All my life, I have been a positive thinker... I have always

Hear the voice of Zsa Zsa Gabor, who in the midst of a life filled with glamour, trials, and storms, declared: “All my life, I have been a positive thinker... I have always been able to survive by telling myself that no matter how bad things are, they will one day be better. And that out of every event—no matter how tragic—one can always find a way to survive and even, perhaps, to be a little bit happy.” These words are more than personal reflection; they are the distilled wisdom of endurance, born from the countless trials that test the human heart.

For to be a positive thinker is not to deny pain or tragedy, but to choose the light even when surrounded by shadows. Life, in its endless turning, brings both joy and sorrow. Yet Gabor teaches us that the soul may endure if it holds fast to the promise of tomorrow—that beyond the suffering of the present, there lies a dawn where wounds heal, and where happiness, even if fragile, can still take root. Survival is not merely of the body but also of the spirit, and the spirit is kept alive through hope.

Consider the tale of Anne Frank, a young girl hiding in the darkness of war. She faced not only fear of discovery, but also the suffocating loss of freedom. Yet within her diary she wrote: “I don’t think of all the misery, but of the beauty that still remains.” Though tragedy claimed her life, her words survive as eternal proof of the positive spirit, the ability to find fragments of joy even amid despair. She, like Gabor, teaches us that one may always cling to hope and that such hope is the essence of survival.

So too in the story of Viktor Frankl, prisoner in the concentration camps of Nazi Germany. Stripped of freedom, family, and dignity, he yet discovered one freedom that could not be taken: the power to choose one’s attitude. He chose hope, meaning, and the will to endure, and in doing so he found strength where none seemed possible. His life and Gabor’s words harmonize with the same truth: no matter how tragic the event, the human spirit can rise, and within rising, it may even rediscover happiness.

The meaning of this quote is therefore clear: hardship is inevitable, but despair is optional. Tragedy will touch all lives, but how we face it determines whether we are crushed or whether we endure. To look at suffering and still say, “One day it will be better,” is not naïve—it is heroic. It is the shield of the soul, guarding it against the arrows of hopelessness. And when we survive long enough with such a shield, we often find that joy, unexpected and humble, returns to us in the end.

The lesson for us is this: never surrender to the lie that tragedy is the final word. Tell yourself, even in the darkest hour, that change will come, that pain will ease, that happiness may return in ways you cannot yet imagine. This is not false comfort but the discipline of hope, a choice that sustains the weary heart through trials until strength returns.

Practical wisdom calls us to action. First, when faced with hardship, remind yourself aloud: “This too shall pass.” Second, train your mind daily in gratitude, for even in tragedy, small mercies remain. Third, when you survive hardship, share your story, for in doing so you pass on courage to those still caught in struggle. In these acts, you practice the art of the positive thinker, transforming wounds into wisdom.

So let it be remembered: the human spirit is stronger than tragedy. Positive thinking is not empty dreaming—it is the anchor that steadies us through the storm, the whisper that says, “Endure, for the dawn will come.” Zsa Zsa Gabor’s words are the testament of one who survived by hope, and through them, she passes down a legacy: that in every trial, no matter how deep, there is a way not only to live, but to live with a little light, a little joy, and even, perhaps, to be happy again.