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Ten Quotes about Optimism

April 17, 2012 By Jean Wise

Patty Wysong has created a fun meme where once a week bloggers posted on the letter of the week. Check out the details here.   It is called A2Z: Take 2. A2Z as she challenges bloggers to write a post each week going through the alphabet.  Take 2 since this is the second time she has used this meme. Anyone can join in and you don’t have to always participate.
This fun meme has now progressed to the letter O

O = Optimist



 I haven’t always been an optimist. In fact I think I am wired quite the opposite.
But as an adult I decided optimism as a trait appealed to me; thus began my search to develop this characteristic. Uphill battle, let me tell ya!
I collect optimism – quotes, stories and even have given a few presentations about the value of being positive. Being a nurse, I have seen the difference in the healing and recovery of people with optimism as compared to the pessimist state of mind. 
With today’s letter of the alphabet being O, I thought I would share a few fun things I have read about this encouraging word:  Optimism comes from the Latin word for best. An optimist expects the best in the world.
I think the best optimist is not just a Polly Anna “everything is rosy” type, but one who also has her feet firmly rooted in the ground.
Here are ten of my favorite quotes about Optimism:
  •  I’d rather be an optimist and a fool that a pessimist and right. Albert Einstein

  • A pessimist complains about everything. An optimist expects it to change and a realist adjusts their sails. William Arthur Ward.

  • Remember a pessimist’s blood type is always B-. Unknown 

  • An optimist is the human personification of spring.  ~Susan J. Bissonette

  • In the long run the pessimist may be proved right, but the optimist has a better time on the trip.  ~Daniel L. Reardon

  • Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.
  Martin Luther

  • 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. Dietrich Bonhoeffer

  • The average pencil is seven inches long, with just a half-inch eraser – in case you thought optimism was dead. Robert Brault

  • Things turn out the best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out. –  John Wooden

  • So many of our dreams at first seems impossible, then they seem improbable, and then, when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable. – Christopher Reeve

And a funny poem to end with today:
Between the optimist and the pessimist,
the difference is droll.
The optimist sees the doughnut;
the pessimist the hole!
~ Oscar Wilde
Let’s keep our eyes on those doughnuts.  Are you more of an optimist or a pessimist?

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Filed Under: spiritual lessons

Comments

  1. blankRandy Owensby says

    February 26, 2016 at 5:05 pm

    Thank you. I have always been an optimist and it is good to see someone like you be more public about optimism. You are truly a unique person. Thanks for sharing. See ya

  2. blankRandy Owensby says

    February 23, 2016 at 6:27 pm

    Why do all the comments show to be posted 4 years ago. I just found you but really like what I read and see. Thank you for giving your time to help others. see ya Randy

    • blankJean Wise says

      February 23, 2016 at 6:49 pm

      glad you found me today I wrote this about 4 years ago. even old post are good.

  3. blankNiki Turner says

    April 18, 2012 at 9:50 pm

    I LONG to be an optimist, but I’m a pessimist at heart. Love the quotes, though!

    • blankJean Wise says

      April 19, 2012 at 3:44 am

      You and I are alike in this. I find it is a daily decision to choose the positive.

  4. blankMarcydyer says

    April 18, 2012 at 8:31 pm

    Great post. I tend to be optimistic but realistic. although at times my glass is half empty

    • blankJean Wise says

      April 19, 2012 at 3:44 am

      I think we all constantly try to balance that glass, don’t we?

  5. blankSandy Wells says

    April 18, 2012 at 2:45 pm

    I try to be an optimist, but the doughnut hold does pop up from time to time. Thanks for the helpful reminders

    • blankJean Wise says

      April 19, 2012 at 3:43 am

      Sandy, that doughnut hole trips me up daily!

  6. blankGerardine says

    April 18, 2012 at 2:19 pm

    having these good optimism quotes is especially helpful in hard times, thanks for sharing

    • blankJean Wise says

      April 18, 2012 at 2:22 pm

      I love to collect them too. You know I was discouraged at the first of the week, but after rereading these my spirit lifted. I know looking up and thinking up does work. thanks for stopping by!

