't compare yourself to the best others can do.

Curiosity and Boredom

The basic fact about human existence is not that it is a tragedy, but that it is a bore.
Be curious always! For knowledge will not acquire you; you must acquire it. (Sudie Back)
Being bored is an insult to oneself. (Jules Renard)
A bore is a man who, when you ask him how he is, tells you. (Bert Leston Taylor)
A bore is someone who deprives you of solitude without providing you with company.
Bore, n.: A person who talks when you wish him to listen. (Ambrose Bierce)
Boredom flourishes too, when you feel safe. It's a symptom of security. (Eugene Ionesco)
Boredom is a vital problem for the moralist, since at least half the sins of mankind are caused by the fear of it. (Bertrand Russell)
Boredom is an emptiness filled with insistence. (Leo Stein)
Boredom is the feeling that everything is a waste of time; serenity, that nothing is. (Thomas Szasz)
The cure for boredom is curiosity. There is no cure for curiosity. (Ellen Parr)
Curiosity is a willing, a proud, an eager confession of ignorance. (S. Leonard Rubinstein)
Curiosity is, in great and generous minds, the first passion and the last. (Samuel Johnson)
Curiosity is one of those insatiable passions that grow by gratification. (Sarah Scott)
Curiosity is the one thing invincible in nature. (Freya Stark)
Curiosity is the very basis of education and if you tell me that curiosity killed the cat, I say only the cat died nobly. (Arnold Edinborough)
Curiosity killed the cat.
Don't talk unless you can improve the silence.
Ennui has made more gamblers than avarice, more drunkards than thirst, and perhaps as many suicides as despair. (C.C. Colton)
Everyone is a bore to someone. That is unimportant. The thing to avoid is being a bore to oneself. (Gerald Brenan)
The first and simplest emotion which we discover in the human mind, is curiosity. (Edmund Burke)
A gossip is someone who talks to you about others, a bore is someone who talks to you about himself, and a brilliant conversationalist is one who talks to you about yourself. (Lisa Kirk)
He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever. (Old Chinese saying)
A healthy male adult bore consumes each year one and a half times his own weight in other people's patience.
His shortcoming is his long staying. (Lewis L. Lewiston)
I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious. (Albert Einstein)
I think, at a child's birth, if a mother could ask a fairy godmother to endow it with the most useful gift, that gift should be curiosity. (Eleanor Roosevelt)
If life gets boring, make something up.
The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. (Albert Einstein)
It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education. (Albert Einstein)
The life of the creative man is lead, directed and controlled by boredom. Avoiding boredom is one of our most important purposes. (Saul Steinberg)
Look and you will find it - what is unsought will go undetected. (Sophocles)
A man should go on living - if only to satisfy his curiosity. (Yiddish Proverb)
Millions saw the apple fall, but Newton asked why. (Bernard Baruch)
Millions who long for immortality don't even know what to do with themselves on a rainy Saturday afternoon.
My life may be strange, but at least it's not boring.
Not to know is bad; not to wish to know is worse. (Nigerian Proverb)
Punctuality is the virtue of the bored. (Evelyn Waugh)
Some people are so boring that they make you waste an entire day in five minutes. (Jules Renard)
Somewhere, something incredible is waiting to be known. (Carl Edward Sagan)
There are two sorts of curiosity - the momentary and the permanent. The momentary is concerned with the odd appearance on the surface of things. The permanent is attracted by the amazing and consecutive life that flows on beneath the surface of things. (Robert Lynd)
There is no conversation more boring than the one where everybody agrees. (Michel de Montaigne)
What's wrong with being a boring kind of guy? (George Bush)
The worst thing about a bore is not that he won't stop talking, but that he won't let you stop listening.
A yawn is an honest opinion openly expressed.