If you keep on saying things are going to be bad, you have a good chance of becoming a prophet.

Singer’s remark wryly targets the self-fulfilling power of pessimism. If a person continually predicts disaster, they may shape their own perceptions and behavior—becoming risk-averse, demoralizing others, or overlooking opportunities—so that negative outcomes become more likely. The “prophet” line is ironic: prophecy here isn’t supernatural insight but the result of repetition, expectation, and influence. In a broader moral sense, the quote cautions against habitual catastrophizing and suggests that language can help create the reality we later claim to have foreseen.