The world of self-help teems with motivational quotes about the power of positive thinking, and the importance of reframing the negative. “Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you’ll start having positive results.” “Positive thinking is more than just a tagline.” “There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” (That last one is from Shakespeare himself, via Hamlet.)Yet when it comes to the way in which we think and talk about the world outside our own heads, its future in particular, striking anything other than a very gloomy tone is not the done thing. We seem to have collectively decided that we must at all times pursue and project a sense of relentless, spirit-crushing pessimism. Not only will you sound careless and insensitive to all the suffering in the world if you say anything optimistic or upbeat, you will also find yourself lacking gravitas and just sounding deeply uncool.
在励志界，有很多格言警句赞扬积极思维的力量，强调改变消极思维的重要性。“一旦你摒弃消极想法，代之以积极想法，你就会开始获得积极结果。”“积极思维不只是一句口号。”“世事本无好坏，皆因思想使然。”（最后一句出自莎士比亚(Shakespeare)，借由哈姆雷特(Hamlet)之口。）