--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Pessimism is too easy, even delicious…" description: "\"“Pessimism is too easy, even delicious, the badge and plume of intellectuals everywhere. It absolves the thinking classes of solutions. We”\" — Ian McEwan" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/355/ian-mcewan-494_intellectuals_pessimism-is-too-easy-even-delicious-the_2018818.png" --- # Pessimism is too easy, even delicious, the badge and plume… ![“Pessimism is too easy, even delicious, the badge and plume of intellectuals everywhere. It absolves the thinking classes of solutions. We” quote by Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/355/ian-mcewan-494_intellectuals_pessimism-is-too-easy-even-delicious-the_2018818.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/355/ian-mcewan-494_intellectuals_pessimism-is-too-easy-even-delicious-the_2018818.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/355/ian-mcewan-494_intellectuals_pessimism-is-too-easy-even-delicious-the_2018818.png) > ““Pessimism is too easy, even delicious, the badge and plume of intellectuals everywhere. It absolves the thinking classes of solutions. We”” [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Critiques pessimism as an easy intellectual escape that hinders solution‑finding, urging active engagement. **In simple terms:** Pessimism avoids responsibility; act instead. Key Takeaway Choose action over despair. Themes pessimism responsibility intellectual honesty solution‑seeking Mood cautious analytical encouraging Type literary psychological motivational When to use this quote - decision making - team leadership - creative problem solving - public policy Key Concepts critical thinking psychology philosophy Questions to Reflect On - Why is pessimism appealing? - What steps can replace it with constructive thinking? A Different Perspective Pessimism can sometimes protect mental health, making it hard to abandon. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Intellectuals](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/intellectuals/) [Optimism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/optimism/) [Pessimism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pessimism/) ## Related quotes > [“Pessimism is a very easy way out when you’re considering what life really is, because pessimism is a short view of life. If you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robertson-davies/pessimism-is-a-very-easy-way-out-when-you-re-considering-what-life/) [Robertson Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robertson-davies/) > [Pessimism is a very easy way out because it is a short view of life. If you look at what is happening around us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robertson-davies/pessimism-is-a-very-easy-way-out-because-it-is-a-short-view-of-life/) [Robertson Davies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robertson-davies/) > [Pessimism is easy. We all can do it. We don't need to read books on how to be pessimists. 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For intellectuals would never be converted and would anyway always yield to the stronger,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-goebbels/there-was-no-point-in-seeking-to-convert-the-intellectuals-for/) [Joseph Goebbels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-goebbels/) > [“The passion with which native intellectuals defend the existence of their national culture may be a source of amazement; but those who condemn this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frantz-fanon/the-passion-with-which-native-intellectuals-defend-the-existence-of/) [Frantz Fanon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frantz-fanon/) > [“...he was one of the great intellectuals of the 1940s who completed their higher studies in the West and returned to their country to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alaa-al-aswany/he-was-one-of-the-great-intellectuals-of-the-1940s-who-completed/) [Alaa Al Aswany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alaa-al-aswany/) > [Writers and intellectuals have a duty to humanity. It is to insist that the human entity remains the primary asset in overall development; thus,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wole-soyinka/writers-and-intellectuals-have-a-duty-to-humanity-it-is-to-insist/) [Wole Soyinka](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wole-soyinka/) ## More by Ian McEwan > [“As you will see, we do not believe that artists have an obligation to strike up attitudes to the war. Indeed, they are wise…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/as-you-will-see-we-do-not-believe-that-artists-have-an-obligation-to/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [You could say that all novels are spy novels and all novelists are spy masters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/you-could-say-that-all-novels-are-spy-novels-and-all-novelists-are/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I've never had a moment's doubt. I love you. I believe in you completely. You are my dearest one. My reason for life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-ve-never-had-a-moment-s-doubt-i-love-you-i-believe-in-you/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“It is shaming sometimes, how the body will not, or cannot, lie about emotions.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/it-is-shaming-sometimes-how-the-body-will-not-or-cannot-lie-about/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“While my friends struggled and calculated, I reached a solution by a set of floating steps that were partly visual, partly just a feeling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/while-my-friends-struggled-and-calculated-i-reached-a-solution-by-a/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“Once, on a walk by a river- Eskdale in low reddish sunlight, with a dusting of snow- his daughter quoted to him an opening…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/once-on-a-walk-by-a-river-eskdale-in-low-reddish-sunlight-with-a/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [“Perhaps it's one of those cases of a microcosm giving you the whole world. 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He did not know, or would not have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/on-chesil-beach-he-could-have-called-out-to-florence-he-could-have/) [Ian McEwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [It was always the view of my parents...that hot weather encouraged loose morals among young people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/it-was-always-the-view-of-my-parents-that-hot-weather-encouraged/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I apologize for being obvious, but every time I watch the curtain come down on even a halfway decent production of a Shakespeare play…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ian-mcewan/i-apologize-for-being-obvious-but-every-time-i-watch-the-curtain-come/) [Ian Mcewan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ian-mcewan/) > [I would rather be physically disabled obviously than mentally. I would rather be paraplegic than nuts. 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For intellectuals would never be converted and would anyway always yield to the stronger,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-goebbels/there-was-no-point-in-seeking-to-convert-the-intellectuals-for/) [Joseph Goebbels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-goebbels/) > [The intellectuals' chief cause of anguish are one another's works. Jacques Barzun, 1959 all ignorance toboggans into know and trudges up to ignorance again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings/the-intellectuals-chief-cause-of-anguish-are-one-another-s-works/) [e. e. cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings/) > [Country and western is ignored by the intellectuals. They don't look at it as an art form. They think it's just somebody sitting on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ricky-skaggs/country-and-western-is-ignored-by-the-intellectuals-they-don-t-look/) [Ricky Skaggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ricky-skaggs/) > [ Intellectuals (in the standard sense of the term, not \[ Edward\] Said's prescriptive sense) are the people who write history. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/intellectuals-in-the-standard-sense-of-the-term-not-edward-said-s/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Designers may be the true intellectuals of the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paola-antonelli/designers-may-be-the-true-intellectuals-of-the-future/) [Paola Antonelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paola-antonelli/) > [“As things stand the "intellectuals" only come out to lick the bones left over by the tyrant.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nilantha-ilangamuwa/as-things-stand-the-intellectuals-only-come-out-to-lick-the-bones/) [Nilantha Ilangamuwa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nilantha-ilangamuwa/) > [What do intellectuals and opinion makers get from big government? 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