--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It's no surprise that optimistic…" description: "\"It's no surprise that optimistic athletes, managers and teams do better. What's interesting is where they do better. It's in coming back from defeat an..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/47e/martin-seligman-5268_acting_it-s-no-surprise-that-optimistic-athlete_2676198.png" --- # It's no surprise that optimistic athletes, managers and… ![“It's no surprise that optimistic athletes, managers and teams do better. What's interesting is where they do better. It's in coming back from defeat and acting in the clutch.” quote by Martin Seligman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/47e/martin-seligman-5268_acting_it-s-no-surprise-that-optimistic-athlete_2676198.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/47e/martin-seligman-5268_acting_it-s-no-surprise-that-optimistic-athlete_2676198.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/47e/martin-seligman-5268_acting_it-s-no-surprise-that-optimistic-athlete_2676198.png) > “It's no surprise that optimistic athletes, managers and teams do better. What's interesting is where they do better. It's in coming back from defeat and acting in the clutch.” [Martin Seligman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-seligman/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Optimistic people excel especially when recovering from setbacks and performing under pressure. **In simple terms:** Optimism helps in comebacks and clutch moments. Key Takeaway Cultivate optimism for resilience. Themes optimism resilience performance teamwork Mood hopeful determined Type motivational inspirational When to use this quote - sports competitions - business crises - personal setbacks - high‑stakes decisions Key Concepts positive psychology stress coping confidence Questions to Reflect On - How does optimism influence recovery after failure? - When does optimism become overconfidence? A Different Perspective Optimism may not overcome structural disadvantages. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Acting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/acting/) [Athletes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/athletes/) [Athletes Managers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/athletes-managers-2544003/) [Back](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/back/) [Better](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/better/) [Clutch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/clutch/) [Coming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/coming/) [Defeat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/defeat/) [Failure](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/failure/) [Football](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/football/) [Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hope/) [Interesting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/interesting/) [Management](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/management/) [Managers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/managers/) [Managers Teams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/managers-teams-2544002/) [Optimistic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/optimistic/) [Optimistic Athletes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/optimistic-athletes-2544001/) [Surprise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/surprise/) [Teams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teams/) [Teams Better](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/teams-better-2119398/) [Where](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/where/) ## Related quotes > [When we went up against teams that were better, I just hoped that we could steal the victories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kareem-abdul-jabbar/when-we-went-up-against-teams-that-were-better-i-just-hoped-that-we/) [Kareem Abdul-Jabbar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kareem-abdul-jabbar/) > [Knowing that the teams in front of us are sometimes better than you, you have to recognise that and be humble. 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Jon Wertheim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-jon-wertheim/) > [When you play teams that are better than you, you begin to play better too, because if you don?t, then they basically run over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-simosa/when-you-play-teams-that-are-better-than-you-you-begin-to-play-better/) [Jessica Simosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-simosa/) > [I love to coach and to try and make players better, think of new drills and ways to make the teams better.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-howe/i-love-to-coach-and-to-try-and-make-players-better-think-of-new/) [Eddie Howe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-howe/) > [Our sport is ruled whether it's for good and bad, or whatever, for technical things. 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The hell with Jerry West!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-riley/he-s-the-greatest-clutch-player-i-ve-ever-seen-the-hell-with-jerry/) [Pat Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-riley/) > [In New York’s Times Square a white-clad girl clutches her purse and skirt as an uninhibited sailor plants his lips squarely on hers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-eisenstaedt/in-new-york-s-times-square-a-white-clad-girl-clutches-her-purse-and/) [Alfred Eisenstaedt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-eisenstaedt/) > [Life is like wind. When it blows, it washes everything away, so clutch onto what you are holding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-forgotten/life-is-like-wind-when-it-blows-it-washes-everything-away-so-clutch/) [The Forgotten](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-forgotten/) > [Being aware of the bondage is enough to free you from its clutches.