About this quote

Some people walk through the world carrying the exact tools needed for their own destruction. They wear their pessimism like a heavy coat and search for trouble in the worst possible ways. If you constantly look for problems with a volatile attitude, you are bound to blow things up eventually. Are you actively seeking out disasters just to prove your gloomy worldview correct? Stop treating every minor setback like an invitation to light a match near a fuel line.

When to use it

• Your colleague prepares for a simple performance review by printing out ten pages of defensive arguments. He walks into the manager's office looking like he is actively trying to trigger an argument.
• Watching a friend try to pay off a credit card by joining a highly suspicious online betting scheme. You cannot cure your financial debt by taking reckless risks.
• Your uncle attempts to fix the household plumbing despite having zero mechanical skills and a terrible temper. Watching him head under the sink with a wrench and a scowl, you know a household disaster is only minutes away.