Some of the most profound precepts we ever know come clothed in very basic and elemental forms. A "Peanuts" cartoon strip shows Charlie Brown visiting Lucy who is at her stand offering psychiatric help for a nickel. Charlie says, "I need help! Tell me a great truth. Tell me something about living that will help me." Lucy responds by asking, "Do you ever wake up at night and want a drink of water?" "Sure," Charlie responds, "quite often." Lucy then offers her advice, "When you're getting a drink of water in the dark, always rinse out the glass because there might be a bug in it! Five cents, please." Charlie pays, and walks away saying, "Great truths are even more simple than I thought they were."

Another illustration of this is a mother telling of overhearing a conversation between her two d…