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Pessimists Are Usually Right And Optimists Are Usually Wrong But All The Great Changes Have Been Accomplished By Optimists.
-Thomas Friedman
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Pessimists Are Usually Right

Thomas Friedman
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Pessimists Are Usually Right And Optimists Are Usually Wrong But All The Great Changes Have Been Accomplished By Optimists.

Understanding the Quote: "pessimists are usually right and optimists are usually wrong but all the..."

This quote by Thomas Friedman reflects deeply on the theme of change. It connects to the universal human journey of purpose, motivation, and reflection. Often categorized under Change, Optimistic, Optimism And Pessimism, the quote offers insight, emotional clarity, and intellectual inspiration to readers worldwide.

Whether you’re a student exploring new ideas, a leader trying to motivate your team, or someone seeking direction in life — this quote provides value. It resonates because it’s more than words — it’s a bridge between experience and wisdom. It shows how Thomas Friedman interprets life's core challenges and triumphs.

Lessons From the Quote

This quote teaches resilience and focus. It reminds readers that no matter where they stand in life, reflection and self-awareness lead to growth. Each word has meaning, and when studied, it becomes clear how impactful thoughtful language can be.

About Thomas Friedman

Thomas Friedman is celebrated for insightful thoughts on change and optimistic. Their legacy lives on through writings that guide, comfort, and inspire. Discover more on their profile page.

Actionable Takeaways

  • Reflect on how this quote applies to your current life path.
  • Share the message with someone who needs inspiration.
  • Write your thoughts on this quote in a journal or blog post.
  • Use it as a daily affirmation or reminder.

Closing Thoughts

Quotes like this endure because they capture universal truths. They comfort us in solitude and empower us in groups. Carry this quote forward — live by its wisdom, share its message, and keep its essence alive.

