Lynne Truss Quotes

I ceased using words like optimism and pessimism a long time ago.

Optimism doesn't wait on facts. It deals with prospects. Pessimism is a waste of time.

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

He that hopes no good fears no ill.

Maybe I fear things going wrong so much that I pre-empt them by not getting excited about them when they appear to be. going well.

It might interest you to know that the 1828 Noah Webster Dictionary identifies the optimist in complimentary terms, but says nothing about the pessimist. The word 'pessimist' was not in our vocabulary at that time. It's a modern 'invention' which I believe we should 'dis-invent.'

Trusting the world is a risk, while not trusting it is a guarantee you'll be left with nothing.

I don't like being pessimistic. I don't like living my life with a nihilistic mindset.

A lot of people don’t just go ahead and try things. They’ll have an idea and they’ll say — they’ll convince themselves or other people will convince them that it can’t be done. You know, one or the other. Actually I think that the first is even more dangerous and more serious. It’s convincing yourself that it can’t be done.

I wouldn't say that I relax and enjoy anything. But I think my pessimism helps. I never really expect anything good to happen, so when it does, it's a nice surprise.

Our thoughts about an event can have a dramatic effect on how we go through the event itself. When our expectations are low, it's easy to be pleasantly surprised. When they're not, we're vulnerable to painful disappointment. Because of this, many people spend a good deal of effort trying to avoid developing high hopes about anything.

I'm always being realistic.

At my age it is unseemly to be pessimistic.

An optimist is a fellow who believes what's going to be will be postponed.

The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds. The pessimist fears it is true.

Hope is the raw material of losers.

And as far as false hope, there is no such thing. There is only hope or the absence of hope-nothing else.

A pessimist is a man who looks both ways when he crosses the street.

I used to be such a daredevil but now I'm much more cautious.

Hope is a good breakfast, but it is a bad supper.

Anything that happens that's good, they think, Oh, it's an accident, when is the roof caving in? You've got to get them out of that mental framework.

Do not let yourself be tainted with a barren skepticism.

I have friends who are very pessimistic. They say you can't possibly be an optimist nowadays. But I think, taking the longer view, you can still be as optimistic as you want.

Positive thinking will let you do everything better than negative thinking will.

I'm very realistic in my outlook on everything in life. When I look ahead in my mind to see what's going to happen next, I see the good and I see the bad.