The average pencil is seven inches long, with just a half-inch eraser - in case you thought optimism was dead In fact maybe there is a lesson there for how we should approach the future...with fourteen parts optimism - anticipating what could go right and the benefits - and one part pessimism - anticipating what could go wrong so we can avoid them.

Few are humble, for it takes a self-esteem few possess.

We all have our limitations, but when we listen to our critics, we also have theirs.

There is a what-the-hell moment in life when you feel you have been pre-punished for every sin you'll ever commit.

There are truths of which I have an inkling, but of most I have only a pencilling

Never mind the odds against you. If you doubled your effort, what would the odds against you do — send for reinforcements?

Those who avoid the tough choices of life, live a life they never chose.