Cocteau was once asked if he believed in luck. "Of course," he replied. "How else do you explain the success of those you don't like?"

The harvest of 1783 was a poor one, but the bailiffs of Lafayette's estates at Chavaniac had managed to fill the barns with wheat. "The bad harvest has raised the price of wheat," said the bailiff. "This is the time to sell." Lafayette thought about the hungry peasants in the surrounding villages. "No," he replied, "this is the time to give."

The story is told that Dürer and another struggling young artist named Franz Knigstein worked together as miners to earn money for their art studies. But this hard labor left them little time to study art. They decided to draw lots: One of them would continue to study full-time while the other worked to support him until he became a successful artist who would then be able to support the other in his studies.

Dürer won. After he became a famous artist, he returned to keep his part of the agreement. By then, however, the years of hard labor had caused his friend's hands to become twisted and gnarled, and he could no longer use them for the delicate brush strokes of an artist. Franz told Dürer that he was happy that his labor had helped to produce such a great artist.

Dürer looked at the hands that had supported him all those years, and sketched them. The sketch —the "Praying Hands."

Many thanks Judson !

The most celebrated of the works undertaken under Alfonso's X sponsorship was the compilation of the Alfonsine Tables,"
which were published on the day of his accession to the throne and remained the most authoritative planetary tables in existence for the following three centuries. The preparation of the tables was very laborious and was based, of course, upon the Ptolemaic scheme of the universe Alfonso remarked that if God had consulted him during the six days of creation, he would have recommended a less complicated design.

Stephen Grover Cleveland though constantly at loggerheads with the Senate, got on better with the House of Representatives. A popular story circulating during his presidency concerned the night he was roused by his wife crying, "Wake up! I think there are burglars in the house."

"No, no, my dear," said the president sleepily, "in the Senate maybe, but not in the House."