"Both optimists and pessimists contribute to our society. The optimist invents the airplane and the pessimist the parachute" || W. H. H. MacKellar

W. H. H. MacKellar is the most likely originator of this expression based on the 1939 citation in “The Rotarian”. Gil Stern popularized a version beginning in 1967. Other attributions have been made but there is not strong support for them. Read more