--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: A depression is a situation of…" description: "\"A depression is a situation of self-fulfilling pessimism.\" — Joan Robinson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/546/joan-robinson-11438_depression_a-depression-is-a-situation-of-self-fulf_1593449.png" --- # A depression is a situation of self-fulfilling pessimism. ![“A depression is a situation of self-fulfilling pessimism.” quote by Joan Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/546/joan-robinson-11438_depression_a-depression-is-a-situation-of-self-fulf_1593449.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/546/joan-robinson-11438_depression_a-depression-is-a-situation-of-self-fulf_1593449.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/546/joan-robinson-11438_depression_a-depression-is-a-situation-of-self-fulf_1593449.png) > “A depression is a situation of self-fulfilling pessimism.” [Joan Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-robinson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Depression can be caused by believing negative outcomes, which then become reality. **In simple terms:** Pessimism can create the very situation it predicts. Key Takeaway Challenge negative expectations. Themes psychology economics mindset Mood reflective serious Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - personal finance - mental health - policy making - business strategy Key Concepts self‑fulfilling prophecy cognitive bias Questions to Reflect On - How do your thoughts shape your circumstances? - Can optimism improve economic outcomes? A Different Perspective Optimism and structural support can counteract pessimism. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Depression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depression/) [Depression Situation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/depression-situation-6044194/) [Economics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/economics/) [Fulfilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fulfilling/) [Fulfilling Pessimism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fulfilling-pessimism-6044193/) [Pessimism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pessimism/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Self Fulfilling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-fulfilling/) [Situation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/situation/) ## Related quotes > [Life is self-fulfilling prophecy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/denis-waitley/life-is-self-fulfilling-prophecy/) [Denis Waitley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/denis-waitley/) > [I have great faith in optimism as a guiding principle, if only because it offers us the opportunity of creating a self-fulfilling prophecy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-c-clarke/i-have-great-faith-in-optimism-as-a-guiding-principle-if-only-because/) [Arthur C. Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-c-clarke/) > [It was almost as if I had a right to win. Thinking like that often seems to turn into sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-walton/it-was-almost-as-if-i-had-a-right-to-win-thinking-like-that-often/) [Sam Walton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-walton/) > [Oppression has no logic--just a self-fulfilling prophecy, justified by a self-perpetuating system.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gloria-steinem/oppression-has-no-logic-just-a-self-fulfilling-prophecy-justified-by/) [Gloria Steinem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gloria-steinem/) > [Self-doubt is a self-fulfilling prophecy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurell-k-hamilton/self-doubt-is-a-self-fulfilling-prophecy/) [Laurell K. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurell-k-hamilton/) > [Success is a self-fulfilling prophecy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-h-swami-tejomayananda/success-is-a-self-fulfilling-prophecy/) [H H Swami Tejomayananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-h-swami-tejomayananda/) > [Life is a self-fulfilling prophesy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-a-self-fulfilling-prophesy/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Punk gave us an engine and it taught us to be self-fulfilling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andi-oliver/punk-gave-us-an-engine-and-it-taught-us-to-be-self-fulfilling/) [Andi Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andi-oliver/) > [Expectations tend to be self-fulfilling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vern-law/expectations-tend-to-be-self-fulfilling/) [Vern Law](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vern-law/) > [Optimism is a self-fulfilling prophecy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeannette-walls/optimism-is-a-self-fulfilling-prophecy/) [Jeannette Walls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeannette-walls/) > [Every theory is a self-fulfilling prophecy that orders experience into the framework it provides.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruth-hubbard/every-theory-is-a-self-fulfilling-prophecy-that-orders-experience/) [Ruth Hubbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruth-hubbard/) > [“Pessimism is a luxury of good times. In difficult times, pessimism is a self- fulfilling, self-inflicted death sentence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/evelin-lindner/pessimism-is-a-luxury-of-good-times-in-difficult-times-pessimism-is-a/) [Evelin Lindner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/evelin-lindner/) > [“The story of race has become a self-fulfilling, self-perpetuating prophecy as the story creates the ideas, which then reinforce the story.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debby-irving/the-story-of-race-has-become-a-self-fulfilling-self-perpetuating/) [Debby Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debby-irving/) > [“That's what I've noticed in my experiments: almost everything in life is a self-fulfilling prophecy .Probably even believing in self-fulfilling prophecies is a self-fulfilling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-jacobs/that-s-what-i-ve-noticed-in-my-experiments-almost-everything-in-life/) [A.J. Jacobs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-jacobs/) > [“Until you get it that’s he’s only what his experience has shaped him to be, you’re seeing him as subhuman. As ‘other’ somehow. