William Arthur Ward (1921–1994) was an American writer and educator known for concise, encouraging reflections on character, learning, and everyday life. This saying is widely attributed to him, but its original source is uncertain: no specific book, speech, or publication can be reliably identified as its point of origin. It also circulates in slightly different forms, so the familiar wording should be treated as an attribution rather than a confirmed quotation from a particular work.
The quote turns a problem into three ways of responding. The pessimist focuses on what is wrong; the optimist hopes circumstances will improve; the realist accepts the conditions at hand and acts. Adjusting the sails is not surrendering to the wind. It is recognizing what cannot be controlled and making a practical choice about what can. That combination of clear-eyed thinking and forward motion is why the line continues to resonate. It offers neither empty reassurance nor defeatism, but a reminder that hope is most useful when paired with action.