“I believe optimism is a choice. Cynicism isn't smarter, it's just safer.”
Interview https://www.rollingstone.com/music/features/jewel-19981224 with Neil Strauss in Rolling Stone (24 December 1998)
Kontext: I kept getting typified as this Pollyanna neohippie. I think it's because I have a different definition of optimism. I've noticed a belief that somehow optimism lacks intelligence and that optimism stems from a lack of experience and naiveté. I don't believe that. I believe optimism is a choice. Cynicism isn't smarter, it's just safer.