Optimism is an attitude, an attitude of always looking at the brighter side of things. Sometimes it is rather naive or forced to believe that this world is the best possible world. At bottom it is a religious attitude like believing that God is good, just as Browning observed that God is in Heaven, and everything will be set right.
But think of Micawber in Dickens's 'David Copperfield'. Plunged in a pool of debt, and even boxed up in the Debtors' Prison, Micawber could go on harping the same iterative phrase, 'something 'll turn up'.
Simple and unqualified optimism does not help in real situations. Often optimism may take the shape of a mockery of hope or faith, for example in Samuel Beckett's famous play, 'Waiting for Godot', where the two tramps--Lucky and Pozzo--go on waiting for one Godot who never comes. Are they really optimistic of the arrival of Godot? Or do they mock uncritical / unrealistic optimism?
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