If she hasn't learned to appreciate my sterling character and spectacular good looks by this time, it's not likely she will. - Elizabeth Peters

Most men are reasonably useful in a crisis. The difficulty lies in convincing them that the situation has reached a critical point

He hesitated for a moment. Then he said softly, 'I love you, Mother.' He took my hand and kissed it, and folded my fingers round the stem of the rose. He had stripped it of its thorns.
I was too moved to speak. But maternal affection was not the only emotion that prevented utterance; as I watched him walk away, his head high and his step firm, anger boiled within me. I knew I had to conquer it before I saw Nefret again, or I would take her by the shoulders and shake her, and demand that she love my son!

It is much more sensible to be an optimist instead of a pessimist, for if one is doomed to disappointment, why experience it in advance?