  7. blankTracy says

    April 18, 2012 at 1:35 pm

    Hi Jean – I love love love this. I am in general an optimist, but the last 5 yrs has sorely tested that. Deep down its still there and irrepressible 🙂 Love your top ten. Think I will share some on facebook if you don’t mind. Thanks for linking up, its great to see you there.
    God bless
    Tracy

    • blankJean Wise says

      April 18, 2012 at 2:21 pm

      HI Tracy, sure glad you enjoyed the quotes. I love collecting them. You should see my Pinterest board full of sayings! I find I have to each day, each moment choose to be positive or the world will drag me down. Feel free to share any of these! Blessings!

  8. blankkdsullivan says

    April 18, 2012 at 5:11 am

    This is so encouraging! Thanks for reminding me that optimism always makes the journey better.

    • blankJean Wise says

      April 18, 2012 at 7:15 am

      I have to keep reminding myself of this too. Optimism is a choice and will make our journeys better. Thanks for commenting

  9. blanksmoothstones says

    April 17, 2012 at 8:58 pm

    I’m more of an optimist than a pessimist, but maybe I want more than anything to be a realist. 🙂

    • blankJean Wise says

      April 17, 2012 at 9:30 pm

      I think we can be optimistic realists. It is our choice. I just have to pay attention when I start any negative thinking and turn my eyes back of God – that seems to help me the most. Thanks for commenting.

  10. blankLaura Boggess says

    April 17, 2012 at 8:08 pm

    These quotes are wonderful, Jean! And I can sympathize with the uphill optimist battle. It gets a little easier with time, though, don’t you think? Maybe it is more to do with letting go than with being a PollyAnna. 🙂

    • blankJean Wise says

      April 17, 2012 at 9:29 pm

      You have a good point, Laura about getting easier over time. I do let go easier now than before and certainly am closer to our Lord now so my trust and rest is in Him. Great point

  11. blankMichelle Eichner says

    April 17, 2012 at 7:28 pm

    I LOVE that last poem!! I tend to be a “glass half-full” gal, but that last poem was great! 🙂 Thanks for testifying that you can change your perspective. Appreciated your words today.

    • blankJean Wise says

      April 17, 2012 at 9:28 pm

      yes that last poem made me smile too. I am glad you commented and we connected today

  12. blankJennifer Camp says

    April 17, 2012 at 6:04 pm

    Oh, I love these quotes. And I appreciate this one, by John Wooden: “Things turn out the best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.” I want to be turning to the Father, with faith, no matter what the outcome. Thank you!

    • blankJean Wise says

      April 17, 2012 at 9:27 pm

      I love collecting uplifting quotes and perhaps since I was a little discouraged this am ( getting over a head cold and am tired) was one reason I sought out some positive ones. yes, yes We have a God of Hope don’t we?

  13. blanksoulstops says

    April 17, 2012 at 4:25 pm

    I am on the uphill with you…thanks for sharing the quotes, Jean …I want to be an optimistic realist… if I really believe in our Lord’s resurrection then there is always hope. So grateful His story didn’t end at the cross. Blessings.

    • blankJean Wise says

      April 17, 2012 at 9:26 pm

      THanks for the tweet re this post, Dolly. I love quotes, especially uplifting ones. You are so right about Jesus’ story of hope.

  14. blankDenise Oldham says

    April 17, 2012 at 11:10 am

    Good post.

    • blankJean Wise says

      April 17, 2012 at 2:07 pm

      Thanks Denise!

  15. blankJen Ferguson says

    April 17, 2012 at 9:41 am

    I don’t know fully which one I am. I think that as I grow more dependent on God, I am becoming more the optimist. This is my favorite quote you posted: An optimist is the human personification of spring.

    I want to be like a flower!

    • blankJean Wise says

      April 17, 2012 at 2:09 pm

      weird, I wrote a reply, then it disappeared. oh well try again.

      I like quotes and really like to collect the positive ones like on optimism. I want to be a flower right along with you!

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