Saturday Rave: A New Year's Resolution by James Agate.

This year I want to be a kinder, more generous person, with better hair.

The trouble is that these are large ambitions, and I can see that perhaps a more limited one might have more chance of success. In fact I think I may try for the American critic James Agate's New Year Resolution instead.

It goes like this:

New Year's Resolution: To tolerate fools more gladly, provided this does not encourage them to take up more of my time.

The trouble is, though, that it practically always does.

Word To Use Today: fool. The Old French fol meant mad person. It comes from the late Latin follis, empty-headed person, and is connected, satisfyingly, with the Latin word for bellows.