Word: pessimists
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Dates: during 1950-1959
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Three fundamental modern attitudes toward sin, writes Father Ivo Cisar, are the pessimist's "I cannot avoid sin because it is inevitable," the optimist's "I cannot sin because sin is a myth," and the expert's "I can sin because sin is only weakness." The Christian's attitude: "I can avoid...
Cabell employed none of the novelist's devices considered important today--stream of consciousness, rendition, authority, and "psychological mechanism." He used the older tools of clear writing, myth, and allegory. He was a pessimist not quite prepared to trust reality, doubtful of "justice" in the universe, and inclined to believe that the discovery of cosmic chaos was not a triumph for man. It only sustained the defeat. But Cabell didn't let things go at anticipating Sartre and the Left Bank anti-ontologists. He did believe in wit and beauty, and symbolistic meaning. Images in Jurgen arise from both...
...things are going these days, it's the optimist who thinks bread will cost $2 a loaf within five years. The pessimist says it will cost 2 rubles...
...hungry settler who said: 'We don't have enough food, what we should do is send a few planes to bomb Washington. Then the U.S. would invade and occupy us and everything would be all right because they will have to feed us.' The pessimist was the pioneer who replied: 'Maybe you're right. But the trouble is, we might...
Read quickly, Kathleen Raine might easily be put down as a gifted pessimist. But no pessimist could write this Message from Home...