The chances of a person breaking through their own habits and sloth and limited mind to actually write something that gets out there and matters to people are slim.

If we didn't win, I think our chances (of getting) in the tourney would be slim. It was a must-win, and that's basically what we put in our heads and in our hearts.

If we didn't win, I think our chances in the tourney would be slim. It was a must -win, and that's basically what we put on our foreheads and on our hearts.

Unless all the stakeholders are willing to come to the table as a group, the chances are slim.

Fiction is a kind of compassion-generating machine that saves us from sloth. Is life kind or cruel? Yes, Literature answers. Are people good or bad? You bet, says Literature. But unlike other systems of knowing, Literature declines to eradicate one truth in favor of another.

Early on, a story's meaning and rationale seem pretty obvious, but then, as I write it, I realize that I know the meaning/rationale too well, which means that the reader will also know it - and so things have to be ramped up.