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"There isn't a client in the world who isn't in love with their business," business broker Wayne Lee says in the story on Page 15 of this issue. "Our job is to educate them that others don't see that baby as beautiful as they do."

That quote reminded us of others in the not too distant past.

Tommy May, CEO of Simmons First National Corp., said in last week's Exec Q&A feature that Simmons' pace of acquisitions had slowed just before the recession because of  "seller price expectations being too high during 2006 and 2007."

Last summer, in an interview about his estate sale, Bill Carlton said, "Everybody thinks their stuff is worth a lot. It's like selling a business" - and he's the guy who sold Carlton-Bates Co. for $250 million.

We've often noted that retailers always predict a record-shattering holiday season and then seem disappointed when it's merely a little bit better than the previous year. And don't get us started on real estate agents, for whom it is always a great time to buy a house, and real estate developers, who see pent-up demand for subdivisions or retail space or office space or condominiums, especially downtown condos, behind every tree.

For journalists who, it's probably needless to say, don't generally see the world that way, the eternal sunshine of the business mind is a fascinating, sometimes humorous, sometimes terrifying and, ultimately, inspirational phenomenon to observe. Anyone who sizes up a deal, like any of the dozens on this week's list of the biggest deals of 2011, and takes the plunge is making an optimistic bet on the future.

We salute these brave and optimistic risk-takers who make the business world go around.