No matter how cynical you get, it’s never enough to keep up.
—Jane Wagner, 1985
5
The nice part about being a pessimist is that you are constantly being either proven right or
pleasantly surprised.
—George Will, 1994
If you keep saying things are going to be bad, you have a good chance of being a prophet.
—Isaac Bashevis Singer
6
Everything that can go wrong, will.
7
—Anonymous
If anything just can’t go wrong, it will anyway.
—Francis P. Chisholm, 1963
Walls sink and dunghills rise.
—European proverb
***
Who could live without hope?
—French proverb
Two worst foes of man’s existence [are] Fear and Hope.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1832
Hope is a good breakfast, but it is a bad supper.
—Francis Bacon, 1624
Hope deceives more men than cunning does.
—Luc de Clapiers, 1746
Hope, like faith, is nothing if it is not courageous; it is nothing if it is not ridiculous.
—Thornton Wilder, 1967
A man without hope is a man without fear.
—Frank Miller, 1986
5
This line (as well as all other quotes by Jane Wagner in this collection) is frequently attributed to
Lily Tomlin - the actress it was written for.
6
As quoted, without a date, in several generally reliable sources, starting not later than 2003.
7
This is my favorite formulation of the so-called Murphy Law, reportedly based on an oral, more
personal statement by some Edward A. Murphy made in the 1940s, and first quoted by several
authors in the early 1950s. Of its innumerous later forms and twists, I especially like the 1st
Chisholm Law quoted next, its corollary, “Anytime things appear to be going better, you have
overlooked something”, and the ultimately succinct (anonymous?) maxim: “Constants aren’t”.
88
On Optimism, Pessimism, and Happiness
—Jane Wagner, 1985
5
The nice part about being a pessimist is that you are constantly being either proven right or
pleasantly surprised.
—George Will, 1994
If you keep saying things are going to be bad, you have a good chance of being a prophet.
—Isaac Bashevis Singer
6
Everything that can go wrong, will.
7
—Anonymous
If anything just can’t go wrong, it will anyway.
—Francis P. Chisholm, 1963
Walls sink and dunghills rise.
—European proverb
***
Who could live without hope?
—French proverb
Two worst foes of man’s existence [are] Fear and Hope.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, 1832
Hope is a good breakfast, but it is a bad supper.
—Francis Bacon, 1624
Hope deceives more men than cunning does.
—Luc de Clapiers, 1746
Hope, like faith, is nothing if it is not courageous; it is nothing if it is not ridiculous.
—Thornton Wilder, 1967
A man without hope is a man without fear.
—Frank Miller, 1986
5
This line (as well as all other quotes by Jane Wagner in this collection) is frequently attributed to
Lily Tomlin - the actress it was written for.
6
As quoted, without a date, in several generally reliable sources, starting not later than 2003.
7
This is my favorite formulation of the so-called Murphy Law, reportedly based on an oral, more
personal statement by some Edward A. Murphy made in the 1940s, and first quoted by several
authors in the early 1950s. Of its innumerous later forms and twists, I especially like the 1st
Chisholm Law quoted next, its corollary, “Anytime things appear to be going better, you have
overlooked something”, and the ultimately succinct (anonymous?) maxim: “Constants aren’t”.
88
On Optimism, Pessimism, and Happiness