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Topic
Change
Optimistic
Optimism And Pessimism
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Iraq Today Does Have A Chance To Shape Its Own Future. They May Not Do That, Or This Generation May Not Do That. But Maybe The Next One Will, I Don't Know. They May Try And Fail, And Stumble, Get Up And Fall Back.
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Water Is Our Next Great Environmental Challenge. It Is The New Oil. How Are We Going To Preserve This Sport Unless We Are Designing And Maintaining Golf Courses That Are Energy Net Zero, Carbon Net Zero And Water Net Zero? Or Ideally, Energy Positive, Carbon Positive And Water Positive, Where They Are Taking Out More Than They Are Using.
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Water
I Firmly Believe That The Next Great Breakthrough In Bioscience Could Come From A 15-year-old Who Downloads The Human Genome In Egypt.
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Egypt
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Two Things Are Going On At The Same Time With The Flattening Of The World: The Relentless Quest For Efficiency Is Squeezing Some Of The Fat Out Of Life.
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Fuel
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Keys
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Done
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Needs
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Even If America Tomorrow - And It Won't Happen Overnight - But If We Did Reduce Our Demand For Gas And Natural Gas And Crude Oil By A Significant Degree, That Does Have An Exponential Effect On Producers In The Middle East, Everything Else Being Equal. But If China's Demand Is Growing And India's Demand Is Growing, They Are Not Going Back.
Oil
America
East
What Is Al Qaeda? It's An Open Source Religious Political Movement That Works Off The Global Supply Chain.
Religious
Political
Movement
In A Hyper-connected World Where Average Is Over, There Is One Thing We Know Absolutely For Sure: Every Good Job Will Require More Education.
Jobs
Average
World
Several Technological And Political Forces Have Converged, And That Has Produced A Global, Web-enabled Playing Field That Allows For Multiple Forms Of Collaboration Without Regard To Geography Or Distance - Or Soon, Even Language.
Distance
Political
Collaboration
It Has Always Been My View That Terrorism Is Not Spawned By The Poverty Of Money; It Is Spawned By The Poverty Of Dignity. Humiliation Is The Most Underestimated Force In International Relations And In Human Relations. It Is When People Or Nations Are Humiliated That They Really Lash Out And Engage In Extreme Violence.
Views
People
Poverty
In Globalization 1.0, Which Began Around 1492, The World Went From Size Large To Size Medium. In Globalization 2.0, The Era That Introduced Us To Multinational Companies, It Went From Size Medium To Size Small. And Then Around 2000 Came Globalization 3.0, In Which The World Went From Being Small To Tiny.
World
Eras
Tiny
It's Easy To Kind Of Say It's The Elite That's Putting You Down. Well, It Wasn't Really The Elite, Technology Will Do That.
Technology
Kind
Easy
Communism Was A Great System For Making People Equally Poor - In Fact, There Was No Better System In The World For That Than Communism. Capitalism Made People Unequally Rich.
People
Facts
World
Optimists Are Usually Wrong. But All The Great Change In History, Positive Change, Was Done By Optimists.
Done
Positive Change
Optimist
Something Really Big Happened In The World's Wiring In The Last Decade, But It Was Obscured By The Financial Crisis And Post-9/11. We Went From A Connected World To A Hyperconnected World. I'm Always Struck That Facebook, Twitter, 4g, Iphones, Ipads, High-speech Broadband, Ubiquitous Wireless And Web-enabled Cellphones, The Cloud, Big Data, Cellphone Apps And Skype Did Not Exist Or Were In Their Infancy A Decade Ago.
Change
Data
Ipads
I Have A Daughter Who Is A Sophomore In College And Another Who Is In The 11th Grade Of High School.
Daughter
Mother
School
Our President's Latest Energy Initiative Was To Go To Saudi Arabia And Beg King Abdullah To Give Us A Little Relief On Gasoline Prices. I Guess There Was Some Justice In That. When You, The President, After 9/11, Tell The Country To Go Shopping Instead Of Buckling Down To Break Our Addiction To Oil, It Ends With You, The President, Shopping The World For Discount Gasoline.
Country
Kings
Gasoline Prices
You Always Have To Remember That Mother Nature Is A Lot Like Your Body. If Your Temperature Goes From 98.6 To 100.6, You Don't Feel So Good. If It Goes From 100.6 To 102.6, Well, You Call The Doctor. If It Goes From 102.6 To 104.6, You're In The Emergency Room At A Hospital. The Same With Mother Nature - Small Changes In Global Average Temperatures Have A Huge Climate Effect.
Mother
Remember
Like You
My Mother-in-law Says If You Want To Live Like A Republican, Vote Like A Democrat. That If You Are A Part Of The Group That Is Doing Well In This System, You Owe It To Yourself And To Others To Look Out For Them And Make Sure You Are Always Building A Ladder For Others To Join You.
Mother
Law
Groups
Our Bailout Of Detroit Will Be Remembered As The Equivalent Of Pouring Billions Of Taxpayers' Money Into The Mail-order Catalogue Business On The Eve Of The Birth Of Ebay.
Ebay
Order
Pouring
