Watching a program on tv tonight about a diamond cutter.  The host asked if it made him nervous to handle such expensive, delicate work.  His reply made me think of abstracting and I thought all the seasoned abstractors would get a chuckle out of it and the new abstractors could take heed.  He said:

"The first ten years in this field I was scared to death.  The second ten years, I felt like I was the best in my field.  The third ten years made me realize I should have still been scared to death the second ten years."