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

Bill Vaughan (1915–1977) was an American newspaper columnist known for wry, aphoristic observations about everyday life. This quip belongs to a long tradition of New Year’s humor that contrasts optimism and pessimism through the shared ritual of staying up until midnight on December 31. Vaughan’s line reflects mid‑20th‑century American syndicated column style: compact, punchy, and built on a neat reversal. While often repeated in holiday roundups and quotation collections, it is typically presented as a standalone one-liner rather than tied to a specific event in Vaughan’s biography.

The joke hinges on identical behavior—staying up until midnight—motivated by opposite attitudes. The optimist frames the moment as an arrival: the new year is something to welcome and witness. The pessimist frames it as a departure: the old year is something to be rid of, and they want confirmation that it’s gone. Vaughan’s contrast suggests that temperament shapes meaning more than circumstances do; the same ritual can be celebration or vigilance. It also gently satirizes pessimism as suspicious and defensive, while granting optimism the cultural prestige of hope and renewal associated with New Year’s.

1) “An optimist stays up until midnight to see the New Year in. A pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.”
2) “The optimist stays up to see the New Year in; the pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.”
3) “An optimist stays up till midnight to see the new year in; a pessimist stays up to make sure the old year leaves.”