A “Pollyanna,” according to Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary, is “a person characterized by irrepressible optimism and a tendency to find good in everything.” Following is a selection of quotes from Pollyanna — the 1913 novel by Eleanor H. Porter that gave us this enduring term.

You’ll also find some contemporary quotes on what it means to be — or not to be — “a Pollyanna.”

Pollyanna  was first published on the brink of World War I (which began in 1914; the U.S. entered in 1917), which segued into the misnamed global pandemic Spanish Flu. Both killed millions worldwide. 

It hardly seemed the time for a book whose newly orphaned main character was as sunny and optimistic as they come. But somehow, the book struck a nerve and was an immediate hit with children as well as adults. Or maybe that’s precisely when it was needed, as its popularity lasted for years.

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