An Excerpt from “Optimism”
by Helen Keller

1 Could we choose our environment, and were desire in human undertakings synonymous with
endowment, all men would, I suppose, be optimists. Certainly most of us regard happiness as
the proper end of all earthly enterprise. The will to be happy animates alike the philosopher, the
prince and the chimney-sweep. No matter how dull, or how mean, or how wise a man is, he feels
that happiness is his indisputable right.
2 It is curious to observe what different ideals of happiness people cherish, and in what singular
places they look for this well-spring of their life. Many look for it in the hoarding of riches, some
in the pride of power, and others in the achievements of art and literature; a few seek it in the
exploration of their own minds, or in the search for knowledge.
3 Most people measure their happiness in terms of physical pleasure and material possession.
Could they win some visible goal which they have set on the horizon, how happy they would be!
Lacking this gift or that circumstance, they would be miserable. If happiness is to be so
measured, I who cannot hear or see have every reason to sit in a corner with folded hands and
weep. If I am happy in spite of my deprivations, if my happiness is so deep that it is a faith, so
thoughtful that it becomes a philosophy of life,—if, in short, I am an optimist, my testimony to
the creed of optimism is worth hearing....
4 Once I knew the depth where no hope was, and darkness lay on the face of all things. Then
love came and set my soul free. Once I knew only darkness and stillness. Now I know hope and
joy. Once I fretted and beat myself against the wall that shut me in. Now I rejoice in the
consciousness that I can think, act and attain heaven. My life was without past or future; death,
the pessimist would say, “a consummation devoutly to be wished.” But a little word from the
fingers of another fell into my hand that clutched at emptiness, and my heart leaped to the
rapture of living. Night fled before the day of thought, and love and joy and hope came up in a
passion of obedience to knowledge. Can anyone who has escaped such captivity, who has felt
the thrill and glory of freedom, be a pessimist?
5 My early experience was thus a leap from bad to good. If I tried, I could not check the
momentum of my first leap out of the dark; to move breast forward is a habit learned suddenly
at that first moment of release and rush into the light. With the first word I used intelligently, I
learned to live, to think, to hope. Darkness cannot shut me in again. I have had a glimpse of the
shore, and can now live by the hope of reaching it.
6 So my optimism is no mild and unreasoning satisfaction. A poet once said I must be happy
because I did not see the bare, cold present, but lived in a beautiful dream. I do live in a
beautiful dream; but that dream is the actual, the present,—not cold, but warm; not bare, but
furnished with a thousand blessings. The very evil which the poet supposed would be a cruel

6) Read the last sentence from the text.
Only by contact with evil could I have learned to feel by contrast the beauty of truth and love and goodness.
Explain how Helen Keller develops this idea in the text. Use specific details to
support your answer.​

Answer:

An Excerpt from “Optimism”

by Helen Keller

1 Could we choose our environment, and were desire in human undertakings synonymous with

endowment, all men would, I suppose, be optimists. Certainly most of us regard happiness as

the proper end of all earthly enterprise. The will to be happy animates alike the philosopher, the

prince and the chimney-sweep. No matter how dull, or how mean, or how wise a man is, he feels

that happiness is his indisputable right.

2 It is curious to observe what different ideals of happiness people cherish, and in what singular

places they look for this well-spring of their life. Many look for it in the hoarding of riches, some

in the pride of power, and others in the achievements of art and literature; a few seek it in the

exploration of their own minds, or in the search for knowledge.

3 Most people measure their happiness in terms of physical pleasure and material possession.

Could they win some visible goal which they have set on the horizon, how happy they would be!

Lacking this gift or that circumstance, they would be miserable. If happiness is to be so

measured, I who cannot hear or see have every reason to sit in a corner with folded hands and

weep. If I am happy in spite of my deprivations, if my happiness is so deep that it is a faith, so

thoughtful that it becomes a philosophy of life,—if, in short, I am an optimist, my testimony to

the creed of optimism is worth hearing....

4 Once I knew the depth where no hope was, and darkness lay on the face of all things. Then

love came and set my soul free. Once I knew only darkness and stillness. Now I know hope and

joy. Once I fretted and beat myself against the wall that shut me in. Now I rejoice in the

consciousness that I can think, act and attain heaven. My life was without past or future; death,

the pessimist would say, “a consummation devoutly to be wished.” But a little word from the

fingers of another fell into my hand that clutched at emptiness, and my heart leaped to the

rapture of living. Night fled before the day of thought, and love and joy and hope came up in a

passion of obedience to knowledge. Can anyone who has escaped such captivity, who has felt

the thrill and glory of freedom, be a pessimist?

5 My early experience was thus a leap from bad to good. If I tried, I could not check the

momentum of my first leap out of the dark; to move breast forward is a habit learned suddenly

at that first moment of release and rush into the light. With the first word I used intelligently, I

learned to live, to think, to hope. Darkness cannot shut me in again. I have had a glimpse of the

shore, and can now live by the hope of reaching it.

