Optimist

The other day I was looking up quotes about New Years and found this gem.

“The optimist stays up until midnight to see the new year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.”

These words were credited to Bill Vaughan, a writer unknown to me. That prompted a Google search where I discovered that William E. Vaughan was a syndicated columnist for the Kansas City Star from 1946 to his death in 1977. Thirty-one years of words and wit is an impressive track record.

I kept searching and found a large cache of Bill Vaughn’s quips. Here’s a selection:

“To err is human, to really foul things up requires a computer.”

“Frankly, the feeling of the adult contingent in the second house from the corner is that instead of taking down the Christmas decorations, it will be easier to move.”

“People learn every day and lots of times it’s that what they learned the day before was wrong.”

“We hope that when the insects take over the world, they will remember with gratitude how we took them along on all our picnics.”

“The groundhog is like other prophets; it delivers its prediction and then disappears.”

“Retirement, we understand, is great if you are busy, rich and healthy. But then under these conditions, work is great too.”

“Youth is when you’re allowed to stay up late on New Year’s Eve. Middle age is when you’re forced to.”

I’ll be staying up until midnight and plan to welcome in the new year as an optimist. I figure it’s always better to laugh than to cry. And I’ll be looking forward to writing another year of blogs… all on the positive side of things.

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