Opportunity often goes begging. Luck, never.

To be a social success, do not act pathetic, arrogant, or bored. Do not discuss your unhappy childhood, your visit to the dentist,the shortcomings of your cleaning woman, the state of your bowels, or your spouse's bad habits. You will be thought a paragon (or perhaps a monster) of good behavior.

The Simple Life is not a simple life.

Cynicism often draws correct conclusions, but nobody could live by its lights.

Ideas about life organize perception; names of emotions organize sensations; rules of syntax organize thought. But pain comes on its own.

Since events are not metaphors, the literal-minded have a certain advantage in dealing with them.

The lyric deals with love and sorrow, the aphorism with contradiction and deceit.