Skip to content
quotesby

About this quote

What does it mean?
Optimism helps but cannot erase the real existence of suffering and death in the background.
In plain terms
Being happy helps but death and trouble are still real and present.
What can you take from it?
Optimism hides but does not remove evil.

Where it applies

  • Grief counseling
  • Philosophy
  • Mental health

Putting it to work

  • Balance hope with realism
  • Discuss coping with loss

Questions to consider

  • Can we face evil without despair?
  • How much should we ignore pain?

Another view

This view might pressure people to hide their genuine fear.

More from William James

  1. Quoting an unnamed writer: 'To this day,' she writes, 'I cannot understand dallying with religion and the commandments of God. The very instant I heard my Fath…

    Permalink to quote #61
  2. Take the happiest man, the one most envied by the world, and in nine cases out of ten his inmost consciousness is one of failure. Either his ideals in the line…

    Permalink to quote #63
  3. The sentiment of reality can indeed attach itself so strongly to our object of belief that our whole life is polarized through and through, so to speak, by its…

    Permalink to quote #60

Related quotes

  1. We're all interconnected, we're all essential parts of this story here we call reality. Remember, have an open mind. Throw pessimism out the door. Anything is …

    Jolene BlalockJolene Blalock quote #1
  2. They shall not live who have not tasted death. They only sing who are struck dumb by God.

    Joyce KilmerJoyce Kilmer quote #5
  3. The world is like a ride at an amusement park. And when you choose to go on it, you think it's real because that's how powerful our minds are. And the ride goe…

    Bill HicksBill Hicks quote #27