
" Throughout my life, I have been fooled a great many times, simply because I have an initial tendency to take what someone says at face value instead of perhaps applying a dollop of good old Yorkshire skepticism. Such faith in my fellow man may be regarded by some as being downright unrealistic and I have gradually come to the inevitable conclusion that I am probably the biggest April Fool of all. You see, at the age of around 21 years, I determined never again to deliberately or knowingly 'tell a lie' to any individual. I initially thought that this behaviour would be a hard practice to establish and stick to, but I was surprised that it was much easier than I imagined to tell the truth, once it becomes habit forming. It doesn't always make one popular, but it usually makes one respected by most folk. I'm surprised that the habit of accepting what another says at 'face value' isn't adopted more widely, especially by our politicians. How refreshing that might prove to be. One of my mother's sayings when I was growing up was, 'There's no fool like an old fool.'" William Forde: April 1st, 2013.