--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We are optimists, until we are not." description: "\"We are optimists, until we are not.\" — Charles Darwin" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ff/charles-darwin-507_hope_we-are-optimists-until-we-are-not-280758_2807589.jpg" --- # We are optimists, until we are not. ![“We are optimists, until we are not.” quote by Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ff/charles-darwin-507_hope_we-are-optimists-until-we-are-not-280758_2807589.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ff/charles-darwin-507_hope_we-are-optimists-until-we-are-not-280758_2807589.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ff/charles-darwin-507_hope_we-are-optimists-until-we-are-not-280758_2807589.jpg) > “We are optimists, until we are not.” [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Notes that optimism is conditional, persisting only while evidence supports it, implying flexibility in belief. **In simple terms:** Optimism lasts until evidence changes. Key Takeaway Adapt optimism to reality. Themes science philosophy mindset Mood analytical thoughtful Type scientific philosophical When to use this quote - scientific discourse - personal philosophy - education Key Concepts empiricism cognitive flexibility Questions to Reflect On - When should you reassess optimism? - How does evidence shape belief? A Different Perspective Overly optimistic views can ignore warning signs. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) [Optimist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/optimist/) [Optimists](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/optimists/) ## Related quotes > [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/) > [Every one of the great revolutionists, from Isaiah to Shelley, have been optimists. They have been indignant, not about the badness of existence, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/every-one-of-the-great-revolutionists-from-isaiah-to-shelley-have-2/) [Gilbert K. Chesterton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilbert-k-chesterton/) > [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/) > [The defining characteristic of pessimists is that they tend to believe that bad events will last a long time, will undermine everything they do,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-seligman/the-defining-characteristic-of-pessimists-is-that-they-tend-to/) [Martin Seligman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-seligman/) ## More by Charles Darwin > [The love for all living creatures is the most noble attribute of man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/the-love-for-all-living-creatures-is-the-most-noble-attribute-of-man/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [The main conclusion here arrived at ... is that man is descended from some less highly organized form.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/the-main-conclusion-here-arrived-at-is-that-man-is-descended-from/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [So great is the economy of nature, that most flowers which are fertilised by crepuscular or nocturnal insects emit their odour chiefly or exclusively…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/so-great-is-the-economy-of-nature-that-most-flowers-which-are/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [I see no good reasons why the views given in this volume should shock the religious views of anyone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/i-see-no-good-reasons-why-the-views-given-in-this-volume-should-shock/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [I am quite conscious that my speculations run beyond the bounds of true science…It is a mere rag of an hypothesis with as many…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/i-am-quite-conscious-that-my-speculations-run-beyond-the-bounds-of/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [If worms have the power of acquiring some notion, however rude, of the shape of an object and over their burrows, as seems the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/if-worms-have-the-power-of-acquiring-some-notion-however-rude-of-the/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [We can allow satellites, planets, suns, universe, nay whole systems of universes, to be governed by laws, but the smallest insect, we wish to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/we-can-allow-satellites-planets-suns-universe-nay-whole-systems-of/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [Formerly Milton's Paradise Lost had been my chief favourite, and in my excursions during the voyage of the Beagle, when I could take only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/formerly-milton-s-paradise-lost-had-been-my-chief-favourite-and-in-my/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [May we not suspect that the vague but very real fears of children, which are quite independent of experience, are the inherited effects of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/may-we-not-suspect-that-the-vague-but-very-real-fears-of-children/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [It may be said that natural selection is daily and hourly scrutinizing, throughout the world, every variation, even the slightest; rejecting that which is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/it-may-be-said-that-natural-selection-is-daily-and-hourly/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [“Darwin, landing in Brazil in 1832, had a similar reaction, colored by his reading of his predecessor." Humboldt's glorious descriptions are & will for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/darwin-landing-in-brazil-in-1832-had-a-similar-reaction-colored-by/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [...all nature is perverse & will not do as I wish it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/all-nature-is-perverse-will-not-do-as-i-wish-it/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [“To admit that species generally become rare before they become extinct—to feel no surprise at the comparative rarity of one species with another, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/to-admit-that-species-generally-become-rare-before-they-become/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [To suppose that the eye could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest possible degree](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/to-suppose-that-the-eye-could-have-been-formed-by-natural-selection/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) > [It is interesting to contemplate an entangled bank clothed with many plants of many kinds with birds singing on the bushes, with various insects…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/it-is-interesting-to-contemplate-an-entangled-bank-clothed-with-many/) [Charles Darwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) [Explore all 497 Charles Darwin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/) ## More Hope quotes > [Of all the people who have affected my life and influenced the choices I've made, none has been more important than my father. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/teddy-atlas/of-all-the-people-who-have-affected-my-life-and-influenced-the/) [Teddy Atlas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/teddy-atlas/) > [“Cine a ucis stelele? Cine a surpat drumul spre viitor al celor din morminte?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ionel-teodoreanu/cine-a-ucis-stelele-cine-a-surpat-drumul-spre-viitor-al-celor-din/) [Ionel Teodoreanu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ionel-teodoreanu/) > [“What can we do in any hardship? We can hope with prayerful praise.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lailah-gifty-akita/what-can-we-do-in-any-hardship-we-can-hope-with-prayerful-praise/) [Lailah Gifty Akita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lailah-gifty-akita/) > [I hope I continue to evolve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-flair/i-hope-i-continue-to-evolve/) [Charlotte Flair](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-flair/) > [If one truly has lost hope, one would not be on hand to say so.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-bentley/if-one-truly-has-lost-hope-one-would-not-be-on-hand-to-say-so/) [Eric Bentley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-bentley/) > [“too—I realized that my only hope was to give up the life that had been, in order to make room for the life that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-lesser/too-i-realized-that-my-only-hope-was-to-give-up-the-life-that-had/) [Elizabeth Lesser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-lesser/) > [You practice mindfulness, on the one hand, to be calm and peaceful. On the other hand, as you practice mindfulness and live a life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-practice-mindfulness-on-the-one-hand-to-be-calm-and-peaceful-on/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Stop trying to give me hope ... I have no room left for it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenn-f/stop-trying-to-give-me-hope-i-have-no-room-left-for-it/) [Jenn F](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenn-f/) > [If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/if-there-is-any-period-one-would-desire-to-be-born-in-is-it-not-the/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [Give me love, give me peace on earth, give me light, give me life, keep me free from birth, give me hope, help me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/give-me-love-give-me-peace-on-earth-give-me-light-give-me-life-keep/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Pray, hope, don't worry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pio-of-pietrelcina/pray-hope-don-t-worry/) [Pio of Pietrelcina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pio-of-pietrelcina/) > [Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers. Pray for powers equal to your tasks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phillips-brooks/do-not-pray-for-tasks-equal-to-your-powers-pray-for-powers-equal-to/) [Phillips Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phillips-brooks/) > [I am at a point in my life where everything I have worked for starts to look like a burden, a weight on my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simone-abou-samra/i-am-at-a-point-in-my-life-where-everything-i-have-worked-for-starts/) Simone Abou Samra > [Im really happy that I met you I hope you know that](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/im-nothing/im-really-happy-that-i-met-you-i-hope-you-know-that/) Im Nothing > [All that I am or ever hope to be, I owe to my angel Mother.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abraham-lincoln/all-that-i-am-or-ever-hope-to-be-i-owe-to-my-angel-mother/) [Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abraham-lincoln/) [Browse all 24,868 Hope quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We are optimists, until we are not.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Charles Darwin" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/we-are-optimists-until-we-are-not/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Hope" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/we-are-optimists-until-we-are-not/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ff/charles-darwin-507_hope_we-are-optimists-until-we-are-not-280758_2807589.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ff/charles-darwin-507_hope_we-are-optimists-until-we-are-not-280758_2807589.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9ff/charles-darwin-507_hope_we-are-optimists-until-we-are-not-280758_2807589.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“We are optimists, until we are not.” — Charles Darwin", "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": "Charles Darwin", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-darwin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "We are optimists, until we are...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/we-are-optimists-until-we-are-not/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-darwin/we-are-optimists-until-we-are-not/#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 } } ] } ```