6 So my optimism is no mild and unreasoning satisfaction. A poet once said I must be happy

because I did not see the bare, cold present, but lived in a beautiful dream. I do live in a

beautiful dream; but that dream is the actual, the present,—not cold, but warm; not bare, but

furnished with a thousand blessings. The very evil which the poet supposed would be a cruel

6) Read the last sentence from the text.

Only by contact with evil could I have learned to feel by contrast the beauty of truth and love and goodness.

Explain how Helen Keller develops this idea in the text. Use specific details to

support your answer.

I need an answer nonsense report brainliest correct​

You have learned that a word can have more than one correct pronunciation. Two of the pronunciations given are correct ways to say the word. Your job is to identify the imposter—the respelling that is not a correct pronunciation for the word.

bouquet

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what does betty parris reveal about what happened in the woods

Champagne was made in France change into interrogative

Romeo and Juliet What parts of the plot seem related to a possible theme in the play? (Think about the
main conflict and how it get resolved or worked out.)

Which of the following is NOT a type of verbal?
Group of answer choices

Gerund

Infinitive

Passive

Participle

Describe the tense conversation between Trevor’s mother and the minibus driver.
Record 2 pieces of information about each tribe. The Zulu and Xhosa.

You’ve made your parents very _______________. ( pride)

Unless he changes his way of behavior, he will lose his job---> If

Refer to Passage 1: "The Show Must Go On" to answer the following question.
What point of view does the author of "The Show Must Go On" use? What is the
effect of the point of view on the story? Write a fully developed paragraph response. Provide at least one specific piece of textual evidence from the text to support your response.

Here is the link for the passage https://theshowmustgoon.onuniverse.com/

Describe about USA, tell something important.

Directions: Read each passage and look for clues that reveal the setting. Then explain your answer. Remember the setting is the time and place that a story happens.
Alex shut the lid to his laptop with a loud clap. Some of the people sitting at the tables near him looked up from their books and gave him annoyed looks. Alex realized that he had disturbed them and held up his hand apologetically. The librarian turned toward him and shushed him loudly, perhaps louder than the noise that he had made. Alex put the laptop in his bag and began walking toward the door. He held his head down low.

1. Where is this story taking place?

Help me summarize this article please

At the time of the winter solstice in the Northern hemisphere, the Southern hemisphere will be having __________________.

a) Winter
b) autumn
c) summer
d) spring

History is the story of the past, which will include the present when it is recorded. What do you think of this statement?

If you don't like the story, write a new chapter.


Agree

Disagree


Explain why you voted the way you did.

I wish i ___ where he is now

Can someone help please? :(​

Unusual and Comical is the Kind of stories that her and me like best

COMMONLIT
How does the inclusion of personal accounts contribute to the text overall?
A. They provide undeniable facts and statistics about the slave trade.
B. They help readers better understand different people's experiences.
C. They show how the effects of the slave trade continue to be felt today.
D. They show how some people's perspectives are more reliable than others.
Vhich of the following describes the author's likely purpose in the text?

All right, you’ll try to fix the television! But I_____you know what you’re doing.A. hopeB. have hopedC. is hopingD. have been hoping

Can someone please explain what is the notebook movie about

Which of the following is NOT a characteristic of a revenge tragedy?
outlines detailed planning of revenge
hero dies in the end
typically receives call to adventure by a god or goddess
hero hesitates to go through with revenge

How does a person or people feel when they get justice

Which statement best expresses how the author achieves a particular purpose in paragraphs 5
and 6?
A The author describes the time it will take for spaceships to reach the nearest star to
explain why Nick Sagan's message will never be heard.
B The author builds an explanation of the limitations of a spaceship's speed as a
transition to a description of how warp speed theory works.
C The author contrasts various technologies that can increase a spacecraft's speed to
indicate the likelihood of reaching a nearby star in the future.
D The author includes unreasonable examples of how to increase a spacecraft's speed
to emphasize the unrealistic expense of such an endeavor.

The first chapter of Night establishes life in Sighet before the Jewish population was forcibly removed to Auschwitz and accompanying camps. Please describe this "before" and why it may become significant to the story.

Which statement is an example of a paradox?
1. His sister is awfully pretty
2. You have to be cruel to be kind
3. The elephant's name is Tiny
4. It was dark and dim in the doorway

Define personable and use it in a sentence

Câu 1:

Choose the word whose BOLD part is pronounced differently from the other three in each question.

A. writes B. makes C. takes D. drives

Câu 2:

Choose the word whose underlined part is pronounced differently from the other three in each question.A. boring B. choir C. sporty D. more

Câu 3: Choose the word whose underlined part is pronounced differently from the other three in each question.

A. climb B. balcony C. club D. barbecue

Câu 4: Choose the word which has a different stress pattern from the other three in each question.

A. appearance B. interview C. confident D. dishwasher

Câu 5: Choose the word which has a different stress pattern from the other three in each question.

A. microwave B. furniture C. overseas D. character

Please help (NO LINKS) WIll give brainlest to the person who has right answer