Assume The Worst Quotes & Sayings

Only those of us, I think, who were born under Queen Victoria know what it feels like to assume, without questioning, that England is permanently top nation, that foreigners do not matter, and that if the worst comes to the worst, Lord Salisbury will send a gunboat. — Ronald Knox

She talks. People talk easily to me. They think a bald albino hunchback can't hide anything. My worst is all out in the open. It makes it necessary for people to tell you about themselves. They begin out of simple courtesy. Just being visible is my biggest confession, so they try to set me at ease by revealing our equality, by dragging out their apparent deformities. That's how it starts. But I am like a stranger on the bus and they get hooked on having a listener. They go too far because I am one listener who is in no position to judge or find fault. They stretch out their dampest secrets because a creature like me has no values or morals. If I am "good" (and they assume that I am), it's obviously for lack of opportunity to be otherwise. And I listen. I listen eagerly, warmly, because I care. They tell me everything eventually. — Katherine Dunn

It is the worst of all superstitions to assume that the epistemological characteristics of one branch of knowledge must necessarily be applicable to any other branch. — Ludwig Von Mises

We cheerfully assume that in some mystic way love conquers all, that good outweighs evil in the just balances of the universe and at the 11th hour something gloriously triumphant will prevent the worst before it happens. — Brooks Atkinson

Are we quick to respond to others' needs? Do we run from problems or face them? Do we talk more about bad news or good news? Do we give people the benefit of the doubt, or do we assume the worst? The — John C. Maxwell

Assume the worst. About everybody. But don't let this poisoned outlook affect your job performance. Let it all roll off your back. Ignore it. Be amused by what you see and suspect. Just because someone you work with is a miserable, treacherous, self-serving, capricious and corrupt asshole shouldn't prevent you from enjoying their company, working with them or finding them entertaining. — Anthony Bourdain

To wait, biblically speaking, is not to assume the worst, worry, make demands, or take control. Nor is waiting doing nothing. It is a sustained effort to stay focused on God through prayer and belief. To wait is to "rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him" (Psalm 37:7). — Max Lucado

Sometimes the future changes quickly and completely, and we're left with only the choice of what to do next. We can choose to be afraid of it, to stand there trembling not moving, assuming the worst that can happen or we step forward into the unknown and assume it will be brilliant. — Sandra Oh

Better to assume the worst and be wrong than assume the best and be wrong. — Laurell K. Hamilton

It seems wisest to assume the worst from the beginning ... and let anything better come as a surprise. — Jules Verne

True politeness is consideration for the opinions of others. It has been said of dogmatism that it is only puppyism come to its full growth; and certainly the worst form this quality can assume is that of opinionativeness and arrogance. — Samuel Smiles

If the world were full of the self-seeking individuals found in economics textbooks, it would grind to a halt because we would be spending most of our time cheating, trying to catch the cheaters, and punishing the caught. The world works as it does only because people are not the totally self seeking agents that free-market economics believes them to be. We need to design an economic system that, while acknowledging that people are often selfish, exploits other human motives to the full and gets the best out of people. The likelihood is that, if we assume the worst about people, we will get the worst out of them. — Ha-Joon Chang

It's strange how just the sound of my dad's feet, the murmur of his voice, can change everything. Thing is, for all I know he could be in a good mood. It's just that I've learned to assume the worst. — Kevin Waltman

No,' I said, shooting him a look. 'But you don't have to give everyone the benefit of the doubt.'
You don't have to assume the worst about everyone, either. THe world isn't always out to get you.'
In your opinion,' I added.
Look,' he said, 'the point is there's no way to be a hundred percent sure about anyone or anything. so you're left with a choice. Eitherhope for the best, or just expect the worst.'
If you expect the worst you're never disappointed,' I pointed out.

~Ruby and Nate, pg 259 — Sarah Dessen

History has taught us: never underestimate the amount of money, time, and effort someone will expend to thwart a security system. It's always better to assume the worst. Assume your adversaries are better than they are. Assume science and technology will soon be able to do things they cannot yet. Give yourself a margin for error. Give yourself more security than you need today. When the unexpected happens, you'll be glad you did. — Bruce Schneier

Maybe we should always assume the worst. — Chuck Palahniuk

I think a lot of fans immediately go, 'ugggh' when they hear that someone is doing a prequel or a remake, they sort of assume the worst sometimes. — Mary Elizabeth Winstead

He did look like an Italian of the worse type, though Vic didn't think he was, and it was an insult to the Italian race to assume that he was. He resembled no particular race, only an amalgamation of the worst elements of various Latin peoples. He looked as if he had spent all his life dodging blows that were probably aimed at him for good reason. — Patricia Highsmith

You know what's the worst? Being a 16 year old girl who loves a famous Singer, not solely for his looks, but because you truly believe he is talented and devoted and you agree deeply with his message. Because no matter how intelligently and fully you can express that, people will assume you're just a silly teenager who thinks a famous guy is cute. — Anthony Kiedis

The worst thing about working as a caregiver is not what you might think. IT's not the lifting and cleaning, the medicines and wipes, and the distant but somehow always perceptible smell of disinfectant. IT's not even the fact that most people assume you're only doing it because you really aren't smart enough to do anything else. It's the fact that when you spend all day in proximity to someone, there is no escape from their moods. Or your own. — Jojo Moyes

