107+ Best Pessimistic Quotes That Make You Rethink

Pessimism is a negative mental attitude in which an undesirable outcome is anticipated from a given situation. Profoundly inspirational pessimistic quotes will challenge the way you think, change the way you live and transform your whole life.

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Famous Pessimistic Quotes

A pessimist is a man who thinks everybody is as nasty as himself, and hates them for it. ― George Bernard Shaw

An idealist focuses only on the best aspects of all things (sometimes in detriment to reality); an optimist strives to find an effective solution. A pessimist sees limited or no choices in dark times; an optimist makes choices. ― Vera Nazarian

The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails. — William Arthur Ward

When you wake up every day, you have two choices. You can either be positive or negative; an optimist or a pessimist. I choose to be an optimist. It’s all a matter of perspective. — Harvey Mackay

Pessimism is, in brief, playing the sure game. It is the only view of life in which you can never be disappointed. — Thomas Hardy

A pessimist finds the darkness around the light but an optimist becomes the light in the darkness.

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. ― James A. Baldwin

Pessimism leads to weakness. Optimism leads to power. ― William James

If we can recognize that change and uncertainty are basic principles, we can greet the future and the transformation we are undergoing with the understanding that we do not know enough to be pessimistic. — Hazel Henderson

Clinically speaking, depression is a pessimistic sense of your own capabilities, and despondent lack of energy. — Jane McGonigal

A pessimist doesn’t see the sunset outside, he sees the dirt on the window. — Jim Rohn

We are heading towards catastrophe. I think the world is going to pieces. I am very pessimistic. Why? Because the world hasn’t been punished yet, and the only punishment that could be adequate is the nuclear destruction of the world. — Elie Wiesel

We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. ― Oscar Wilde

There are enough negative forces in this world don’t let the pessimistic voice that lives inside you get away with that stuff, too. That voice is not a good roommate. ― Felicia Day

I tend to be pessimistic. I want to believe in hope. — Bruce Springsteen

We can complain because rose bushes have thorns, or rejoice because thorns have roses. ― Alphonse Karr

A pessimist is a man who looks both ways when he crosses the street. ― Laurence J. Peter

The thing is with me I look on the brighter side of everything.There’s no point being pessimistic or being worried about too many things because frankly life’s too short. — Prince William

The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. ― Winston Churchill

The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds; and the pessimist fears this is true. ― James Branch Cabell

A pessimist looks at his glass and says it is half empty; an optimist looks at it and says it is half full. ― Josiah Stamp

If it tastes good, it’s trying to kill you. ― Roy Qualley

The test of all beliefs is their practical effect in life. If it be true that optimism compels the world forward, and pessimism retards it, then it is dangerous to propagate a pessimistic philosophy. — Helen Keller

You’ll never find a rainbow if you’re looking down. ― Charlie Chaplin

At my age it is unseemly to be pessimistic. — Naguib Mahfouz

Pessimists fear becoming the dupes of Hope. Optimists enjoy Hope’s company, and consider being duped no great matter. ― Mason Cooley

A pessimist is a man who tells the truth prematurely. ― Cyrano de Bergerac

I think my movies aren’t sentimental. I think my movies are funny and sad and realistic. Not realistic in the sense that they’re documentaries, but realistic in the sense that they’re not idealistic, they’re not optimistic, not pessimistic, and not propagandistic. They’re an analysis of a situation. I call it as I see it, so to speak. — Frederick Wiseman

I’m a pessimist because of intelligence, but an optimist because of will. ― Antonio Gramsci

A pessimist sees only the dark side of the clouds, and mopes; a philosopher sees both sides, and shrugs; an optimist doesn’t see the clouds at all he’s walking on them. ― Leonard Louis Levinson

I’m not pessimistic about Africa. The cities just seem big and hopeless. But there’s still a great green heart where there’s possibility. There’s hope in the wilderness. — Paul Theroux

And I am an optimistic person. I guess if you want to try to find something to be pessimistic about, you can find it, no matter how hard you look, you know? — George W. Bush

Exercise daily. Eat wisely. Die anyway.

