Since tomorrow is Presidents’ day, I thought I would begin with a favorite story about Abraham Lincoln. One of the endearing traits that Lincoln displayed was his ability to laugh at himself, and especially at his rather plain appearance. He said that sometimes he felt like the ugly man who met an old woman traveling through a forest. The old woman said, “You’re the ugliest man I ever saw.”

“I can’t help it,” the ugly man said.

“No, I guess not,” the woman admitted, “but the least you could do is stay home.”

One reason Lincoln was a great man was his ability to laugh at himself.

One of the most popular films of recent years was a movie about a mentally challenged man named Forrest Gump. In the book by Winston Groom upon which the movie was based, there is a scene in which Forrest and h…