"The optimist makes his paradise, and the pessimist makes his hell"
We can compare the optimist
and the pessimist with two people who see a glass half full. The optimist
considers that the existing quantity is a good thing since it at least partially
satisfies the need. The pessimist sees and speaks only of the empty part and
laments because the cup is not full.
The two people see the same thing and yet they
do not have the same look. Which one is entitled?
If we contemplate the two situations, we
discover that the optimist tries to exploit what life offers him (which does
not mean that he is content with what is presented to him), while the pessimist
impose on life, he believes that he is worthy of a full cup. There is a kind of
excessive respect for oneself. On the contrary, the optimist is humble. He
accepts the little and aspires at best.
From this
example, we understand that the optimist is someone who focuses on the positive
side of life and sees that events are going better, and that tomorrow is better
than today. On the contrary, the pessimist sees that man exists to be
manipulated by destiny and events go to the worst. The pessimist is a
melancholy individual.
Who is
right? Should we be optimistic or pessimistic?
If we look at the life of the individual from birth to
death, we can only say that it is a journey of torment. The human being is born
needy like all living beings. He needs food, water, air, clothing and education
... and spends his life chasing after his needs, which are most often imposed.
Life is a struggle whose disappointments are more numerous than victories. In
the end, the disease overcomes the man and kills him. Can we deny it? Life is
not at the level of human waiting. A man who respects his humanity considers himself
worthy of a better life than the existing way of life. It seems that man, as he
develops, hates life. Life as a merciless search for the needs of the body may
be suitable for primitive man, but is not suitable for the contemporary
philosopher or the scientist who directs the missiles. It seems that the human
spirit is going to develop at a stage where he believes he is bigger than life
and that this life is not his noble place, or as Camus said he does not think
life is worth the to be lived.
That is what
we can say if we discuss the subject from a theoretical and philosophical point
of view, but if we discuss it by the criterion of interest, then we move to
another shore. To realize one's intentions and to meet one's needs: the
individual must be gentle, modest and optimistic. This is what everyday life
requires. Every person must be optimistic in a world of chaos. All that exists
incites us to pessimism and does not follow acceptable logic or a virtuous
morality. Life requires man to live by denying that the future can bring us
earthquakes, floods, fires and diseases. In short, he must live without
thinking either of his exposure to illness or of his death in the future. In
fact when we ask an individual to be optimistic in this life, it is as if we
are asking an individual to smile at the time of his execution. Both requests
are difficult. But that is what must be and this duty is part of the
irrationality of this life.