Topic
Optimism in this collection is viewed with a scepticism that borders on affection. Bierce, who provides the two most sardonic entries, defines the optimist as someone who believes everything beautiful including what is ugly — a description of cognitive distortion that is also, he implies, possibly the only workable strategy for getting through the day. His Optimist as proponent of the doctrine that black is white completes the portrait. Shaw on the family skeleton and making it dance is optimism as pragmatism: if you cannot remove the problem, perform it. The anonymous turn-your-face-toward-the-sun and every-cloud-has-a-silver-lining are the folk tradition — the proverbs that survive because they describe a disposition that actually helps, regardless of their accuracy. Ingersoll on happiness-here-and-now gives optimism a practical address rather than a theological one. What the collection collectively argues is that optimism is not a description of the world but a choice about how to engage with it — and that the choice has consequences, even when the description is wrong.
Optimist: A proponent of the doctrine that black is white
Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict