Pessimism of the intellect optimism of the will

What you need is a change of attitude, a new outlook, a shift in perspective. Often, its voice cracks, its weighty words abruptly reduced to mere shards of guttural sound. But it frequently lets loose dissonant notes at once plaintive and pathetic.

Pessimism tries very hard to present itself in the low, sustained tones of a Requiem Mass, or the tectonic rumbling of Tibetan chant. But there is a negation in pessimism that refuses even such a Refusal, an awareness that, from the start, it has already failed, and that the culmination of all that is, is that all is for naught. Had it more self-assurance and better social skills, pessimism would turn its disenchantment into a religion, possibly calling itself The Great Refusal. But pessimism always has a membership of one-maybe two.' 'The very term вЂњpessimismвЂќ suggests a school of thought, a movement, even a community. Pessimism fails to live up to the most basic tenet of philosophy-the вЂњas if.вЂќ Think as if it will be helpful, act as if it will make a difference, speak as if there is something to say, live as if you are not, in fact, being lived by some murmuring non-entity both shadowy and muddied. But more often than not pessimists are the quietest of philosophers, submerging their own sighs within the lethargy of discontent.Д«ut in raising problems without solutions, in posing questions without answers, in retreating to the hermetic, cavernous abode of complaint, pessimism is guilty of that most inexcusable of Occidental crimes-the crime of not pretending itвЂ™s for real. The pessimist is usually understood as the complainer, forever pointing out what is wrong with the world without ever once offering a solution. After all, there are only so many hours in a day. Pessimism is the philosophical form of disenchantment-disenchantment as chanting, a chant, a mantra, a solitary, monophonic voice rendered insignificant by the intimate immensity surrounding it.In pessimism, the first axiom is a long, low, funereal sigh. Ultimately, pessimism is weary of everything and of itself. There is little redemption for pessimism, and no consolation prize. No one needs pessimism, and yet everyone-without exception-has, at some point in their lives, had to confront pessimism, if not as a philosophy then as a grievance-against oneвЂ™s self or others, against oneвЂ™s surroundings or oneвЂ™s life, against the state of things or the world in general. No one needs pessimism, though I like to imagine the idea of a pessimist activism. No one ever needs pessimism, in the way that one needs optimism to inspire one to great heights and to pick oneself up, in the way one needs constructive criticism, advice and feedback, inspirational books or a pat on the back. Pessimism is the lowest form of philosophy, frequently disparaged and dismissed, merely the symptom of a bad attitude. The closest pessimism comes to philosophical argument is the droll and laconic вЂњWeвЂ™ll never make it,вЂќ or simply: вЂњWeвЂ™re doomed.вЂќ Every effort doomed to failure, every project doomed to incompletion, every life doomed to be unlived, every thought doomed to be unthought. Pessimism is a lyrical failure of philosophical thinking, each attempt at clear and coherent thought, sullen and submerged in the hidden joy of its own futility.

Pessimism is the night-side of thought, a melodrama of the futility of the brain, a poetry written in the graveyard of philosophy.

Pessimism of the intellect optimism of the will