Gracious acceptance is an art - an art which most never bother to cultivate. We think that we have to learn how to give, but we forget about accepting things, which can be much harder than giving.... Accepting another person's gift is allowing him to express his feelings for you.

I am often thanked by people for inventing the term traditionally built. The people who give me thanks for this are often traditionally built themselves.

My wife Elizabeth and I started The Really Terrible Orchestra for people like us who are pretty hopeless musicians who would like to play in an orchestra. It has been a great success. We give performances; weve become the most famous bad orchestra in the world.

I've also long since realized that the way to really engage children is to give out prizes; it's amazing how it concentrates their minds.