OK, I accept all of that, it is what I was taught too.
BUT- Balance your pencil on a level surface.
It will be statically stable because its C of G is directly over its base. Now try and balance the pencil with its C of G NOT over its base,(not vertically)Wieght is not uniformly exterted on the pencil's base. Of course, it will fall over every time you let it go. It is statically unstable.This is because the C of G has been moved forward.