an optimistic and determined mental attitude taht helps one to achieve success in any kind of undertaking

Charles believes in the Platonic ideal of a healthy mind in a healthy body, plenty of exercise, self-help and positive thinking.  BNCI

 Positive thinking will have to wait a while, but it augurs well for one of the young ringsiders who turned up in his smartest suit and said: `;What a disgusting fight; I wish I'd worn my tracksuit.';  BNCI

It was perhaps because of this, and because I tried to foster the whole idea of positive thinking, that I began to concentrate more and more on visualization.  BNCI

no amount of instructions can make a poet of anyone not naturally gifted to be one

Poets are born, not made; that's why there are so many of them.  Google

Iain says that poets are born, not made, and
he did not think of his own talent as anything unusual.  Google

 'Poets are born, not made—yet they have to survive the often
bitter rites of passage so as to have that life they are given. Google

act strictly according to the rules

Every scrap of understanding you can glean about the dynamics of bereavement will, of course, be valuable; but never try simply to `;play it by the book'; --; this or any other, for in the long run it will be the way you use your heart, not your head, that will count most.  BNCI

Matt is not only extremely attracted to Danielle, but also finds himself letting
go of his play-it-by-the-book life and cutting loose by following her lead  Google

But inspectors patrol at random; so play it by the book
and buy a ticket before boarding. Google

telling the truth, expressing one´s opinion on sth

 I know I'm speaking plain, but this is a time for plain speaking.  BNCI

He stood still as he recalled her plain speaking, and, his head hanging, he experienced a mixture of relief and a feeling that was most akin to shame.  BNCI

This was a moment not for fairness but for plain speaking.  BNCI

a simple and moderate way of life (materially), combined with great interest and activity in intellectual and spiritual matters

Benn is too much a product of his comfortable and intensely high-minded background to be able to understand why the common man (let alone the common politician) has more vulgar aspirations than plain living and high thinking.  BNCI

The salons of those ladies who were devoted to republican ideals (and quite often, one could add, to the person of individual republicans) were careful to maintain a reputation for plain living and high thinking.  BNCI

The chief error of these people is to be found in the very phrase to which they are
most attached--"plain living and high thinking. Gooogle

a novel, film, play that repdoduces the activities, life-styles and manners of a previous era

 More than a period piece --; it dates from 1924 --; it may throw light on the view of marriage that led to Humanae Vitae .  BNCI

While it may not fall within the same category as Dances with Wolves as an illustration of a time and people grossly misrepresented, it is a period piece of some strength and charm which just falls short of the epithet epic.  BNCI

'To recreate a period piece in Delhi was a heroic task. Google

economical in small things but extravagant in larger

Articles Penny Wise, Pound Foolish. How often have we heard this old
axiom?, probably thousands of times. Google

Piece pricing is penny wise, pound foolish. Google

Penny wise, pound foolish Saving dollars, yet spending millions.
Every government entity, regardless of size, has budget issues.  Google

(weekly) paper or a crude, sensational kind aimed on older children

We're the Penny Dreadful Players, a completely
student-run theatre organization at the University of Illinois. Google

The Penny Dreadful Players have gone on to become
UIUC's oldest student theatre company.  Google

The Penny Dreadful is a newspaper specifically published during the Fylde Folk Festival
to give the festival-goers a chance to publish jokes. Google

a written description

As an important element of the initial application process for
the role of External Adviser every candidate must complete a pen portrait.  Google

Clearly there are 16 possible types, and most profiling systems offer a pen-portrait
of each one.  Google

I take about an hour to read your palm in detail, and I
can send you a pen portrait if you wish by email or post.  Google

be too difficult for sb to understand or accept

Indeed, it passes his comprehension that in this age of enlightened reason, of wide travel and comparative study. Google

The problem of British taciturnity passed his comprehension;  Google

Yes, he himself was a doctor by profession, and how any one in England
could retain any nervous disorder passed his comprehension. Google

statesmen, writers,..., direct and control world and human affairs

 "The pen is mightier than the sword" - English novelist and dramatist
Edward George Earle Lytton Bulwer-Lytton (1803–1873). Google

It's true that the pen is mightier than the sword. Google

The phrase 'The pen is mightier than the sword', has
become a universal expression of the power of the written word. Google

an account of sth that is totally untrue

Democrats would have you believe a pack of lies. Google

Former minister Neil Hamilton has told the High Court that allegations about him
taking cash for asking questions in the House of Commons are a "pack of lies".  Google

You can't just write a pack of lies!' Google

lie beyond the range of the human mind

Peace I give which will pass all understanding and shall keep your heart and mind. Google

 But what of the peace and love that pass all understanding? Google

The ways of this wizard pass all understanding (including methinks his own).  Google

a person occupying the same, or a very similar, position as oneself

But, in the marketplace, one's opposite number is a person, not a parrot.  Google

It was necessary to know and
understand one's opposite number. Google

One of the essential ingredients of a business is not to disclose all of
one's cards at the same time, particularly to one's opposite number. Google

qustionable, arguable, uncertain

In academia, anything
is properly open to question, including the questioner.  Google

 We have now started our own venture called 'Open to
Question' which is a shorter course but with similar aims. Google

Depth of reasoning is open to question. Google