“Food always sounds optimistic when you have it and pessimistic when you don’t.”

“When asked if I am pessimistic or optimistic about the future, my answer is always the same: if you look at the science about what is happening on earth and aren't pessimistic, you don't understand the data. But if you meet the people who are working to restore this earth and the lives of the poor, and you aren't optimistic, you haven't got a pulse.”

“When asked if I am pessimistic or optimistic about the future, my answer is always the same: If you look at the science about what is happening on earth and aren’t pessimistic, you don’t understand data. But if you meet the people who are working to restore this earth and the lives of the poor, and you aren’t optimistic, you haven’t got a pulse. What I see everywhere in the world are ordinary people willing to confront despair, power, and incalculable odds in order to restore some semblance of grace, justice, and beauty to this world.”

“Leadership is the ability to see what no one else sees, to listen when others talk and the ability to be optimistic when others are pessimistic.”

“The difference between an optimist and a pessimist? An optimist laughs to forget but a pessimist forgets to laugh.”

“Both optimists and pessimists contribute to society. The optimist invents the aeroplane, the pessimist the parachute.”