The Literature Network - There's hope for optimism.(Brief Article)

There's hope for optimism.(Brief Article)

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From: The Christian Century
Date: 19981104
Author:Marty, Martin E.

Optimism is hard to come by this autumn. Don't confuse it with hope, in any case. In the best of circumstances I agree with Elbert Hubbard: optimism is "fatty degeneration of intelligence." In any circumstances I remain with Oscar Wilde: "The basis of optimism is sheer terror." In the present circumstances the terror is sufficiently palpable to remove occasions for that fatty degeneration.

How do I sustain a light heart this autumn? By 5:58 A.M. I daily dash back into the bedroom to turn off the alarm before my spouse's radio invades with news of the Asian economy, the ...

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