African stories follow a standard pattern which dictates that the attention of the listeners must be held. At no time must boredom set in. One must play with the listeners’ emotions as one does with a toy doll. Make them laugh, make them cry, make them angry, thwart their expectations, puzzle them one moment, delight them, or repel them, the next. And always leave them with wide open mouths, begging for more.
—Vusamazulu Credo Mutwa, Indaba, My Children: African Folktales, Grove Press, 1999, p. 529

You’re violating the first rule of being Steve. — Who? — Learn to eliminate your desire. […]
This takes us to the second rule of being Steve. You have to do something excellent in her presence, thus demonstrating your sexual worthiness. […]
That takes us to part three of the Tao of Steve. After you’ve eliminated your desire, and after you’ve been excellent in her presence, then you must retreat, okay? […]
I made a cheat sheet so I wouldn’t forget. “Be desireless, be excellent, and be gone.”
—The Tao of Steve

Edmond Haraucourt : « Partir, c’est mourir un peu. »
Louis Tiercelin : « Mourir, c’est partir un peu. »
Alphonse Allais : « Mourir, c’est partir beaucoup. »
Jacques Prévert : « Martyr, c’est pourrir un peu. »