Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

What is an optimist? The man who says, "It's worse everywhere else. We're better off than the rest of the world. We've been lucky. " He is happy with things as they are and he doesn't torment himself. What is a pessimist? The man who says, "Things are fine everywhere but here. Everyone else is better off than we are. We're the only ones who've had a bad break. " He torments himself continually.