Life is but a bitter pain and then you die

[A] pessimist gets nothing but pleasant surprises, an optimist nothing but unpleasant.

People don't like to follow pessimists.

While there are still more optimists than pessimists, this is the least optimistic that CFOs have been in the last two years,

While there are still more optimists than pessimists, this is the least optimistic that CFOs have been in the last two years.

Pessimists are born, true, but they also can be made.