MARCUS: Can we use our minds aright when we are filled with an excess of food and drink?
[Ne mente quidem recte uti possumus, multo cibo et potione completi?]
Marcus Tullius Cicero (106–43 BC) Roman orator, statesman, philosopher
Tusculan Disputations [Tusculanae Disputationes], Book 5, ch. 35 (5.35) / sec. 100 (5.100) (45 BC) [tr. Peabody (1886)]
(Source)
(Source (Latin)). Other translations:We have not the free and clear use of our understanding, when we are stuffed with Meat and Drink.
[tr. Wase (1643)]The understanding is impaired when we are full with over-eating and drinking.
[tr. Main (1824); Yonge (1853)]Can even the mind itself be used rightly, stuffed with the press of superfluous viands and libations?
[tr. Otis (1839)]We cannot use the mind aright, when the body is filled with excess of food and drink.
[tr. Taylor/Hunt (1916)]We cannot use our minds properly either, when we are full of large quantities of food and drink.
[tr. Douglas (1990)]We cannot make proper use of our minds when we are full of quantities of food and drink.
[tr. Davie (2017)]
Quotations about:
fullness
Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.
A pessimist looks at his glass and says it is half empty; an optimist looks at it and says it is half full.
Josiah Stamp (1880–1941) English industrialist, economist, statistician, banker
Comment (1935)
There is substantial evidence that Stamp used this now-cliched phrase, or variations of it, on multiple spoken occasions in 1935, the earliest references I could find.
- The Railway Service Journal (later Transport Salaried Staff Journal) mentions 1935 after-dinner remarks by Stamp: "After dinner, Sir Josiah Stamp defined an optimist as 'the man who looks at his glass and says it is half full,' and the pessimist as 'the man who looks at it and says it is half empty.'" [Source]
- Similarly, the Bristol Chamber of Commerce Journal mentions a 1935 speech: "A pessimist is a man who looks at the glass and describes it as half empty, and an optimist is a man who describes it as half full. It is all a question of the point of view." [Source]
- A New York Times article (12 Nov 1935) includes "I came recently upon a graphic distinction drawn by Sir Josiah Stamp between an optimist and a pessimist," followed by the phrasing noted at the top. [Source, Source]
