Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
Optimism is rooted in the fear that things could be worse.
In plain terms
Being hopeful often comes from being scared of a worse outcome.
What can you take from it?
Use fear of negativity to motivate positive outlooks.

Where it applies

  • goal setting
  • crisis management
  • personal growth

Putting it to work

  • reframing threats
  • visualizing success

Questions to consider

  • When does fear help you stay hopeful?
  • Can optimism exist without fear?

Another view

Optimism can be irrational despite fear.

More from Oscar Wilde

  1. To be in love is to surpass one's self.

    Permalink to quote #88
  2. Conscience makes egotists of us all.

    Permalink to quote #90
  3. Her eyes caught the melody and echoed it in radiance, then closed for a moment, as though to hide their secret. When they opened, the mist of a dream had passe…

    Permalink to quote #87

Related quotes

  1. The will to power is the will to ecstasy is the will to surrender is the will to submit and, in extremis, to die. Or to put it another way, the rage to attain …

    Ellen WillisEllen Willis quote #25
  2. Hope is definitely not the same thing as optimism. It is not the conviction that something will turn out well, but the certainty that something makes sense, re…

    Vaclav HavelVaclav Havel quote #41
  3. Why , alas! is life decreed Full of pain and full of sorrow? All uncertain as it is, Can we rest upon to-morrow? Why should blessings yet in store, Hold us sti…

    Elizabeth BathElizabeth Bath quote #2