On one world was once a race of creatures who were born
with a fraternal twin alive within each of them,
and, as they grew and developed, so did their inner twin,
and, all that they experienced, the twin did also,
and all decisions were the product of their combined input,
but here's the most interesting part;
one of them was hardly aware of the other's existence.
(You gonna guess which and what that might imply?)

A king told a mystic: "Don't waste your time -- the people don't want knowledge or enlightenment,
they simply want to feel better and be happier and what is it you have that can do this?"
And the extreme one was surprised at the monarch's slight insight.

Like anything else:
stress can become a habit,
its origins blurred,
its purpose forgotten,
it called by another name.

A fan inquires:
"If, as you mentioned on your last show, you are using the word 'stress' far beyond its normal applications, then am I to assume that you do also in your use of other words?"

A lesser-known story regarding "The Downfall Of Man" says that it came not from him engaging in some forbidden act, but rather from him becoming serious shortly after he began to think, and a reflective listener should ask: Was it…is it ever possible that seriousness does not naturally flow from thinking? Is it something to really be avoided or a part of thinking's true purpose?

One day a lion was studying his face in a mirror, then turned and asked his wife:
"Would you call my look serious, or solemn?"
And she reminded him: "You're a lion, not a human."

If there was an actual "King of all beasts," I assure you that, just like his mortal counterpart, one of his most aggressively enforced acts would be in the restriction of under just what conditions laughter was permitted in his presence.
...Reminding you again of that reader's suspicion that kings in my stories may represent a man's own thought processes.

In a novelty shop one day, a man saw a pair of glasses that claimed to give
"X-Ray Vision" so that you could see right through people & their clothing,
and the man had to walk back outside and look at the name of the store again
to make sure he hadn't stumbled into a mystic's supply house.