--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Indeed optimists rather than defeatists…" description: "\"Indeed optimists rather than defeatists have produced the results for which serious genealogical research is best known.\" — Alex Haley" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba7/alex-haley-8212_history_indeed-optimists-rather-than-defeatists_2925359.jpg" --- # Indeed optimists rather than defeatists have produced the… ![“Indeed optimists rather than defeatists have produced the results for which serious genealogical research is best known.” quote by Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba7/alex-haley-8212_history_indeed-optimists-rather-than-defeatists_2925359.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba7/alex-haley-8212_history_indeed-optimists-rather-than-defeatists_2925359.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba7/alex-haley-8212_history_indeed-optimists-rather-than-defeatists_2925359.jpg) > “Indeed optimists rather than defeatists have produced the results for which serious genealogical research is best known.” [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Optimists, not defeatists, drive progress; their hopeful actions yield significant achievements. **In simple terms:** Hopeful people achieve more. Key Takeaway Cultivate optimism to create results. Themes optimism productivity history genealogy Mood encouraging reflective Type motivational historical When to use this quote - business - science - community projects Key Concepts psychology social change Questions to Reflect On - What results stem from hopeful action? - How can optimism be balanced with realism? A Different Perspective Optimism alone may ignore risks. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Genealogical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genealogical-1485254/) [Genealogical Research](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/genealogical-research-3705612/) [History](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) [Known](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/known/) [Optimist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/optimist/) [Optimists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/optimists/) [Optimists Defeatists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/optimists-defeatists-4284407/) [Research](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/research/) [Results](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/results/) [Results Genealogical](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/results-genealogical-4284408/) [Serious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/serious/) ## Related quotes > [“In the past few years, genealogical research has become increasingly popular. Perhaps one of the reasons for this is that we are trying, in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-p-tzsch/in-the-past-few-years-genealogical-research-has-become-increasingly/) [Oliver Pötzsch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-p-tzsch/) > [I love genealogical research. That's the reason I bought my first computer years ago to put my genealogy records on the computer. I've always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nola-ochs/i-love-genealogical-research-that-s-the-reason-i-bought-my-first/) [Nola Ochs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nola-ochs/) > [Men are always optimists when they look inwards, and pessimists when they look round them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ouida/men-are-always-optimists-when-they-look-inwards-and-pessimists-when/) [Ouida](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ouida/) > [Optimists, by contrast, look for specific, limited, short-term explanations for bad events, and as a result, in the face of a setback, they’re more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-tough/optimists-by-contrast-look-for-specific-limited-short-term/) [Paul Tough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-tough/) > [Pessimists see a problem behind every opportunity. Optimists see an opportunity behind every problem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-waitley/pessimists-see-a-problem-behind-every-opportunity-optimists-see-an/) [Denis Waitley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-waitley/) > [. . . if there is a way for the world to be transformed for the better, it can only be done by pessimism;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jos-saramago/if-there-is-a-way-for-the-world-to-be-transformed-for-the-better-it/) [Jose Saramago](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jos-saramago/) > [Optimists and pessimists die the exact same death, but they live very different lives!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shimon-peres/optimists-and-pessimists-die-the-exact-same-death-but-they-live-very/) [Shimon Peres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shimon-peres/) > [Pessimists are usually right and optimists are usually wrong but all the great changes have been accomplished by optimists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-friedman/pessimists-are-usually-right-and-optimists-are-usually-wrong-but-all/) [Thomas Friedman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-friedman/) > [...the incontestable truth is that America has been built up by optimists, not by pessimists, but by men possessing courage, confidence in the nation's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-c-forbes/the-incontestable-truth-is-that-america-has-been-built-up-by/) [B. C. Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-forbes/) > [Pessimists fear becoming the dupes of Hope. Optimists enjoy Hope's company, and consider being duped no great matter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mason-cooley/pessimists-fear-becoming-the-dupes-of-hope-optimists-enjoy-hope-s/) [Mason Cooley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mason-cooley/) > [But black folks have never really been optimists. We've been prisoners of hope, and hope is qualitatively different from optimism in the way that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/but-black-folks-have-never-really-been-optimists-we-ve-been-prisoners/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [In this world, the optimists have it, not because they are always right, but because they are positive. Even when they are wrong they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-landes/in-this-world-the-optimists-have-it-not-because-they-are-always-right/) [David Landes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-landes/) > [There would be a lot more optimists if it weren't for the rise-and-shine requierement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/there-would-be-a-lot-more-optimists-if-it-weren-t-for-the-rise-and/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [The bottom line on attitude is that a good one helps to increase your possibilities. Pessimists usually get what they expect. So do optimists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-c-maxwell/the-bottom-line-on-attitude-is-that-a-good-one-helps-to-increase-your/) [John C. Maxwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-c-maxwell/) > [Both my wife and I are optimists and we look at the positives in life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ben-fogle/both-my-wife-and-i-are-optimists-and-we-look-at-the-positives-in-life/) [Ben Fogle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ben-fogle/) ## More by Alex Haley > [I tell younger writers that indeed it is devastating to be rejected. You feel like the bottom dropped out of your world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/i-tell-younger-writers-that-indeed-it-is-devastating-to-be-rejected/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [If you're blessed to do something like 'Roots'... you find yourself immersed. You're asked to do this, to do that - all for admirable…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/if-you-re-blessed-to-do-something-like-roots-you-find-yourself/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [I think from what I personally know, I am really quite proud of most of the people I know who have 'made it,' who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/i-think-from-what-i-personally-know-i-am-really-quite-proud-of-most/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [In the bush, trust no one you don't know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/in-the-bush-trust-no-one-you-don-t-know/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [Either you deal with what is the reality, or you can be sure that the reality is going to deal with you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/either-you-deal-with-what-is-the-reality-or-you-can-be-sure-that-the/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [I know Juffure was a British trading post and my portrait of the village bears no resemblance to the way it was. But the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/i-know-juffure-was-a-british-trading-post-and-my-portrait-of-the/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [I look at my books the way parents look at their children. The fact that one becomes more successful than the others doesn't make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/i-look-at-my-books-the-way-parents-look-at-their-children-the-fact/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [Never completely encircle your enemy. Leave him some escape, for he will fight even more desperately if trapped.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/never-completely-encircle-your-enemy-leave-him-some-escape-for-he/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [I can't feel Irish to save my soul, but it's a fact.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/i-can-t-feel-irish-to-save-my-soul-but-it-s-a-fact/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [Most of the people I've met who are black in other countries look up to the blacks in this country. Though they may talk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/most-of-the-people-i-ve-met-who-are-black-in-other-countries-look-up/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [Early in the spring of 1750, in the village of Juffure, four days upriver from the coast of The Gambia, West Africa, a manchild…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/early-in-the-spring-of-1750-in-the-village-of-juffure-four-days/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [“nightly boiling and then cooling a broth of freshly pounded fudano leaves in which she soaked her feat -and the pale palms of her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/nightly-boiling-and-then-cooling-a-broth-of-freshly-pounded-fudano/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [In all of us there is a hunger, marrow-deep, to know our heritage, to know who we are and where we came from.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/in-all-of-us-there-is-a-hunger-marrow-deep-to-know-our-heritage-to/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [If you think about it, there's not a religious group, there's not a nationalistic group, there's not a tribe, there is no grouping of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/if-you-think-about-it-there-s-not-a-religious-group-there-s-not-a/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) > [Is this how you repay my goodness--with badness?” cried the boy. “Of course,” said the crocodile out of the corner of his mouth. “That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/is-this-how-you-repay-my-goodness-with-badness-cried-the-boy-of/) [Alex Haley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) [Explore all 83 Alex Haley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/) ## More History quotes > [Histories never conclude; they just pause their prose. Their stories are, if they are truthful, untidy affairs, resistant to windings-up and sortings-out. They beat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-schama/histories-never-conclude-they-just-pause-their-prose-their-stories/) [Simon Schama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-schama/) > [It