Self-help movements insist that having a positive and optimistic attitude makes a difference. Although thinking good thoughts will not cure cancer, it will shape your behavior. And that is one reason why I live where I do and do what I do—Americans in general, and the self-selected group of immigrants to the West Coast in particular, believe that with enough desire, sweat, dedication, and the judicious application of technology, almost anything is possible. I share this can-do attitude. To fail when one has given everything one has is honorable; not to try because one is afraid of failure is a
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