I’m a pessimist about probabilities, I’m an optimist about possibilities. — Lewis Mumford

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

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

No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit. — Helen Keller

Deep Pessimism Quotes

I don’t believe in pessimism. If something doesn’t come up the way you want, forge ahead. If you think it’s going to rain, it will. — Clint Eastwood

Optimism means better than reality; pessimism means worse than reality. I’m a realist. — Margaret Atwood

The optimist sees the rose and not its thorns; the pessimist stares at the thorns, oblivious to the rose. — Khalil Gibran

A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. — Winston Churchill

If everything always went perfectly, I would feel like, When is the ball going to drop? Because good things don’t always last. Maybe I’m a pessimistic person. When something just seems too good, I can’t believe it. — January Jones

A pessimist is one who makes difficulties of his opportunities and an optimist is one who makes opportunities of his difficulties. — Harry S Truman

To those critics who are so pessimistic about our economy, I say: Don’t be economic girlie men! — Arnold Schwarzenegger

A pessimist is somebody who complains about the noise when opportunity knocks. — Oscar Wilde

The public is even more pessimistic about the economy than even the most bearish economists are. — Nate Silver

My parents said marrying was an optimistic thing to do in pessimistic times. — Olivia Wilde

A pessimist sees problems in opportunities whereas an optimist sees opportunities in problems. — Winston Churchill

The man who is a pessimist before 48 knows too much if he is an optimist after it, he knows too little. —
Mark Twain

When something good happens it’s a miracle and you should wonder what God is saving up for you later. — Marshall Brickman

If we consistently act on the optimistic hypothesis, this hypothesis will tend to be realised; whilst by acting on the pessimistic hypothesis we can keep ourselves for ever in the pit of want. — John Maynard Keynes

An optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves. — Bill Vaughan

You can’t save the rhinos and you can’t preserve a culture. I’m very pessimistic. Once it’s gone, it’s over. — Paul Theroux

I am incrementally a pessimist, but I see the international debate that Edward Snowden has engendered, and I think this is exactly where the discussion should be. So, I would say I’m more optimistic than pessimistic. — Adam Savage

To the pessimist the light at the end of the tunnel is another train. — Joan Rivers

There is no sadder sight than a young pessimist, except an old optimist. — Mark Twain

Coaches are basically schizophrenic. We are pessimistic to the press and among fellow coaches, but to our team, we are the eternal optimists. — Jim Valvano

Pessimism is only the name that men of weak nerve give to wisdom. — Mark Twain

If you expect the worst, you’ll never be disappointed. ― Sarah Dessen

Men are always optimists when they look inwards, and pessimists when they look round them. ― Ouida

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

Pessimist: The optimist who didn’t arrive. — Mark Twain

The pessimist reason that things just happen, where the optimist believe that things happen for a reason. — Anthony Liccione

If I insist on being pessimistic, there is always tomorrow. Today I am blessed. — Maya Angelou

Optimists focus on the place they are going. Pessimists focus on the obstacles along the route. To become an optimist simply look ahead. — Simon Sinek

I don’t feel like promising big things to my fans. I’m not thinking about victory at all. I’ll do my best to get on the podium at least, although I must admit I feel fairly pessimistic. — Michael Schumacher

The limit of every pain is an even greater pain. — Emile M. Cioran

Twenty years ago, you might have been pessimistic and said there’s no hope. But these days, some of our very biggest companies are acting remarkably cleanly. And in some cases, although not all cases, the CEOs are the driving forces behind that. — Jared Diamond

An optimist may see a light where there is none, but why must the pessimist always run to blow it out? —
Rene Descartes

There cannot be a personal God without a pessimistic religion. As soon as there is a personal God he is a disappointing God. — Cyril Connolly

The pessimist waits for better times, and expects to keep on waiting; the optimist goes to work with the best that is at hand now, and proceeds to create better times. — Christian D. Larson

I’m pessimistic. I don’t think that justice always gets the right person. — Henry Rollins

What people forget is a journey to nowhere starts with a single step, too. ― Chuck Palahniuk

Pessimistic Philosophy Quotes

The blues aren’t pessimistic. We’re prisoners of hope but we tell the truth and the truth is dark. — Cornel West

I am not a pessimist; to perceive evil where it exists is, in my opinion, a form of optimism. — Roberto Rossellini

Pessimists are usually right and optimists are usually wrong but all the great changes have been accomplished by optimists. ― Thomas Friedman

Human beings, thanks to culture and genetics, are inclined to be pessimistic, fearful, skeptical and believers in conspiracy theories. We also don’t like change. — Seth Godin

A pessimist is one who builds dungeons in the air. — Walter Winchell

There is nothing like a start, and being born, however pessimistic one may become in later years, is undeniably a start. — William McFee

