Pessimists Unite

 Let’s hear it for pessimism.

Why not?

Being a pessimist isn’t all negative.

Think about it. When you’re a pessimist, you’re constantly being either proved right or pleasantly surprised.

Yet, on social media, optimistic quotes dominate.

It’s time to balance things out with a couple of dozen quotes focused on pessimism from folks like Warren Buffet, Seth Godin, and Mark Twain.

Nothing makes me more pessimistic than the obligation not to be pessimistic. — Eugene Ionesco

Pessimism is, in brief, playing the sure game. It is the only view of life in which you can never be disappointed. — Thomas Hardy

A pessimist is a man who looks both ways when he crosses the street. ― Laurence J. Peter

Pessimism is as American as apple pie – frozen apple pie with a slice of processed cheese. — George Will

The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails. — William Arthur Ward

If it tastes good, it’s trying to kill you. ― Roy Qualley

A pessimist is a man who tells the truth prematurely. ― Cyrano de Bergerac

I’m a pessimist because of intelligence, but an optimist because of will. ― Antonio Gramsci

There's nothing particularly wrong with being more pessimistic than optimistic. Optimism is broad-based, non-detail-oriented thinking; pessimism is detail-oriented thinking. — David Rakoff

The place where optimism most flourishes is the lunatic asylum. — Havelock Ellis

The man who is a pessimist before 48 knows too much. If he is an optimist after it, he knows too little. — Mark Twain

My pessimism extends to the point of even suspecting the sincerity of other pessimists. — Jean Rostand

When investing, pessimism is your friend, euphoria the enemy. — Warren Buffet

When something good happens it’s a miracle and you should wonder what God is saving up for you later. — Marshall Brickman

Life is a business that does not cover the costs. – Arthur Shopenhauer

An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves. — Bill Vaughan

To the pessimist the light at the end of the tunnel is another train. — Joan Rivers

Pessimism is only the name that men of weak nerve give to wisdom. — Bernard DeVoto

A pessimist is a person who has had to listen to too many optimists. ― Don Marquis

The pessimist reasons that things just happen, where the optimist believes that things happen for a reason. — Anthony Liccione

The blues aren’t pessimistic. We’re prisoners of hope, but we tell the truth and the truth is dark. — Cornel West

The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds; and the pessimist fears this is true. ― James Branch Cabell

I am not a pessimist; to perceive evil where it exists is, in my opinion, a form of optimism. — Roberto Rossellini

Human beings, thanks to culture and genetics, are inclined to be pessimistic, fearful, skeptical and believers in conspiracy theories. We also don’t like change. — Seth Godin

A pessimist is one who builds dungeons in the air. — Walter Winchell

The pessimist is seldom an agitating individual. His creed breeds indifference to others, and he does not trouble himself to thrust his views upon the unconvinced. — Agnes Repplier

We all agree that pessimism is a mark of superior intellect. – John Kenneth Galbraith

Pessimism is the logical attitude to adopt about the human condition. Yet there is no need to consider this conclusion depressing. On the contrary, I consider it to be a realistic one that gives due weight to the catalogue of evidence available to us, providing an antidote to optimism. — Stuart Sim

Pessimism: A valuable protection against quackery. — John Ralston Saul

There’s no limit to how complicated things can get, on account of one thing always leading to another. — E. B. White

I tend to be pessimistic about everything: If things seem to be going good, I’m worried that it’s going to end; if things are bad, then I’m worried that it’s going to be permanent. — Jesse Eisenberg

The first-rate mind is always curious, compassionate, original, and pessimistic. — Mignon McLaughlin

What people forget is a journey to nowhere starts with a single step, too. ― Chuck Palahniuk

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The Final Word

In the long run, the pessimist might be proven right,

but the optimist has a better time on the trip.

Daniel I. Reardon