Greg Hoffman, one of Nevada's movers and shakers, rings the bells for the Salvation Army, one of the many charitable activities he is involved in.

I occasionally watch Blue Collar Television, I enjoy Jeff Foxworthy's humor although I'm not too fond of the other comedians that appear regularly. I noticed a segment they did where they all lead off a sentence with the phrase 'I believe'. It was always something like "I believe beauty is only skin deep; but ugly goes all the way to the bone."

My 'I believes' may not be humorous but they aren't meant to be. They also aren't original, I've found that a lot of the things are universal truths, it doesn't matter who you are or where you come from some things don't change.

I believe it is better to light a candle than curse the darkness. After years of stumbling around in the dark and stubbing my toes if I get up to go to the bathroom I now keep a small AA flashlight on the table by my bed. It helps me avoid the pain in my toe and lets me get back to sleep more quickly.

I believe it is better to tell the truth than to lie. Yes, I lie -- quite a bit actually -- and apparently all of you do also. A recent survey found that on average people lie at least four or five times a day. The vast majority of these are the social lubrication kind of lie where a person tries to avoid offending another person needlessly.

I don't worry about that kind of lie. I'd hate to imagine the world where no one told a social lie. There's a reason it's called brutal honesty.

No, the lies I'm talking about are the venal, self-serving lies that people use to further more sinister ends than avoiding offense. The lie the used car salesman tells when trying to unload a lemon on an unsuspecting buyer, the lie scammers tell to fool people into revealing their bank account numbers so the scammers can rip them off.

Other kinds of lies are those where a person seeks to avoid owning up to an error. You might get by with something but guilt usually taints such escapes. I've found that I'm better off to admit the mistake and get it over with, that way I'm not kept up at night worrying about it.

I believe it is better to give than to receive. I know it sounds trite but it really works out that way. I've been fortunate to receive many gifts in my life and I appreciate them. To tell the truth though I don't remember a lot of them. I remember as a child receiving a plastic rocket you filled with water then pumped air into that would shoot up 20 or 30 feet into the air when released. It was the absolute neatest gift I had received up to that point. There are other gifts I remember getting over the years but the gifts I really remember are the ones I gave other people.

When I was a kid I used to walk past a gift shop that had a lot of great stuff. I saw a candy dish there that I thought my mom would really like but it was way more expensive than I could afford even if I saved my allowance for a month or more. I went out and collected glass pop bottles for the two cents you got for returning them to the store. It took me several weeks and I don't know how many trips to the store with my wagon filled with pop bottles but I finally made enough to buy the candy dish. I still recall how eagerly I anticipated my mother's birthday that year, I'm sure more than I anticipated my own. I was so proud that I got her something so pretty and I had a real sense of accomplishment that I did it on my own.

I believe there is no limit to what you can accomplish if you don't care who gets credit. It's nice to be recognized for your efforts but if something is truly worth accomplishing then sometimes you have to ask yourself if getting credit is worth alienating someone whose assistance is necessary to success. I've noticed that those who get the most done around Nevada are the ones who most self-depreciating. They avoid publicity and always suggest others step forward to accept the accolades.

There are other things I believe in but I believe I will hold them for a future post.