is said that history turns on small hinges. A human career, too, results from an accumulating series of decisions about large and small…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/it-is-said-that-history-turns-on-small-hinges-a-human-career-too/) [Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/) > [The history of mankind interests us only as it exhibits a steady gain of truth and right, in the incessant conflict which it records…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-history-of-mankind-interests-us-only-as-it-exhibits-a-steady-gain/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [In the entire history of the universe, let alone in your own history, there has never been another day just like today, and there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-buechner/in-the-entire-history-of-the-universe-let-alone-in-your-own-history/) [Frederick Buechner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-buechner/) > [The NBA is my history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penny-hardaway/the-nba-is-my-history/) [Penny Hardaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penny-hardaway/) > [History has often showed us the strength of the forces that are unleashed by the yearning for freedom. It moved people to overcome their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-merkel/history-has-often-showed-us-the-strength-of-the-forces-that-are/) [Angela Merkel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-merkel/) > [We find few historians who have been diligent enough in their search for truth; it is their common method to take on trust what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/we-find-few-historians-who-have-been-diligent-enough-in-their-search/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [What is history after all? History is facts which become lies in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/what-is-history-after-all-history-is-facts-which-become-lies-in-the/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [Things live and die, and then someone processes them into edible portions. This is a complete telling of the story, 'Food.' The basic plot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-fahrenthold/things-live-and-die-and-then-someone-processes-them-into-edible/) [David Fahrenthold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-fahrenthold/) > [History is a certain way, but you just change the point of view a little bit, and you discover a whole new side of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/allison-schroeder/history-is-a-certain-way-but-you-just-change-the-point-of-view-a/) [Allison Schroeder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/allison-schroeder/) > [We're at a point in history were we have to become a part of the neighborhood of inhabited planets, like a neighborhood of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edgar-mitchell/we-re-at-a-point-in-history-were-we-have-to-become-a-part-of-the/) [Edgar Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edgar-mitchell/) > [Today is a reality, tomorrow's a promise, and yesterday's history!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/billy-blanks/today-is-a-reality-tomorrow-s-a-promise-and-yesterday-s-history/) [Billy Blanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/billy-blanks/) > [Truth be told from compulsive liars with a history/Everything must change 2nd chances are a mystery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-dash/truth-be-told-from-compulsive-liars-with-a-history-everything-must/) [C-DASH](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-dash/) > [Every army in the history of the world has always had some deserters, usually much greater than we have today, because once again every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-hilferty/every-army-in-the-history-of-the-world-has-always-had-some-deserters/) [Bryan Hilferty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-hilferty/) > [“To those great geniuses now in petticoats, who shall write novels for the beloved reader's children, these men and things will be as much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-makepeace-thackeray/to-those-great-geniuses-now-in-petticoats-who-shall-write-novels-for/) [William Makepeace Thackeray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-makepeace-thackeray/) [Browse all 27,263 History quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/history/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Indeed optimists rather than defeatists have produced the results for which serious genealogical research is best known.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alex Haley" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/indeed-optimists-rather-than-defeatists-have-produced-the-results-for/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "History" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/indeed-optimists-rather-than-defeatists-have-produced-the-results-for/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba7/alex-haley-8212_history_indeed-optimists-rather-than-defeatists_2925359.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba7/alex-haley-8212_history_indeed-optimists-rather-than-defeatists_2925359.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ba7/alex-haley-8212_history_indeed-optimists-rather-than-defeatists_2925359.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Indeed optimists rather than defeatists have produced the results for which serious genealogical research is…” — Alex Haley", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alex Haley", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-haley/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Indeed optimists rather than defeatists have...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/indeed-optimists-rather-than-defeatists-have-produced-the-results-for/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-haley/indeed-optimists-rather-than-defeatists-have-produced-the-results-for/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```