20 Optimistic Quotes

Optimism is the choice to remain positive regardless of what’s going on around you. It isn’t something you are born with, but a character trait you can develop just like any skill.

How Do You Develop Optimism?

The answer – You practice!

To start, simply make the decision to find the positive in all things. Find opportunity in bad situations and see obstacles as challenges you can’t wait to overcome.

My two secret weapons for improving my optimism are: 

1. Smiling when I am angry. It’s very hard to physically stay angry while smiling. Try it!

2. Memorizing optimistic quotes that I can call upon when times are tough.

To help you, here are some of my favorite optimistic quotes to use when I need some inspiration.

optimism child

My 20 Favorite Optimistic Quotes

1. Reflect upon your present blessings, of which every man has many. Not on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some. – Charles Dickens

2. I prefer the folly of enthusiasm to the wisdom of indifference. – Oscar Wilde

3. Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant. – Robert Louis Stevenson

4. The measure of mental health is the disposition to find good everywhere. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

5. In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity. – Albert Einstein

6. The pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty. – Winston Churchill

7. The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another. – William James

8. We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world. – Gautama Buddha

9. Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement. Nothing can be done without hope and confidence. – Hellen Keller

10. I am an optimist. It does not seem too much use being anything else. – Winston Churchill

11. The point of living, and of being an optimist, is to be foolish enough to believe the best is yet to come. – Peter Ustinov

12. My sun sets to rise again. – Robert Browning

13. I’m not afraid of storms, for I’m learning how to sail my ship. – Louisa May Alcott

14. What seems to us as bitter trials are often blessings in disguise. – Oscar Wilde

15. The optimist sees the rose and not its thorns; the pessimist stares at the thorns, oblivious to the rose. – Kahlil Gibran

16. Between the optimist and the pessimist, the difference is droll. The optimist sees the doughnut; the pessimist the hole! – Oscar Wilde

17. Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces,I would still plant my apple tree. – Martin Luther

18. All who have accomplished great things have had a great aim, have fixed their gaze on a goal which was high, one which sometimes seemed impossible. – Orison Swett Marden

19. They can because they think they can. -Virgil

20. Think of yourself as on the threshold of unparalleled success. A whole, clear, glorious life lies before you. Achieve! Achieve! -Andrew Carnegie

Take a few of your favorites from this list and memorize them. This way you can use them anytime you start to feel down, or lose your positive attitude.

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