Optimists and pessimists

[Laurence Horn]

At 6:04 PM -0500 1/9/05, James A. Landau wrote:
>Aside from the quote about the glass that is half full/empty, there are
>several other optimist-pessimist provers.  Two that come to mind:
>
>An optimist thinks this is the best of all perfect worlds.  A pessimist is
>afraid that it is.  (This one probably goes back a ways, possibly to
>Voltaire's
>time).
>
>[in Europe] the optimists are learning Russian and the pessimists are
>learning Chinese.  (This one is obviously from the Cold War, and
>probably after the
>Sino-Soviet split, say the early 1960's.)
>
>A somewhat related proverb:  "A cyniic knows the price of everything and the
>value of nothing."
>
>     - Jim Landau

and then there's "Life is a comedy to those who think, a tragedy to
those who feel" --Walpole

larry