Life inflicts the same setbacks and tragedies on the optimist as on the pessimist, but the optimist weathers them better … The optimist bounces back from defeat, and, with his life somewhat poorer, he picks up and starts again. The pessimist gives up and falls into depression. Because of his resilience, the otimist achieves more at work, at school, and on the playing field. The optimist has better physical health and may even live longer. Americans want optimists to lead them. Even when things go well for the pessimist, he is haunted by forebodings of catastrophe. For pessimists, that is bad news. The good news is that pessimists can learn the skills of optimism and permanently improve the quality of their lives.