Thomas Friedman Quotes

Optimists are usually wrong. But all the great change in history, positive change, was done by optimists.

As long as we can imagine a better path, of course we are obligated to seek it. This is why unwarranted pessimism about our future is actually irresponsible.

The optimist lives on the peninsula of infinite possibilities; the pessimist is stranded on the island of perpetual indecision.

Optimism is a strategy for making a better future. Because unless you believe that the future can be better, you are unlikely to step up and take responsibility for making it so.

We're all born pessimists. It takes effort to be optimistic.

The optimist pleasantly ponders how high his kite will fly; the pessimist woefully wonders how soon his kite will fall.

No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars.

An optimist is a person who sees only the lights in the picture, whereas a pessimist sees only the shadows. An idealist, however, is one who sees the light and the shadows, but in addition sees something else: the possibility of changing the picture, of making the lights prevail over the shadows.

I am a very optimistic man and only an optimistic man can bring optimism in the country.

Being a pessimist is just such a gloomy way of looking at things, so I have to hope for the best - life wouldn't be worth living if we didn't have hope. And I also do think that human beings often do do wonderful, correct, brilliant things. So, on balance, I'd like to be optimistic about the future.

...an optimistic mind-set finds dozens of possible solutions for every problem that the pessimist regards as incurable.

Most people think that I am too optimistic, but my optimism is based on the thought that negative thinking is a luxury that we can't afford.

I am optimistic. I have to be optimistic.

Life is nothing but a memory. People who dwell on the bad ones aren't going to have a whole lot of good ones coming up.

Pessimists calculate the odds. Optimists believe they can overcome them.

Any day that we don't give up puts us one day closer to success!

We must not let ourselves fall into the vortex of pessimism. Faith can move mountains!

Focus on the possibilities for success, not on the potential for failure

Hope for the best, plan for the worst.

It is much more sensible to be an optimist instead of a pessimist, for if one is doomed to disappointment, why experience it in advance?

Let's keep refusing to accept the world as it is and insisting on building the world we dream of. Don't let the haters have the last word.

. . . if there is a way for the world to be transformed for the better, it can only be done by pessimism; optimists will never change the world for the better.

When you plan and prepare carefully, you can legitimately expect to have success in your efforts. An optimistic, positive mind is far more likely to come up with creative solutions than a mind that dwells on setbacks and difficulties. Bottom line: expect success and you can achieve it!

On one hand, I'm an optimistic pessimist. On the other, I'm a pessimistic optimist. But while there's life, there's still hope, and I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing if I didn't think there was still hope.

You always have to try to move forward with a positive connotation in the future.