EFFORT

About the only thing that comes to us without effort is old age. 

Gloria Pitzer.

In 1986, a group of researchers published a study of Japanese mothers and mothers in Minneapolis. The mothers were asked to rank the most important things that a child needs to succeed academically. The answers tell a lot about the difference in our two cultures today. The mothers in Minneapolis chose "ability." The mothers in Japan said "effort." 

Richard H. Finan, State Senator from Ohio.

The female steamer duck can fly, but only about 1/4 of the males are able, and only before they eat! The rest are too heavy to get airborne. They use their wings as paddles and beat furiously across the surface of the water, never quite able to break into flight.

Source Unknown.