…That way when you critic
ize them, you are a mile away from them and you have their shoes.
Jack Handey, American comedian and author of the famous “Deep Thoughts”, 1984
One of my favourite quotes, which also shows that Americans can sometimes be almost as sarcastic as the British: the first part apparently advocates an empathetic approach to life, one of understanding and “live and let live” – it even sounds like a Chinese proverb, doesn’t it? This is then simply, but very amusingly destroyed by the “volte-face” of the second part which reveals a rather less pure and more self-interested motivation.