When in Doubt, Stall
The sorcerer had fallen out of favor of the court, and the king sentenced him to death. On the day of the planned execution, the sorcerer told the king that if he would allow him to live for one year, the king could become famous around the world—because the sorcerer would make the king’s horse talk. If the sorcerer failed, the king could kill him—and the sorcerer wouldn’t object. The king agreed, and the sorcerer was spared for one year and dispatched to a dungeon. A duke, who was friendly to the sorcerer, sneaked up to the dungeon and said: “You are indeed a fool. I know and you know that you do not have the power to make animals speak. Now you will surely die.” The sorcerer answered: “I have a year. Many things can happen in a year. The king might die. Or I might die. And who knows? In a year, perhaps the horse might talk.”
The Recession
A mayor who was very proud of his city was asked how the recession had affected it. He answered: “We don’t have a recession here, but I will admit we are having the worst boom in many years.”
Cheerfulness
Cheerfulness keeps up a kind of daylight in the mind, filling it with a steady and perpetual serenity. An inward cheerfulness is an implicit praise and thanksgiving to Providence under all dispensations. It is a kind of acquiescence in the state wherein we are placed, and a secret approbation of the Divine Will in His conduct towards man. –Joseph Addison
View of Insects
The optimist is the kind of person who believes a housefly is looking for a way out. –George Jean Nathan
Big Fisherman
I’m such an optimist I’d go after Moby Dick in a rowboat and take the tartar sauce with me. –Zig Ziglar