It is most important in creative science not to give up. If you are an optimist you will be willing to “try” more than if you are a pessimist. ― Stanislaw Ulam

Every pessimist who ever lived has been buried in an unmarked grave. Tomorrow has always been better than today, and it always will be. ― Will Harvey

Someone who smiles too much with you can sometime frown too much with you at your back. ― Michael Bassey Johnson

I’m not pessimistic. It is the world that is terrible. How can we be optimistic in the face of a planet where people live so badly, nature is being destroyed and the dominant empire is money? — Jose Saramago

Americans are nervous; Americans are restless; and what troubles me the most is that Americans are uncharacteristically pessimistic. — Joni Eareckson Tada

The pessimist is seldom an agitating individual. His creed breeds indifference to others, and he does not trouble himself to thrust his views upon the unconvinced. — Agnes Repplier

I realize more and more how instinctively pessimistic I am of all human kindness — since I am always so bowled over by it — and am never surprised by injustice, malice or personal attack. — Dawn Powell

Pessimism is the logical attitude to adopt about the human condition. Yet there is no need to consider this conclusion depressing. On the contrary, I consider it to be a realistic one that gives due weight to the catalogue of evidence available to us, providing an antidote to optimism. — Stuart Sim

American actors are all muscular, tanned, white teeth and they have this indestructible confidence. We British are all… Dare I say it? Pessimistic. — Max Irons

I am pessimistic, I think that’s the best way to be, because if you’re always expecting the best – the best doesn’t always happen. Nine times out of 10 it doesn’t. I’m surprised when things go smoothly. I don’t know what’s wrong with being pessimistic – unless you are such a pessimist that you don’t do anything. — Karl Pilkington

It is possible to live only as long as life intoxicates us; once we are sober we cannot help seeing that it is all a delusion, a stupid delusion. — Leo Tolstoy

I tried to think about other things. I tried to invent optimistic inventions. But the pessimistic ones were extremely loud. — Jonathan Safran Foer

Nothing makes me more pessimistic than the obligation not to be pessimistic. — Eugene Ionesco

Pessimistic Quotes About Life

I’m probably the most pessimistic actor I know. I’m always sure I’ll never work again. — William Sanderson

There’s no limit to how complicated things can get, on account of one thing always leading to another. — E. B. White

I laughed. “You’re too young to be so … pessimistic,” I said, using the English word. “Pessi-what?” “Pessimistic. It means looking only at the dark side of things.” “Pessimistic … pessimistic …” She repeated the English to herself over and over, and then she looked up at me with a fierce glare. “I’m only sixteen,” she said, “and I don’t know much about the world, but I do know one thing for sure. If I’m pessimistic, then the adults in this world who are not pessimistic are a bunch of idiots. — Haruki Murakami

Pessimists are usually right and optimists are usually wrong but all the great changes have been accomplished by optimists. — Thomas Friedman

I’m now beginning to feel that the pessimistic vision is not for the movies. — Karel Reisz

I went from a very pessimistic person to a very optimistic person sort of overnight, which is very weird. It’s not even the success of my shows. I think it’s the lifestyle change, I really do. — Norman Reedus

If, as is natural, you focus on the corruption and on those threatened institutions that are trying to prevent change – even though they don’t really know what they’re trying to prevent – then you can get pessimistic. — Paul Hawken

I’m not pessimistic about people in general, but only about the way they live. — Claude Chabrol

There is not a single pessimistic note anywhere in the New Testament after the resurrection. — Bill Vaughan

Pessimism is playing the sure game. You cannot lose at it; you may gain. It is the only view of life in which you can never be disappointed. Having reckoned what to do in the worst possible circumstances, when better arise, as they may, life becomes child’s play. — Thomas Hardy

The first-rate mind is always curious, compassionate, original, and pessimistic. — Mignon McLaughlin

If the general opinion is pessimistic, fantasy is going to hold its own. — David Eddings

I’m generally pessimistic about the dumbing down of America – especially with summer movies. — Elmer Bernstein

Pessimism is an excuse for not trying and a guarantee to a personal failure. — William J. Clinton

I tend to be pessimistic about everything: If things seem to be going good, I’m worried that it’s going to end; if things are bad, then I’m worried that it’s going to be permanent. It’s not a very comfortable attitude to have all the time. — Jesse Eisenberg