Effective Optimism.

An interesting reference to optimism was made by Mr. H. H. Sterling, Chairman of the Government Railways Board, at the annual meeting of the New Zealand Travel Men's League. “I believe in optimism, but essentially it must be backed up by action. A mere ‘hope for the best’ attitude is wholly incomplete and may be positively harmful, because without action it is almost inevitably doomed to be hope deferred. The best kind of optimism is that based on a full realisation of the position as it exists plus determination to improve matters, implemented by suitable action in the direction required to make the optimism come true. That is the kind of optimism that strikes me as having real value.”

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