--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I am trying to remember that things have…" description: "\"I am trying to remember that things have certainly been crazier in human history and they may get crazier here and now, and [here I am trying to be opt..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/853/george-saunders-317_being-optimistic_i-am-trying-to-remember-that-things-have_2850464.jpg" --- # I am trying to remember that things have certainly been… ![“I am trying to remember that things have certainly been crazier in human history and they may get crazier here and now, and [here I am trying to be optimistic] it's even a good thing, to be going through all of this, if only to be reminded that history hasn't stopped - human existence is as…” quote by George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/853/george-saunders-317_being-optimistic_i-am-trying-to-remember-that-things-have_2850464.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/853/george-saunders-317_being-optimistic_i-am-trying-to-remember-that-things-have_2850464.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/853/george-saunders-317_being-optimistic_i-am-trying-to-remember-that-things-have_2850464.jpg) > “I am trying to remember that things have certainly been crazier in human history and they may get crazier here and now, and \[here I am trying to be optimistic\] it's even a good thing, to be going through all of this, if only to be reminded that history hasn't stopped - human existence is as fundamentally unmanageable now as it ever was.” [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. History is chaotic and unmanageable, yet optimism can be a useful coping tool amid turmoil. **In simple terms:** History is chaotic; optimism helps. Key Takeaway Embrace optimism despite chaos. Themes history optimism chaos Mood thoughtful cautiously hopeful Type essay philosophical When to use this quote - personal crises - global events - mental resilience Key Concepts philosophy psychology Questions to Reflect On - Can optimism coexist with realistic assessment? - When does optimism become denial? 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And ignore…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/you-have-got-to-get-your-power-up-and-do-something-and-not-just-sit/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [There was the natural human survival instinct to be optimistic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-demick/there-was-the-natural-human-survival-instinct-to-be-optimistic/) [Barbara Demick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-demick/) ## More by George Saunders > [Success is like a mountain in front of you that keeps growing. If you're not careful, it will take up your whole life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/success-is-like-a-mountain-in-front-of-you-that-keeps-growing-if-you/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [“Wow wow wow is all I can say! Remember how I always buy lunchtime Scratch-Off ticket? Have I said? Maybe did not say? 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Think about Frank Sinatra, he says: born to sing. Think about Willie Mays: born to play ball.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/a-clinton-staffer-tells-me-his-theory-think-about-frank-sinatra-he/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [We try, we fail, we posture, we aspire, we pontificate - and then we age, shrink, die, and vanish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/we-try-we-fail-we-posture-we-aspire-we-pontificate-and-then-we-age/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [“You were torturing a cat," she says. "With a freaking prod." "A prod I built myself in metal shop," he says. 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It's good for us to hear someone speak the irrational truth.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/what-good-the-prophet-in-the-wilderness-may-do-is-incremental-and/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [We're in the transition between birth and death. But the one that people often know about is the transition between the moment of death…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/we-re-in-the-transition-between-birth-and-death-but-the-one-that/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) > [You don't want to be that parent - the one who dresses his kid in a cloth sack when all the other kids are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/you-don-t-want-to-be-that-parent-the-one-who-dresses-his-kid-in-a/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) [Explore all 690 George Saunders quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) ## More Being optimistic quotes > [There was the natural human survival instinct to be optimistic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-demick/there-was-the-natural-human-survival-instinct-to-be-optimistic/) [Barbara Demick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-demick/) > [You have got to get your power up and do something and not just sit around. Always be optimistic. Always be positive! And ignore…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/you-have-got-to-get-your-power-up-and-do-something-and-not-just-sit/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [The voice of the intellect is soft one, but it does not rest until it has gained a hearing. Ultimately, after endless rebuffs, it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sigmund-freud/the-voice-of-the-intellect-is-soft-one-but-it-does-not-rest-until-it/) [Sigmund Freud](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sigmund-freud/) > [Part of what makes America strong is our resilience, tenacity, innovation and our willingness to be optimistic about our future. I know that President…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valerie-jarrett/part-of-what-makes-america-strong-is-our-resilience-tenacity/) [Valerie Jarrett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valerie-jarrett/) > [You can be fully satisfied with where you are, understanding that you're eternally evolving. When you get into that place of feeling appreciation of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/esther-hicks/you-can-be-fully-satisfied-with-where-you-are-understanding-that-you/) [Esther Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/esther-hicks/) > [Creeds matter very little... The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all possible worlds; and the pessimist fears this is true.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-branch-cabell/creeds-matter-very-little-the-optimist-proclaims-that-we-live-in-the/) [James Branch Cabell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-branch-cabell/) > [Man often becomes what he believes himself to be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahatma-gandhi/man-often-becomes-what-he-believes-himself-to-be/) [Mahatma Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahatma-gandhi/) > [People prone to joyful anticipation, skilled at obtaining pleasure from looking forward and imagining future happy events, are especially likely to be optimistic and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sonja-lyubomirsky/people-prone-to-joyful-anticipation-skilled-at-obtaining-pleasure/) [Sonja Lyubomirsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sonja-lyubomirsky/) > [I can't be optimistic. I can be hopeful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fay-vincent/i-can-t-be-optimistic-i-can-be-hopeful/) [Fay Vincent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fay-vincent/) > [“The heart of man is vulnerable to negativity, but it could be easily fortified with positivity”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/the-heart-of-man-is-vulnerable-to-negativity-but-it-could-be-easily/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [Hope is a state of mind independent of the state of the world. If your heart's full of hope, you can be persistent when…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-sloane-coffin/hope-is-a-state-of-mind-independent-of-the-state-of-the-world-if-your/) [William Sloane Coffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-sloane-coffin/) > [I think all Americans should be hopeful, and try to be optimistic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lewis/i-think-all-americans-should-be-hopeful-and-try-to-be-optimistic/) [John Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lewis/) > [We're America, and we have to stop worrying about what happens overseas, and to be optimistic, even though nobody should think we're not going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bloomberg/we-re-america-and-we-have-to-stop-worrying-about-what-happens/) [Michael Bloomberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bloomberg/) > [The biggest obstacle that you can have is all inside your head, so I try every day to be optimistic and keep dreaming about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/omar-chaparro/the-biggest-obstacle-that-you-can-have-is-all-inside-your-head-so-i/) [Omar Chaparro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/omar-chaparro/) > [I am inclined by nature to be optimistic about the capacity of a person to rise higher than he or she has thought possible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/i-am-inclined-by-nature-to-be-optimistic-about-the-capacity-of-a/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) [Browse all 86 Being optimistic quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/being-optimistic/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I am trying to remember that things have certainly been crazier in human history and they may get crazier here and now, and [here I am trying to be optimistic] it's even a good thing, to be going through all of this, if only to be reminded that history hasn't stopped - human existence is as fundamentally unmanageable now as it ever was.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "George Saunders" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/i-am-trying-to-remember-that-things-have-certainly-been-crazier-in/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Being optimistic" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/i-am-trying-to-remember-that-things-have-certainly-been-crazier-in/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/853/george-saunders-317_being-optimistic_i-am-trying-to-remember-that-things-have_2850464.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/853/george-saunders-317_being-optimistic_i-am-trying-to-remember-that-things-have_2850464.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/853/george-saunders-317_being-optimistic_i-am-trying-to-remember-that-things-have_2850464.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I am trying to remember that things have certainly been crazier in human history and they may get crazier…” — George Saunders", "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": "George Saunders", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I am trying to remember that...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/i-am-trying-to-remember-that-things-have-certainly-been-crazier-in/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/i-am-trying-to-remember-that-things-have-certainly-been-crazier-in/#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 } } ] } ```