Sees glass half full or half empty (1935, by Josiah Stamp?)

[Jonathan Lighter]

"An optimist looks at glass of water and says it's half full. A pessimist looks at a glass of water and says it's half empty. I look at a glass of water and I say, 'It's a glass of water. So what?'"  --Ian Shoales, NPR, ca.1988.

JL

Bapopik at AOL.COM wrote:
---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Bapopik at AOL.COM
Subject: Sees glass half full or half empty (1935, by Josiah Stamp?)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is like the doughnut and the hole idea. When did this start? What does
Fred have?
...
...
13 November 1935, New York Times, pg. 20:
To the Editor of The New York Times:
...
May I offer a tentative term to designate one who is neither a pessimist nor
an optimist? Perspectivist.
...
Both optimism and pessimism are terms which denote an emotional attitude.
Perspectivism defines a rational position.
...
I came recently upon a graphic distinction drawn by Sir Josiah Stamp between
an optimist and a pessimist: "A pessimist looks at his glass and says it is
half empty; an optimist looks at it and says it is half full."
(...)
GABRIEL WELLS.
New York, Nov. 11, 1935.
...
...
...
(NEWSPAPERARCHIVE)
_Charleston Daily Mail _
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Viewer.aspx?img=Rvj45z7SpqiKID/6NLMW2oeTXNaOGyI+U5eS02Uwg3h+C/D8AbE0ug==) Sunday, January
31, 1937 _Charleston,_
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Search.aspx?Search=city:charleston+josiah+stamp+and+half+full) _West Virginia_
(http://www.newspaperarchive.com/Search.aspx?Search=state:west_virginia+josiah+stamp+and+half+full)

...s HALF empty. The optimist says it's HALF FULL, but the calmly decides,
'It.....says a writer named Gabriel. Quoting JOSIAH STAMP, he adds':
pessimist looks..

...
...
...
(GOOGLE)


_http://www.boardofwisdom.com/mailquote.asp?msgid=4999_
(http://www.boardofwisdom.com/mailquote.asp?msgid=4999)
...

Submitted by _Anonymous Guest_
(http://www.boardofwisdom.com/profile.asp?username=Anonymous Guest) , 9/9/2002 6:37:27 PM

To the optimist, the glass is half full. To the pessimist, the glass is half
empty. To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.


-Unknown

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
http://mail.yahoo.com