The Reason That We Are Becoming Less Equal Is Because Of The Greater Requirements, Secure Requirements, For A Good Job. This Goes Back To The '80s Basically, This Started Changing As Globalization And The It Revolution Merged, And Each Started To Drive The Other.
Jobs
Requirements
Revolution
I Don't Think We Replaced The Soviet Union With Al Qaida. I Think We Replaced, We Should Have, Soviet Union With The Merger Of Globalization And The It Revolution. I Think It's That. That Is The Real Challenge That We Face Today. Unlike The Soviet Union, It Has No Face, It Has No Missiles, But It Is Something That Challenges Every Job, Every City And Every Community.
Jobs
Real
Thinking
I Am Hoping, Though, That Many Of Them Have Kids, Who, When They Have A Moment To Take A Break From Their Ipods, Internet, Or Google, Will Explain To Their Parents Running The Country Just How The World Is Being Flattened.
Running
Country
Kids
There's A Difference Between Being Able To Make Long Distance Phone Calls Cheaper On The Internet And Walking Around Riyadh With A Pda Where You Can Have All Of Google In Your Pocket. It's A Difference In Degree That's So Enormous It Becomes A Difference In Kind.
Distance
Phones
Differences
Remember, The Difference Between The World Frozen Over, In An Ice Ball, And The Warming Period We're In Now Is Just 6 Degrees Centigrade. A Change Of Just 1 Degree Can Have A Huge Effect.
World
Remember
The First Rule Of Holes Is When You're In One, Stop Digging. When You're In Three, Bring A Lot Of Shovels.
Digging
Three
Firsts
In The Hyperconnected World, There Is Only “good” “better” And “best.
World
The Arab Awakening Was Like Watching Elephants Fly: Something You Didn't Expect, Something You Haven't Seen Before, "wow, Elephants Fly."
Elephants
Awakening
Wow
A Vision Without Resources Is An Hallucination.
Success
Vision
Hallucinations
C'mon Kids! Wake Up And Smell The Co2! Take Over Your Administration Building, Occupy Your University President's Office, Or Storm In On The Next Meeting Of Your College's Board Of Trustees Until They Agree To Make Your School Carbon Neutral.
School
Kids
College
A Generation Ago [the Democratic Party] Stood For Progressive Change. Now They Defend Every Federal Program As If Each Were Sacred. They Have Become The Most Conservative Force In American Politics.
Party
Sacred
Generations
At The End Of The Day, No Amount Of Investing, No Amount Of Clean Electrons, No Amount Of Energy Efficiency Will Save The Natural World If We Are Not Paying Attention To It - If We Are Not Paying Attention To All The Things That Nature Give Us For Free: Clean Air, Clean Water, Breathtaking Vistas, Mountains For Skiing, Rivers For Fishing, Oceans For Sailing, Sunsets For Poets, And Landscapes For Painters. What Good Is It To Have Wind-powered Lights To Brighten The Night If You Can't See Anything Green During The Day? Just Because We Can't Sell Shares In Nature Doesn't Mean It Has No Value.
Ocean
Sunset
Mean
A Golf Course Should Aspire To Generate As Much Energy As It Consumes - Golf Should Be Leading The Way Toward Energy Net Zero.
Zero
Golf
Energy
If I Were Advising President Obama, Since He's The One Running, I Would Have Made His Campaign Very Simple. I Promise That In Four Years, I Will Get More Americans, As Many As I Possibly Can, The Opportunity And Access To Some Form Of Post-secondary Education. I Want More Of Them To Graduate High School With The Skill-set Of Post-secondary Education And I Want More Of Them To Be Able To Obtain That Post-secondary Education. This Is The Only Way We Are Going To Close The Income Gap.
Running
School
Opportunity
When I Was Growing Up, My Parents Told Me, 'finish Your Dinner. People In China And India Are Starving.' I Tell My Daughters, 'finish Your Homework. People In India And China Are Starving For Your Job.'
Education
Daughter
Mother
Supply Chains Cannot Tolerate Even 24 Hours Of Disruption. So If You Lose Your Place In The Supply Chain Because Of Wild Behavior You Could Lose A Lot. It Would Be Like Pouring Cement Down One Of Your Oil Wells.
Oil
Ties
Would Be
What If We're Wrong And There Is No Climate Change? Well, By Doing Everything Possible To Address It, We Will Still Use Less Water, Stimulate New Energy Savings And, In Time, Money-saving Technologies, Enjoy Cleaner Air, And Preserve More Forests And Trees And Animals.
Animal
Technology
Water
American Young People Have Got To Understand From An Early Age That The World Pays Off On Results, Not On Effort. Not Everyone Should Win A Prize No Matter Where He Or She Finishes.
Winning
People
Effort
The Hidden Hand Of The Market Will Never Work Without A Hidden Fist.
Hands
Fists
We Have To Fight The Terrorists As If There Were No Rules And Preserve Our Open Society As If There Were No Terrorists.
Fighting
Terrorist
Preserves
Basically All The World's Computer Parts Come From The Same Supply Chain That Runs From Korea, Down Through Coastal China, Over To Taiwan, And Down To Malaysia.
Running
Korea
Ties
Until We Fully Understand What Turned Two Brothers Who Allegedly Perpetrated The Boston Marathon Bombings Into Murderers, It Is Hard To Make Any Policy Recommendation Other Than This: We Need To Redouble Our Efforts To Make America Stronger And Healthier So It Remains A Vibrant Counterexample To Whatever Bigoted Ideology May Have Gripped These Young Men....and The Best Place To Start Is With A Carbon Tax.
Brother
Men
Boston
Criticizing Israel Is Not Anti-semitic, And Saying So Is Vile. But Singling Out Israel For Opprobrium And International Sanction - Out Of All Proportion To Any Other Party In The Middle East - Is Anti-semitic, And Not Saying So Is Dishonest.
