XXV 



THE VARIETIES OF OPTIMISM 



THE observed varieties of optimism may be 

 classified, I think, according to their origin or ac- 

 cording to their measure. In attempting such a 

 classification one is perhaps likely to meet with 

 more success than if it were essayed to answer 

 the question, "What is optimism?" This, I be- 

 lieve, would be almost profitless; for I have heard 

 two admirers of Mr. George Meredith, each thor- 

 oughly conversant with his work, declare respec- 

 tively that he is an optimist and a pessimist. In 

 this and a hundred other cases it is probable that 

 the argument is not about facts, but about names. 

 It is better, therefore, to forego any definition, and 

 to ask ourselves what are the states of mind that 

 may be included in the widest meaning of the 

 term optimism. 



Probably the most common and certainly the 

 most practically important variety of optimism 

 to begin with the classification by origins is not 

 so much a state of mind as a state of body. This 

 variety one may call organic, constitutional, visce- 

 ral, or if you like gastric optimism. It invaria- 

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