Ruth Rendell Quotes

I lean towards traditionally what people would consider the more negative side of life.

I'm a total pessimist.

I'm a pessimist.

I don't know whether I'm misanthropic. It seems to me I'm constantly disappointed. I'm very easily disappointed.

Nobody's interested in sweetness and light.

I find nothing more depressing than optimism.

I'm a massive pessimist.

My records are basically a litany of complaints against the world, and I'm quite like that in real life as well.

A pessimist is a man who tells the truth prematurely.

Pessimists are the people who have no hope for themselves or for others. Pessimists are also people who think the human race is beneath their notice, that they're better than other human beings.

I found, when I left, that there were others who felt the same way. We'd meet, they'd come and seek me out, we'd talk about the future. And I found that their depression and pessimism was every bit as acute as mine.

Criticism and pessimism destroy families, undermine institutions of all kinds, defeat nearly everyone, and spread a shroud of gloom over entire nations.

Pessimists are born, true, but they also can be made.

Pessimism is as American as apple pie - frozen apple pie with a slice of processed cheese.

One of the pleasures of pessimism is that when you’re right, you’re right and when you’re not, you’re pleased.

Cynicism, I contend, is the wailing of someone who believes that things are, or should be, or could be, much, much better than they are.

I'm not interested in 'lovey dovey,' everything is so great in the world. That doesn't interest me at all.

I'm a cynical person who's normally attracted to the dark side of things.

The novel is born of disillusionment; the poem, of despair.

In the current climate, we live in a pessimistic and non-idealistic world.

The older books were quite light-hearted. But I think most of my novels do end on a deep note of pessimism. Shadows seem to be closing in. The final conclusion isn't that life is wonderful and everything is bright and cheery and in the garden.

I used to think drinking was the only way to be happy. Now I know there is no way to be happy.

I'm just a negative person, a deeply negative person. I see the worst aspects of everything.

I've never been an optimist.

I have a grim outlook on the world, and in particular on humanity. Spent years denying it, but I am very misanthropic. And I live alone on a mountain for a reason.