“The test of all beliefs is their practical effect in life. It be true that optimism compels the world forward, and pessimism retards it, them it is dangerous to propagate a pessimistic philosophy.”
— Helen Keller Primary source“But I have found out that though the ways in which I can make myself useful are few, yet the work open to me is endless.”
— Helen Keller Primary source“No matter how dull, or how mean, or how wise a man is, he feels that happiness is his indisputable right.”
— Helen Keller Primary source“The highest result of education is tolerance.”
— Helen Keller Primary source“The heresy of one age becomes the orthodoxy of the next.”
— Helen Keller Primary source“No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land.”
— Helen Keller Primary source• Title: Optimism
• Author: Helen Keller
• Type: Essay
• Publisher: C. Y. Crowell and Company
• Publication time: 1903
• Publication place: New York, United States
• Link: https://www.afb.org/about-afb/history/helen-keller/books-essays-speeches/optimism-1903
Ideas and Opinions
A Moveable Feast (December, 1964)
Ernest Hemingway
Kennedy’s Bay of Pigs News Conference (April 21, 1961)
John F. Kennedy
First Inaugural Address (March 4, 1861)
Abraham Lincoln