And the editor said, "Now, Mr. Dickens, was it the best of times or the worst of times? You can scarcely have it both ways."

Reminds me of a cartoon I saw a long day ago in the Saturday Review of Literature (that'll tell you just how long ago!) as part of an off-again-on-again series called "Through History with J. Wesley Smith." It showed a man sitting in front of the desk in his solicitor's office, and the lawyer having leafed through a sheaf of papers in front of him says "No, Mr. Sullivan, this contract is entirely too much in favor of Mr. Gilbert, and I would suggest you dissolve the partnership immediately."...