Party
Israel
Middle East
Our Kids Are Going To Be So Angry With Us One Day. We've Charged Their Future On Our Visa Cards.
Kids
One Day
Climate
Today, Natural Gas Now Outstrips Coal As The Leading Provider Of Electricity In America. If This Is As Big As People Believe It Is, Natural Gas Will Soon Be Powering Trucks And Marine Ships. Maybe Even Standard Commercial Cars That People Use At Home Through Compressed Natural Gas, Other Gas To Liquids. The Potential Is There For More Energy Independence By America And A Reliance On Cleaner Fuel - Natural Gas Emits Half As Much As Coal, In Terms Of Carbon Emissions. That's A Real Bounty.
Real
Believe
Home
You Win The Presidency By Connecting With The American People's Gut Insecurities And Aspirations. You Win With A Concept.
Winning
People
Insecurity
The Middle East Would Always Be An Important Trading Partner In Just A Market Sense, Like America Is A Big Market For Us, Asia Is A Big Market, Europe Is A Big Market. You Are Going To Have Hundreds Of Millions Of Consumers There, From Just A Standard Market Point Of View, From A Very Narrow American Point Of View.
Views
Europe
America
Golf Has An Ambivalent Relationship With The Environment. On One Hand, It's A Great Preserver Of Open Spaces. Golf Doesn't Pave The World - It Helps To Green The World. But The Downside Is, It Uses A Lot Of Fertilizer, Pesticides And Water. And This Is In A World Where We Know That Synthetic Fertilizers And Pesticides Are Toxic, And Water Is More And More Scarce. Golf Could Do A Lot More.
Golf
Water
World
If We Don't Have A More Serious Energy Policy, The Difference Between A Good Day And Bad Day For America From Here On Will Hinge On How The 86-year-old King Of Saudi Arabia Manages...change.
Kings
Good Day
Bad Day
What We Have In The Bush Team Is A Faith-based Administration. It Launched A Faith-based War In Iraq, On The Basis Of Faith-based Intelligence, With A Faith-based Plan For Iraqi Reconstruction, Supported By Faith-based Tax Cuts To Generate Faith-based Revenues.
War
Team
Cutting
The Great Thing About Cheap Natural Gas, Again It's Cheap, And It Provides A Cleaner Alternative To Coal. But It's Still A Fossil Fuel, And Because It's Still A Fossil Fuel, It Still Emits Carbon.
Alternatives
Coal
Fuel
The Poverty Fighters Resent The Climate-change Folks; Climate Folks Hold Summits Without Reference To Biodiversity; The Food Advocates Resist The Biodiversity Protectors. They All Need To Go On Safari Together.
Together
Needs
Safari
I Have No Problem With A War For Oil-if We Accompany It With A Real Program For Energy Conservation. But When We Tell The World We Couldn't Care Less About Climate Change, That We Feel Entitled To Drive Whatever Big Cars We Feel Like, That We Feel Entitled To Consume However Much Oil We Like, The Message We Send Is That A War For Oil In The Gulf Is Not A War To Protect The World's Right To Economic Survival-but Our Right To Indulge. Now That Will Be Seen As Immoral.
Real
War
Oil
All One Needs To Do Is Just To Go To Any Hospital In America And See The Number Of Pakistani Or Indian Or Lebanese, Or Syrian, Or Egyptian Doctors, Who Are Either First Generation Or Themselves Immigrants, To Know, And I'm A Big Believer - Brains Are Distributed Evenly Around The World. What Aren't Distributed Evenly Are Opportunities, Stable Government, Educational Institutions, Etc.
Educational
Opportunity
Doctors
Tap Into People's Dignity And They Will Do Anything For You. Ignore It, And They Won't Lift A Finger.
Wisdom
People
Dignity
By 'flat' I Did Not Mean That The World Is Getting Equal. I Said That More People In More Places Can Now Compete, Connect And Collaborate With Equal Power And Equal Tools Than Ever Before. That's Why An Indian In Bangalore Can Take Care Of The Office Work Of American Doctors Or Read The X-rays Of German Hospitals.
Mean
Doctors
Office Work
We're Going In The Wrong Direction And I Think The Only Way To Counter That Is To Bring The Story Home In Really Concrete Ways To People - In Ways That Kids Can Understand And Non-scientists Can Understand.
Home
Kids
Thinking
If You Don't Visit The Bad Neighborhoods, The Bad Neighborhoods Are Going To Visit You.
Life
Success
Visits You
Big Breakthroughs Happen When What Is Suddenly Possible Meets What Is Desperately Needed
Bigs
Breakthrough
Needed
Obviously China Is Clearly Taking The Lead In Some Areas, But When It Comes To The Most Advanced Innovation, It's Still America.
America
Innovation
China
Desktop Freelancers And Innovative Startups All Over The World
Interesting
World
Desktop
What Every Employer Is Looking For Is Not Someone Who Can Do The Job, But Someone Who Can Reinvent The Job.
Jobs
Work
Job Well Done
No, Most Of Our Political Elite Has Not Realized That The World Is Flat.
Political
World
Flats
Just Because We Can't Sell Shares In Nature Doesn't Mean It Has No Value.
Mean
Environment
Share
When You Can't Rely On Sticking A Pipe In The Ground, What You Have To Rely On Is Unlocking The Energy And Talent Of All Your People - Men And Women.
Men
People
Energy
Most Jobs Are Outsourced To The Past, They Aren't Outsourced To India Or Mexico Or Pakistan Or Anywhere Else.
Jobs
Past
India
When You Lose Your Job, The Unemployment Rate Isn't Four Percent, It's 100 Percent.
Jobs
Unemployment
Four
Change Your Leaders, Not Your Light Bulbs.
Light
Leader
Politics
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