I can't swim, so when the cigar goes out, I know I'm getting out of my depth." To illustrate, he lit the cigar, walked into the lake until the water reached the level of his mouth, then returned to the dry land, the cigar extinguished. "There, now," he said triumphantly, "if it hadn't been for the cigar, I would have drowned.

Bartlett's Book of Anecdotes

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