--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Are you an optimist or a pessimist?\" \"I…" description: "\"“Are you an optimist or a pessimist?\" \"I can't remember. Which?\" \"Do you know what those words mean?\" \"Not really.\" \"An optimist is positive and hopefu..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed7/jonathan-safran-foer-136_optimism_are-you-an-optimist-or-a-pessimist-i-can_1783944.png" --- # Are you an optimist or a pessimist?" "I can't remember… ![“Are you an optimist or a pessimist?" "I can't remember. Which?" "Do you know what those words mean?" "Not really." "An optimist is positive and hopeful. A pessimist is negative and cynical." "I'm an optimist." "Well, that's good, because there’s no irrefutable evidence. There’s nothing that could…” quote by Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed7/jonathan-safran-foer-136_optimism_are-you-an-optimist-or-a-pessimist-i-can_1783944.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed7/jonathan-safran-foer-136_optimism_are-you-an-optimist-or-a-pessimist-i-can_1783944.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ed7/jonathan-safran-foer-136_optimism_are-you-an-optimist-or-a-pessimist-i-can_1783944.png) > ““Are you an optimist or a pessimist?" "I can't remember. Which?" "Do you know what those words mean?" "Not really." "An optimist is positive and hopeful. A pessimist is negative and cynical." "I'm an optimist." "Well, that's good, because there’s no irrefutable evidence. There’s nothing that could convince someone who doesn’t want to be convinced. But there is an abundance of clues that would give the wanting believer something to hold on to.”” [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Optimism and pessimism are labels that lack precise definitions; belief is shaped by clues rather than proof. **In simple terms:** Labels for outlook are vague; belief relies on hints. Key Takeaway Seek evidence, not just labels. Themes belief optimism pessimism epistemology Mood curious thoughtful Type literary philosophical When to use this quote - personal growth - debate - education - media consumption Key Concepts cognitive bias psychology Questions to Reflect On - What clues shape your worldview? - Can optimism be justified without evidence? A Different Perspective Skeptics may claim some truths are provable. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cynical Optimist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cynical-optimist-1886695/) [Optimism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/optimism/) [Optimist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/optimist/) [Optimist Pessimist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/optimist-pessimist-238422/) [Optimist Positive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/optimist-positive-1886694/) [Pessimism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pessimism/) [Pessimist Negative](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pessimist-negative-1886696/) ## Related quotes > [I'm a realist all the way. I'm too cynical to be an optimist. But I've lived too much of a charmed life so far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-jeselnik/i-m-a-realist-all-the-way-i-m-too-cynical-to-be-an-optimist-but-i-ve/) [Anthony Jeselnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-jeselnik/) > [It is better to be an optimist (a positive-minded person) because being a pessimist will get you nowhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melchor-lim/it-is-better-to-be-an-optimist-a-positive-minded-person-because-being/) [Melchor Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melchor-lim/) > [“The optimist and the pessimist both die in the end, but each lives is life in a completely different way.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/the-optimist-and-the-pessimist-both-die-in-the-end-but-each-lives-is/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [I am glad I am an optimist. The pessimist is half-licked before he starts. The optimist has won half the battle, the most important…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-buckner/i-am-glad-i-am-an-optimist-the-pessimist-is-half-licked-before-he/) [Thomas Buckner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-buckner/) > [I'm too cynical to be an optimist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-jeselnik/i-m-too-cynical-to-be-an-optimist/) [Anthony Jeselnik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-jeselnik/) > [I am a cynical optimist. Big opening weekends are like cotton candy. The films you will remember over time are the films that stick…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-redford/i-am-a-cynical-optimist-big-opening-weekends-are-like-cotton-candy/) [Robert Redford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-redford/) > [“Unsure of what I was. An optimist? A pessimist? Neither. A fool.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-asher/unsure-of-what-i-was-an-optimist-a-pessimist-neither-a-fool/) [Jay Asher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-asher/) > [There are some harsh realities about this business, and they've been beaten into my psyche. But I'm more of an optimist than a pessimist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-lauer/there-are-some-harsh-realities-about-this-business-and-they-ve-been/) [Matt Lauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-lauer/) > [“They were well matched. Optimist and pessimist, dreamer and cynic. And what is love anyway, but finding someone who suits you? Someone who makes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joe-abercrombie/they-were-well-matched-optimist-and-pessimist-dreamer-and-cynic-and/) [Joe Abercrombie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joe-abercrombie/) > [Dear optimist, pessimist, and realist--while you guys were busy arguing about the glass of wine, I drank it! Sincerely, the opportunist!