I was musing over this well worn phrase the other day.
I’d been thinking of it in a negative context. As one of those who hasn’t won the lottery (yet!), inherited wealth (not on the cards unless I get a call from some far flung shore about an unknown relative) or recently found a load of bitcoins on my harddrive, I’m still in the business of earning my keep!

My Father didn’t have a psychology degree or even a library of well read self-improvement books. What he did have was plenty of dispensable wisdom when it came to most aspects of life. I remember, in particular, him talking to me one evening just before I started secondary school (“way back in the last century”, as my kids frequently remind me!):