About this quote

Believing you can do something others find impossible often looks like pure delusion from the outside. People who play it safe will always label your boldest moves as reckless stupidity. But history is built on the backs of people who were too stubborn or naive to realize they were supposed to fail. It takes a certain blind optimism to ignore the critics and push forward anyway. Do you have the nerve to trust your own instincts when everyone else thinks you are making a mistake?

When to use it

• I used this line when my coworkers laughed at my plan to pitch a totally unconventional marketing strategy to our toughest client.
• I recalled these words when my family tried to talk me out of buying a run-down fixer-upper house that I just knew I could rebuild.
• I told my running partner this when she warned me that signing up for a mountain ultramarathon was pure madness.