Aphorisms for the Taking

Jeannine Stein’s article on Robert Grayson, who has done the $5,000 book of aphorisms, (“The Price of His Thoughts: Just $5,000 a Book,” Dec. 5) has prompted a few of my own that I want to share with you:

When in doubt write inanities; if the medium is respectable, you will be applauded.

Among certain groups, chutzpah is an acceptable substitute for talent.

Most self-appraisal is self-delusion.

Envy of the successful is one of the hobgoblins of little minds.

Not all con men are in Wall Street.

And to borrow Barnum’s famous line: “There’s a sucker born every minute.”

R. F. VALDEZ

Whittier