Sir William Thompson was very deaf but he did not like people to know this. One evening he had invited several friends to dinner, and while they were sitting at the table, one of the friends told a funny story.
Everyone laughed, and Sir William, who had laughed as loud as anyone, said, "That was a very funny joke, but I know a funnier one. Would you like to hear it?" They all said they would, so Sir William began his story.
When it ended, everyone laughed louder than ever and Sir William smiled happily. However, he didn't know the reason for their laughter.
It turns out, he had told the very same story that his friend had just told...
"I prefer winter and Fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape - the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn't show."
A professional athlete hit the ceiling when his nine year old son brought home a failing report card.
"Spring will come and so will happiness. Hold on. Life will get warmer."
Leon Blum, the former Socialist Premier of France, once met David Ben Gurion. He introduced himself this way, "I had better tell you right away, Mr. Ben Gurion, that I am a humanist first, a socialist second, and only then a Jew. Whenever I write my name, that is what I believe."