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lori-greiner/dear-optimist-pessimist-and-realist-while-you-guys-were-busy-arguing-2/) [Lori Greiner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lori-greiner/) > [Sometimes people ask me, 'Are you an optimist or a pessimist?' It doesn't matter. Whether I have a future or not is for me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/raoul-peck/sometimes-people-ask-me-are-you-an-optimist-or-a-pessimist-it-doesn-t/) [Raoul Peck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/raoul-peck/) > [It is largely because the free-thinkers, as a school, have hardly made up their minds whether they want to be more optimist or more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/it-is-largely-because-the-free-thinkers-as-a-school-have-hardly-made/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I asked her, "Are you an optimist or a pessimist?" She looked at her watch and said, "I'm optimistic." "Then I have some bad…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/i-asked-her-are-you-an-optimist-or-a-pessimist-she-looked-at-her/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“I am neither an optimist nor a pessimist,” Lesslie Newbigin once said. “Jesus Christ is risen from the dead.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-chaddick/i-am-neither-an-optimist-nor-a-pessimist-lesslie-newbigin-once-said/) [Tim Chaddick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-chaddick/) > [“How To Reprimand A Cynical Optimist You can have your cake and eat it too but don't let me catch you five minutes later…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pamela-august-russell/how-to-reprimand-a-cynical-optimist-you-can-have-your-cake-and-eat-it/) [Pamela August Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pamela-august-russell/) ## More by Jonathan Safran Foer > [This brings me back to the image of Kafka standing before a fish in the Berlin aquarium, a fish on which his gaze fell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/this-brings-me-back-to-the-image-of-kafka-standing-before-a-fish-in/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [I try not to remember the life that I didn’t want to lose but lost and have to remember](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/i-try-not-to-remember-the-life-that-i-didn-t-want-to-lose-but-lost/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“I have an aristocratic smile and like to punch people.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/i-have-an-aristocratic-smile-and-like-to-punch-people/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [He removed several pages of death certificates, which were picked up by another breeze and sent into the trees. Some would fall with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/he-removed-several-pages-of-death-certificates-which-were-picked-up/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [I would have done anything for him. Maybe that was my sickness. We made love in nothing places and turned the lights off. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/i-would-have-done-anything-for-him-maybe-that-was-my-sickness-we-made/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“One day I wandered away from her and hid. I liked the way it felt to have someone look for me, to hear my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/one-day-i-wandered-away-from-her-and-hid-i-liked-the-way-it-felt-to/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [If nothing matters, there's nothing to save.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/if-nothing-matters-there-s-nothing-to-save/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“It was one of the best days of my life, a day during which I lived my life and didn't think about it at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/it-was-one-of-the-best-days-of-my-life-a-day-during-which-i-lived-my/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“The appearance was misleading- human dreams; rubbish heaps abundant yet ephemeral sudden and splendid, only to wilt and perish”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/the-appearance-was-misleading-human-dreams-rubbish-heaps-abundant-yet/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“the entirety of human society and moral progress represents an explicit transcendence of what’s “natural.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/the-entirety-of-human-society-and-moral-progress-represents-an/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“Food is not so much a symbol of freedom as the first requirement of freedom. We eat foods that are native to America on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/food-is-not-so-much-a-symbol-of-freedom-as-the-first-requirement-of/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [“Rationally, factory farming is so obviously wrong, in so many ways. In all of my reading and conversations, I’ve yet to find a credible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/rationally-factory-farming-is-so-obviously-wrong-in-so-many-ways-in/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [Just because you're an atheist, that doesn't mean you wouldn't love for things to have reasons for why they are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/just-because-you-re-an-atheist-that-doesn-t-mean-you-wouldn-t-love/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [Do you think I'm wonderful? she asked him one day as they leaned against the trunk of a petrified maple. No, he said. Why?