A tall, burly man entered a San Francisco liquor store sometime back, pointed a revolver at a clerk and demanded money. According to police, when the clerk refused to comply, "the suspect then began to cry," put his gun in his pocket, and ran out of the store. Imagine that. A grown man, spurned by the man he intends to rob, breaks down in tears. I do believe that would-be robber is vocationally impaired. He doesn't belong in the criminal profession.

Maybe he broke down in tears because he was tired of being rejected. Have you ever been rejected? For an award? For a job? In romance? It hurts. It hurts a lot.

Some unpublished letters went on sale recently in London. They were written years ago by Winston Churchill to an heiress. The letters reveal that one of the century's great statesmen …