This week scientists claimed that being optimistic could help you live longer, though some may feel the gloom descend on being ordered to be cheerful. But optimism originally meant something much stronger than mere confidence in the future.
The word was coined in French – optimisme – by the mathematician and philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, who argued in 1710 that God had optimised the universe to allow the largest possible amount of good for the least cost of evil. This was, therefore, the best of all possible worlds. Someone who believes that things are optimal (Latin optimus, best) is an optimist.
The familiar weaker sense followed in English: “a disposition to look at the bright side of everything” (1859). But optimism can also be foolish and unrealistic. As Winston Churchill said in 1940: “I am astounded at the wave of optimism, of confidence, and even of complacency, which has swept over parliament … There is a veritable tide of feeling that all is well, that everything is being done in the right way, in the right measure and in the right time.”
We were told this week that our government is feeling more optimistic about Brexit. What could possibly go wrong?
