But if there's been a consistent thread in the basketball life of Jeremy Lin, it's been people telling him he wasn't good enough, and Lin going out and proving his skeptics wrong.

WSJ: Jason Gay: Letting Jeremy Lin Walk May Be Sane, But It's Not Fun

The common thread: sports as a way of life.

FORBES: Ballpoint Perfume

After a year or two of quiet, the mammoth online savings account comment thread has come to life again.

FORBES: Best Savings Accounts for 2011

The common thread here is that penalizing individuals who work every day in pursuit of a better life and clipping the wings of those who have vision, take a risk, and create new industries does little to inspire the entrepreneurial spirit and promote job growth.

FORBES: High Taxes Upset The Apple Cart, And Angry Birds Force Change

For in the walking I discover a thread that runs through time, beyond the need of personal protest, connecting me to that life with Aunt Sadie and Uncle Luke on Chesapeake Bay.

NPR: Environmentalist John Francis, Walking the Walk

Nonetheless, for what it is worth, when your correspondent asked Ms Woolum and three of her local social-worker colleagues to share their life stories, those stories shared a common thread.

ECONOMIST: The poor