But you don't have to give everyone the benefit of the doubt."
"You don't have to assume the worst about everyone, either. The world isn't always out to get you. — Sarah Dessen

It's better to think the best of everyone and be wrong than assume the worst and be right. — A. Lee Martinez

We have every reason to assume the worst. — George W. Bush

Unsolicited redesigns are terrific and fun and useful, and I hope designers never stop doing them. But as they do so, I also hope they remember it helps no one - least of all the author of the redesign - to assume the worst about the original source and the people who work hard to maintain and improve it, even though those efforts may seem imperfect from the outside. — Khoi Vinh

One of the worst things anybody can do is assume. I think fools assume. If people have really got it together, they never assume anything. They believe, they work hard, and they prepare- but they don't assume. — Mike Krzyzewski

Assume the worst about people and you get the worst. — Ha-Joon Chang

Pathetic is when you assume the worst, because you are incapable of thinking beyond your own mental capacity. — Emma Paul

I've always done the safest thing, which is to assume that it's going to feel like that, to assume that you're going to feel like a freshman in a group of seniors - if you expect the worst, then it's never going to be that bad. — Janina Gavankar

We all make mistakes. But don't assume you know someone because you've seen them at their worst. In a moment of weakness we do stupid things, say horrible things but don't ever go so low you can't climb back. People will always judge you. Just be around the ones that know better. Enjoy the good and beautiful people in your life. They matter. — Dawn Garcia

My Life's Worst Scenario

It's when people assume that they know you, even without trying to get to know you, and they judge you from my action without knowing the reason behind it... — Lenz

With things like this, when people don't really understand what has happened, they'll assume the worst long before they have to. It's a little like when people are afraid of the dark. Often it's not the darkness they're afraid of, it's the fact that they don't know what's in it. And because they can't see, because they're not sure, they start to imagine there are more sinister things afoot than there ordinarily would be. — Craig Silvey

I know I shouldn't introduce my own memoir with this amount of insecurity, but my personal life philosophy is always to assume the worst, then you're never disappointed. BAM! Highlight that previous sentence, baby! — Felicia Day

But it will depend on young people like you being open to new ideas and new possibilities. And it will require young people like you never to stereotype or assume the worst about other people. — Barack Obama

Why do you always assume the worst? — E.L. James

Cruelty, whether physical or emotional, isn't normal. It may signal what psychologists call the dark triad of psychopathic, narcissistic and Machiavellian personality disorders. One out of about every 25 individuals has an antisocial personality disorder. Their prognosis for recovery is zero, their potential for hurting you about 100 percent. So don't assume that a vicious person just had a difficult childhood or a terrible day; most people with awful childhoods end up being empathetic, and most people, even on their worst days, don't seek satisfaction by inflicting pain. When you witness evil, if only the tawdry evil of a conversational stiletto twist, use your ninjutsu, wait for a distraction, then disappear. — Martha N. Beck

We worried for her. We tend to assume the worst, here in Willesden. We watched her watching the shuttlecock. Pock, smash. Pock, smash. As if one player could imagine only a violent conclusion and the other only a hopeful return. — Zadie Smith

We all assume the worst the best we can. — Iron & Wine

You see, team," Dan said passionately, "our problem is negativity, and we have no one to blame but ourselves. I believe where there is a void, negativity will fill it. And, unfortunately, within every organization you get voids in communication between leaders and their employees and between different teams and team members. It happens everywhere: with sports teams, work teams, family teams. Within these voids, negativity starts to breed and grow and, eventually, like a cancer it will spread if you don't address it. As an executive team it's up to us to do everything we can to prevent these voids from occurring and when they do occur, we must quickly fill them with positive communication and positive energy. People don't just want to be seen and heard. They want to hear and see, and if they don't feel like they are part of the company then they will assume the worst and act accordingly. — Jon Gordon

I don't know everything," she said. Her eyes were filling with tears. "If I knew everything, would I have gotten into this mess in the first place? I certainly don't know why you assume I'm going to drop everything and fly off to Antigua with you. I don't even know what I'm doing her. I don't know why we haven't talked in two weeks. And the worst part is, if I do go to Antigua with you, I don't know if I'll ever want to come back. I'm pretty sure I'll want to stay there with you forever." She was crying so hard, she couldn't even see him. "And the fact that I just said that out loud is even scarier to me than vampires. — Meg Cabot

Should Sen. McCain capture the nomination as many assume, I believe this general election will offer the worst choices for President in my lifetime. I certainly can't vote for Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama based on their virulently anti-family policy positions. — James Dobson

my personal life philosophy is always to assume the worst, then you're never disappointed. — Felicia Day

Will suspected Jem was in fact cleverer than he was himself - but he lacked Will's tendency to assume the absolute worst about people and proceed from there. — Cassandra Clare

I know that whenever I see some goon energetically mouthing the words to a song I can't hear, I assume the worst: Creed — John Sellers

The worst mistake a writer can make is to assume everyone has an imagination. — Andrew McEwan

A lot of our assumptions of the world are fairly cynical, fairly negative, and assume the worst. What our reading tastes show - in this rush to fantasy, romance, whatever - is that we actually still want to believe in a world of possibility, in a world of mystery. — Deborah Harkness