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-ryan-hyde/until-you-get-it-that-s-he-s-only-what-his-experience-has-shaped-him/) [Catherine Ryan Hyde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-ryan-hyde/) ## More by Joan Robinson > [ The very nature of economics is rooted in nationalism. ... It \[was\] developed ... in the hope of throwing light upon questions of policy.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-robinson/the-very-nature-of-economics-is-rooted-in-nationalism-it-was/) [Joan Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-robinson/) > [Unequal distribution of income is an excessively uneconomic method of getting the necessary saving done.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-robinson/unequal-distribution-of-income-is-an-excessively-uneconomic-method-of/) [Joan Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-robinson/) > [we make a great fuss about national conscience, but it consists mainly in insisting upon everyone ascribing our national policy to highly moral motives,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-robinson/we-make-a-great-fuss-about-national-conscience-but-it-consists-mainly/) [Joan Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-robinson/) > [Marx, however imperfectly he worked out the details, set himself the task of discovering the law of motion of capitalism, and if there is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-robinson/marx-however-imperfectly-he-worked-out-the-details-set-himself-the/) [Joan Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-robinson/) > [Economic theorists should not make such a production about taking a rabbit out of a hat after having put the rabbit into the hat…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-robinson/economic-theorists-should-not-make-such-a-production-about-taking-a/) [Joan Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-robinson/) > [science progresses by trial and error, and when it is forbidden to admit error there can be no progress.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-robinson/science-progresses-by-trial-and-error-and-when-it-is-forbidden-to/) [Joan Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-robinson/) > [Marxism is the opium of the Marxists.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-robinson/marxism-is-the-opium-of-the-marxists/) [Joan Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-robinson/) > [The orthodox doctrines of economics which were dominant in the last quarter of the nineteenth century had a clear message. 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Absolute misery grows while wealth increases.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-robinson/not-only-subjective-poverty-is-never-overcome-by-growth-but-absolute/) [Joan Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-robinson/) > [Reality is never a golden age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-robinson/reality-is-never-a-golden-age/) [Joan Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-robinson/) > [“After the war, when the problem of deficient effective demand seemed to have faded into the background, a fresh question came to the fore…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-robinson/after-the-war-when-the-problem-of-deficient-effective-demand-seemed/) [Joan Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-robinson/) > [In all the talk in the Principles (as opposed to the formal analysis) it is not the saving of rentiers but the energy of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-robinson/in-all-the-talk-in-the-principles-as-opposed-to-the-formal-analysis/) [Joan Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-robinson/) > [I do not regard the Keynesian revolution as a great intellectual triumph. 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Im tired of always having to start the conversation and if I dont, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/im-tired-tired-of-putting-more-effort-than-you-do-im-tired-of-always/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Once upon a time, there was a naïve and innocent girl who thought she could tame the beast and live happily ever after. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nenia-campbell/once-upon-a-time-there-was-a-na-ve-and-innocent-girl-who-thought-she/) [Nenia Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nenia-campbell/) > [“Why in depression" "If we are human, why not have the right to smile, Why in depression, young, and beautiful as earth, Why in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yanilsa-pena/why-in-depression-if-we-are-human-why-not-have-the-right-to-smile-why/) [Yanilsa pena](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yanilsa-pena/) > [“Depression makes me stronger”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shayamalan/depression-makes-me-stronger/) [Shayamalan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shayamalan/) > [“Shorter believes that psychosomatic illnesses (such as leg paralysis at the turn of the twentieth century or multiple personality disorder at the turn of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethan-watters/shorter-believes-that-psychosomatic-illnesses-such-as-leg-paralysis/) [Ethan Watters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethan-watters/) > [Depression is merely anger without enthusiasm.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-wright/depression-is-merely-anger-without-enthusiasm/) [Steven Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-wright/) > [Repression will provoke rebellion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-williamson/repression-will-provoke-rebellion/) [Hugh Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-williamson/) > [I'm certainly not a perfect mother, but I'm trying to be what my mother wasn't for me. 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