The Optimist Thinks This Is The

J. Robert Oppenheimer published this quip in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists in 1951, in the context of discussions about whether nuclear deterrence could produce a stable peace. The line plays on Voltaire's Candide, in which the philosopher Pangloss insists that this is "the best of all possible worlds" despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Oppenheimer used it to satirize both naive optimism and hollow pessimism about managing nuclear danger.