Most of the writers I know work every day, in obscurity and close to poverty, trying to say one thing well and true. Day in, day out, they labor to find their voice, to learn their trade, to understand nuance and pace. And then, facing a sea of rejections, they hear about something like Barbara Bush’s dog getting a book deal.

Meaning: Another worker can often find something to improve in work already considered finished. The second barber’s remaining task suggests that completion depends on standards and perspective, without proving that earlier work was careless or endless correction is necessary.

Meaning: Someone's belief may have been produced by what they want to be true, rather than by good evidence that it is true.

Meaning: The saying promises vigorous beans after sowing in mud. Growing like wood gives its confidence in that method an exaggerated image of strength.

Meaning: The comparison questions an account offered without the experience or evidence needed for its subject. Its disability-based insult should be distinguished from that useful question.