What does it mean when people say their "glass is half full"

Question

I don't know or understand the saying?

Answer 1

It is one of those favorite cliches. People , generally, want to classify themselves as Optimists or Pessimists. As you know , a pessimist is one who never sees anything as positive. he will always doubt things . he will look at the negative side of anything .

The much used comparison is that if  a pessimist sees a glass of liquid , only  half full  he will call the glass half empty. The optimist , on the other hand , will say the glass is half full.

Both are right . But , it is said that the optimist sees the positive side that there is afterall half amount of liquid in it.

Answer 2

Instead of saying your life is half over or whatever is half over/ gone.

You say its half full.

It's a more positive way.

Answer 3

its on how you view life

optimist view the cup half full

and pessimist view the cup have empty

Answer 4

It means that their situation could be good or bad... like say you failed a test, or lost your job... a person who says their glass is half full would say, "okay, i learned my lesson, i need to study better next time" and "alright, well now i can go find a better job"  a person who's glass is half empty would say, "c**p, now im gonna fail this course" or "Oh no, now im gonna starve!" It basically just means those people are optimistic

Answer 5

I only say that it's half full if im filling it up, i say half empty if im drinking it or pouring it out and its half way

Answer 6

That its not half empty.

Answer 7

It is a way to look at one"s mindset whether they think positive or negative. When a person feels that glass is half full his concentration is   positive or pessimist and a person who feels that the glass is half empty is optimist or thinks negative.

Answer 8

A pessimist calls a glass half empty

An opyimist calls the same thing half full.

It's the difference between optimism and pessimisn

Answer 9

It means that they are looking at their life from a positive point of view. If you see a glass that is half full, you are more of an optimist (positive). If you see the glass half empty, you are more of a pessimist (negative)

Answer 10

People can either "see the glass half empty" or "see the glass half full".  It is just a saying on how two people can see the same thing (as half empty and full are) in different ways.  Generally if you "see the glas half empty" you tend to view things negatively... and "half full" you are more positive about it.  -- The glass is filled up half-way either way, but if you are positive you feel like it is half-way full!

Answer 11

it means that they are optimists they always think of the positive this in life. and people that always think of the negative things in life are pesimests, and thay think of it as my glass is half empty.

Answer 12

it shows their nature that they take everything positively or negatively

Answer 13

It's just another way of saying 'it's half empty'. Depends on whether you are looking at the empty part or the full part. Look at the half-boiled egg. You can also call it 'half-unboiled egg'. A part-heard case can also be called a part-unheard case, though it sounds silly.

Answer 14

It means they posses an optimistic viewpoint on things. It's similar to an ink-blot test. Based on the person's interpretation of an object, you can ascertain certain things about them. In this case, you can ascertain their viewpoint or 'outlook' on things in general.

Answer 15

the phrase the glass is half empty is the optimist view to the contrary view of others who say their glass is half empty..

Individuals with a half full glass, view life as always having a positive means to an end..either in one aspect of life or just one event such as relationships, money, or happiness.

the other half of the population views life as never having their own way or never getting what they want...which isnt bad its just thier own opinion...and opinions are like buttholes... everyone has got one.

Answer 16

This means that; whatever his/her goal is, they're not quite there  yet.  But almost half way there..

This is also a very positive and optimistic way of looking at things..

Answer 17

It means to me that there is room for doubt in their life.  I always say that my glass is 'half-full'.  There is always room for more love!  :D

Answer 18

it means they are a positive person

Answer 19

"Is the glass half full of half empty".

Some will say it is half full and some will say it is half empty. Yes it is a general derivation of this that the one who says its "half full" is an optimist because he/she is not so much bothered about the other half of the glass that is empty. On the other hand one who says its "half empty" can be labeled as a pessimist as it seems that he/she is more worried about the empty part of the glass and does not see that he still has half the glass full of water. Now that is the usual implication of this saying.

But there is also another aspect to this. Its about the perspective. And perspectives can change with conditions an individual is living. For eg. one who has just walked through the Sahara desert and you offer him half a glass of water which he/she perceives as not enough then the empty part of the glass will strike him more than the the part that is full. On the other hand if you have someone who just drank two bottles of water and ask him/her to drink another glass that is half full of water, then he/she might be focused on the part of the glass that is full of water and drinking even that much might be overwhelming for him/her. Here we cannot label any of the two as optimist or pessimist but simply two people living different circumstances and observing the same situation from two different perspectives.

Now... thats interesting. :-)