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/do-you-think-i-m-wonderful-she-asked-him-one-day-as-they-leaned/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [My insides don't match up with my outsides. -Do anyone's inside and outsides match up? -I don't know. I'm only me. -Maybe that's what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/my-insides-don-t-match-up-with-my-outsides-do-anyone-s-inside-and/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) [Explore all 1,117 Jonathan Safran Foer quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) ## More Optimism quotes > [Spring training means flowers, people coming outdoors, sunshine, optimism and baseball. Spring training is a time to think about being young again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ernie-banks/spring-training-means-flowers-people-coming-outdoors-sunshine/) [Ernie Banks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ernie-banks/) > [The late 1990s were really a moment of still tremendous hope and optimism about the relationship between Russia and the United States.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antony-blinken/the-late-1990s-were-really-a-moment-of-still-tremendous-hope-and/) [Antony Blinken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antony-blinken/) > [Wherever I go I'm always wearing my smile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ewshy/wherever-i-go-i-m-always-wearing-my-smile/) [Ewshy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ewshy/) > [If you can find as much happiness at the bottom of the ladder of success as you can at the top, then you understand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-krause/if-you-can-find-as-much-happiness-at-the-bottom-of-the-ladder-of/) [Tom Krause](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-krause/) > [Oh, dear Hazel.” Aphrodite folded her fan. “Such optimism, yet you have heartrending days ahead of you. Of course war is coming. Love and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/oh-dear-hazel-aphrodite-folded-her-fan-such-optimism-yet-you-have/) [Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/) > [When everything feels like an uphill struggle, just think of the view from the top.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-everything-feels-like-an-uphill-struggle-just-think-of-the-view/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Hope is not mere optimism; rather, it is moving forward in anticipation of redemption in spite of the improbability of rescue.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-b-allender/hope-is-not-mere-optimism-rather-it-is-moving-forward-in-anticipation/) [Dan B. Allender](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-b-allender/) > [The still youthful energies of the globe have only to be directed in their proper channel.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/the-still-youthful-energies-of-the-globe-have-only-to-be-directed-in/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [I'm a pessimist because of intelligence, but an optimist because of will.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antonio-gramsci/i-m-a-pessimist-because-of-intelligence-but-an-optimist-because-of/) [Antonio Gramsci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antonio-gramsci/) > [Be of good cheer. Do not think of today's failures, but of the success that may come tomorrow. You have set yourselves a difficult…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-keller/be-of-good-cheer-do-not-think-of-today-s-failures-but-of-the-success/) [Helen Keller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-keller/) > [“Instead of worrying about what you cannot control, focus your energy on what you can create.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-bennett/instead-of-worrying-about-what-you-cannot-control-focus-your-energy/) [Roy Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-bennett/) > [“How little one is justified in speaking in this connection of "optimism" and "pessimism" and how much the characterization of liberalism as "optimistic" aims…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-von-mises/how-little-one-is-justified-in-speaking-in-this-connection-of/) [Ludwig von Mises](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-von-mises/) > [Optimism. It's not just a mind-set, it is behavior.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/larry-elder/optimism-it-s-not-just-a-mind-set-it-is-behavior/) [Larry Elder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/larry-elder/) > [“There are five important things for living a successful and fulfilling life: never stop dreaming, never stop believing, never give up, never stop trying,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-bennett/there-are-five-important-things-for-living-a-successful-and/) [Roy Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-bennett/) > [Lifes difficulties can seem overwhelming, and you may face times when problems seem encompassing. Dont look back at what youve lost, for the road…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/lifes-difficulties-can-seem-overwhelming-and-you-may-face-times-when/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 2,625 Optimism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/optimism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Are you an optimist or a pessimist?\" \"I can't remember. Which?\" \"Do you know what those words mean?\" \"Not really.\" \"An optimist is positive and hopeful. A pessimist is negative and cynical.\" \"I'm an optimist.\" \"Well, that's good, because there’s no irrefutable evidence. There’s nothing that could convince someone who doesn’t want to be convinced. 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