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mata-amritanandamayi/being-aware-of-the-bondage-is-enough-to-free-you-from-its-clutches/) [Mata Amritanandamayi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mata-amritanandamayi/) > [...the world has become a photographable present, and the photographed present has been entirely eternalized. Seemingly ripped from the clutch of death, in reality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-kracauer/the-world-has-become-a-photographable-present-and-the-photographed/) [Siegfried Kracauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegfried-kracauer/) > [The Louvre! The Louvre has me in its clutches. Every time I'm there rich blessings rain down upon me. I am coming to understand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paula-modersohn-becker/the-louvre-the-louvre-has-me-in-its-clutches-every-time-i-m-there/) [Paula Modersohn-Becker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paula-modersohn-becker/) ## More by Martin Seligman > [It used to be that whenever I introduced myself to people and told them I was a psychologist, they would shrink away from me.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-seligman/it-used-to-be-that-whenever-i-introduced-myself-to-people-and-told/) [Martin Seligman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-seligman/) > [I have never worked on interrogation; I have never seen an interrogation, and I have only a passing knowledge of the literature on interrogation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-seligman/i-have-never-worked-on-interrogation-i-have-never-seen-an/) [Martin Seligman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-seligman/) > [I'm trying to broaden the scope of positive psychology well beyond the smiley face. 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Those were at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-seligman/one-of-the-things-psychologists-used-to-say-was-that-if-you-are/) [Martin Seligman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-seligman/) > [It is the combination of reasonable talent and the ability to keep going in the face of defeat that leads to success.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-seligman/it-is-the-combination-of-reasonable-talent-and-the-ability-to-keep/) [Martin Seligman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-seligman/) > [Psychology is much bigger than just medicine, or fixing unhealthy things. It's about education, work, marriage - it's even about sports. What I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-seligman/psychology-is-much-bigger-than-just-medicine-or-fixing-unhealthy/) [Martin Seligman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-seligman/) > [What humans want is not just happiness. They want justice; they want meaning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-seligman/what-humans-want-is-not-just-happiness-they-want-justice-they-want/) [Martin Seligman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-seligman/) > [I have spent most of my life working with mental illness. I have been president of the world's largest association of mental-illness workers, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-seligman/i-have-spent-most-of-my-life-working-with-mental-illness-i-have-been/) [Martin Seligman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-seligman/) > [Finding permanent and universal causes for misfortune is the practice of despair...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-seligman/finding-permanent-and-universal-causes-for-misfortune-is-the-practice/) [Martin Seligman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-seligman/) > [We deprive our children, our charges, of persistence. What I am trying to say is that we need to fail, children need to fail,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-seligman/we-deprive-our-children-our-charges-of-persistence-what-i-am-trying/) [Martin Seligman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-seligman/) > [One of my worries about America is the epidemic of depression we've been in. One of the possibilities about that is that the 'I'…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-seligman/one-of-my-worries-about-america-is-the-epidemic-of-depression-we-ve/) [Martin Seligman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-seligman/) > [The Fundamentalist Religions simply seem to offer more hope for a brighter future than do the more liberal, humanistic ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-seligman/the-fundamentalist-religions-simply-seem-to-offer-more-hope-for-a/) [Martin Seligman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-seligman/) > [If the point of the inner-child movement is to cure adult problems, it doesn't work. 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Sometimes it takes longer than what you can give.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/big-sean/acting-is-a-grind-just-like-music-is-a-grind-sometimes-it-takes/) [Big Sean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/big-sean/) > [It was only when I started making short films in college and I was looking for girls to play the me-ish parts that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lena-dunham/it-was-only-when-i-started-making-short-films-in-college-and-i-was/) [Lena Dunham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lena-dunham/) > [Writing is something I took up rather than anything I had an inclination toward. I like acting -delivering someone else's message - but writing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/writing-is-something-i-took-up-rather-than-anything-i-had-an/) [Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/) > [I can still function when I don't have that balance I crave. 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