Larry Gelbart Quotes

I think I probably hoped for it a little bit, but I'm not an optimist. I'm a realist... or maybe even a pessimist.

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

I think I hate cynicism more than anything else. It's the curse of our age, and I want to avoid it at all costs.

I guess I'm a hopeful optimist, because to be a pessimist is to be suicidal.

The only deadly sin I know is cynicism.

I have a lot of friends that take that position of extreme cynicism, and I just can't let myself go to that place. It's just too easy, and it's just too defeatist.

I think by now I have made it fairly clear that I am not very happy with the word hope. I don't believe in people just hoping.

There is no power in cynicism. There is no forward thrust in cynicism.

I don't always expect good from people. I always expect the bad and I am pleasantly surprised when they are nice.

I'm not by nature a cynical person. But sometimes your expectations are different from reality.

Inside every cynical person, there is a disappointed idealist.

I think a pessimist is just an optimist who has had their heart repeatedly broken.

False hope really makes you cynical.

False optimism sooner or later means disillusionment , anger and hopelessness.

You know that the best you can expect is to avoid the worst.

I'm an eternal optimist with a small degree of cynicism.

Cynicism is tough. A cynic's point of view is really pitiful. I derive pleasure out of a lot of things in life. As long as I'm fairly healthy, it's hard to stay dismal for very long.

Canadians are tired of being cynical.

'Expect nothing and hope for the best' is my mantra. A drama teacher called Joseph Blatchley told me that, and it's the best advice I've had. If you keep an open mind and don't expect too much, then you won't be disappointed.

With optimism, you look upon the sunny side of things. People say, 'Studs, you're an optimist.' I never said I was an optimist. I have hope because what's the alternative to hope? Despair? If you have despair, you might as well put your head in the oven.

People like Bill Maher, who brags about being a cynic, it sickens me. I am the least cynical person I know, and I am very, very skeptical.

The cynicism that you have is not your real soul.

As we get older - perhaps I'm just speaking for myself - we can get too cynical.

I'm capable of looking on the bright side. I just don't do it very often.

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.