Words to live by

An effective quote from The Charlotte Observer's obituary of Don Knotts, who died Friday at the age of 81. (The story was syndicated and picked up by The Miami Herald.) A wonderful comic actor, Knotts played Deputy Barney Fife to Andy Griffith's Sheriff Andy Taylor of the fictional Mayberry, N.C. Look at the way staff writer Mark Washburn of The Observer sets it up:

"Originally, I was supposed to be funny," Griffith recalled in a 2003 interview with the Observer. "I noticed on the second episode that Don was funny and I should be straight. That set it up, and I played straight to the rest."

Griffith added that he never regretted making that adjustment. "The straight man has the best part," he said. "He gets to be in the show and see it, too."

Sheriff Taylor and Barney Fife couldn't have done a better job of setting up the quote.