..Charles Dickens sitting across a desk from his publisher, who is whining at him, "Now, Mr. Dickens, was it the best of times or the worst of times? You can scarcely have it both ways."

That sounds very much like "Through History with J. Wesley Smith," a cartoon featured regularly in The Saturday Review of Literature, more years ago than I care to remember. My favorite among these depicted a gentlemen sitting in front of his lawyer's desk, briefcase bearing the monogram AS, and hearing his suggestion: "No, this contract is entirely too much in favor of Mr. Gilbert, and I should advise you to terminate the partnership immediately..."