I did not believe that a Cause which stood for a beautiful ideal, for anarchism, for release and freedom from convention and prejudice, should demand the denial of life and joy. I insisted that our Cause could not expect me to become a nun and that the movement would not be turned into a cloister. If it meant that, I did not want it.
No matter how bad things got, no matter how anxious the staff became, the commander had to __reserve optimism in himself and in his command. Without confidence, enthusiasm and optimism in the command, victory is scarcely obtainable._ Eisenhower realized that __ptimism and pessimism are infectious and they spread more rapidly from the head downward than in any other direction._ He learned that a commander__ optimism __as a most extraordinary effect upon all with whom he comes in contact. With this clear realization, I firmly determined that my mannerisms and speech in public would always reflect the cheerful certainty of victory__hat any pessimism and discouragement I might ever feel would be reserved for my pillow.
D-Day, June 6, 1944: The Battle for the Normandy Beaches
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No matter how bad things got, no matter how anxious the staff became, the commander had to __reserve optimism in himself and in his command. Without confidence, enthusiasm and optimism in the command, victory is scarcely obtainable._ Eisenhower realized that __ptimism and pessimism are infectious and they spread more rapidly from the head downward than in any other direction._ He learned that a commander__ optimism __as a most extraordinary effect upon all with whom he comes in contact. With this clear realization, I firmly determined that my mannerisms and speech in public would always reflect the cheerful certainty of victory__hat any pessimism and discouragement I might ever feel would be reserved for my pillow.
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The fatal error of much science fiction has been to subscribe to an optimism based on the idea that revolution, or a new gimmick, or a bunch of strong men, or an invasion of aliens, or the conquest of other planets, or the annihilation of half the world--in short, pretty nearly anything but the facing up to the integral and irredeemable nature of mankind--can bring about utopian situations. It is the old error of the externalization of evil.
Every day, you get the opportunity to change your life. Change what you do not want. Change what makes you unhappy.
If life throws you a few bad notes or vibrations, don't let them interrupt or alter your song.
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Do not think that one has to be sad in order to be militant, even though the thing one is fighting is abominable.