A Minor Form of Despair, Disguised as a Virtue

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Optimism is the madness of maintaining that everything is right when it is wrong. – Voltaire

Optimism: the noble temptation to see too much in everything. – G.K. Chesterton

The place where optimism flourishes most is the lunatic asylum. – Havelock Ellis

The optimist thinks that this in the best of all possible worlds, and the pessimist knows it. – J. Robert Oppenheimer

Oyster, n. A slimy, gobby shellfish which civilization gives men the hardihood to eat without removing the entrails! The shells are sometimes given to the poor. – Ambrose Bierce

There may be some doubt as to who are the best people to have charge of children, but there can be no doubt that parents are the worst. – George Bernard Shaw

Patience, n. A minor form of despair, disguised as a virtue. – Ambrose Bierce

Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel. – Samuel Johnson

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