The glass is half full or half empty!!!

Whether the glass is “half full or half empty “is not just about Optimism & pessimism- It’s about how different people relate to the world and each other- in different jobs, roles, and situations- in different ways. 

Even more interestingly 'the glass half-full/empty' quotes demonstrate how different people see the same situation in different ways. This idiom is used to explain how people perceive events and objects. 

You will perhaps have heard very old story illustrating the difference between positive thinking and negative thinking:  

Many years ago two salesmen were sent by a British shoe manufacturer to Africa to investigate and report back on market prospective. 

The first salesman reported back, "There is no potential here - nobody wears shoes.
"The second salesman reported back, "There is massive potential here - nobody wears shoes."

This simple short story provides one of the best examples of how a single situation may be viewed in two quite different ways - negatively or positively.

 We could explain this also in terms of seeing a situation's problems and disadvantages, instead of its opportunities and benefits. When telling this story its impact is increased by using exactly the same form of words (e.g., "nobody wears shoes") in each salesman's report. This emphasizes that two quite different interpretations are made of a single situation.

There are however now lots more examples of different human viewpoints and attitudes, reflected cleverly and amusingly in the long list of adapted versions (below) of the traditional glass half-full or half-empty metaphor.

The optimist says the glass is half full

The pessimist says the glass is half empty.

The project manager says the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.

The realist says the glass contains half the required amount of liquid for it to overflow.

And the cynic... wonders who drank the other half.

The engineer says the glass is over-designed for the quantity of water.

The magician will show you the glass with the full half at the top.

The psychiatrist would ask you, "Is the half-empty/half-full glass really that important? I mean... really? Think about it. If fact, let's not. Let's set that particular issue aside for a few moments and talk about what's really bothering you.


The opportunist says, "Thanks, folks! While you were debating it, I drank it."

The worrier frets that the remaining half will evaporate by next morning.

The waiter will hurry to replace the glass with a full one. For him there are no doubts: the glass was empty when he took it away; it is full in the bill that he brings you.

The physicist says that the glass is not empty at all - it is half-filled with water and half-filled with air - hence, fully filled on the whole!

This point - that different people see one situation in different ways - is central to what we look for to learn and teach, in life and work.


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  Have a Positive Life ahead!!!