A Pessimist Sees The Difficulty In

This quote is not Churchill's. The International Churchill Society's director of publications confirmed there is "no known documentation to show that he ever said or wrote it," and Churchill scholar Richard Langworth placed it in the "Red Herrings: False Attributions" appendix of his comprehensive collection Churchill By Himself. Quote Investigator traced the earliest known version to Bertram Carr, Mayor of Carlisle, speaking at the 51st Annual Co-operative Congress in 1919. The sentiment is compatible with Churchill's known views on optimism — he did say "it does not seem to be much use being anything else" — but the specific phrasing is not his.