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How poor people live!
One day a father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to
the country with the firm purpose of showing his son how poor people
live.
They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be
considered a very poor family.
On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was
the trip?"
"It was great, Dad."
"Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked.
"Oh yeah," said the son.
"So, tell me, what did you learn from the trip?" asked the father.!
The son answered: "I saw that we have one dog and they had four.
We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have
a creek that has no end.
We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at
night.
Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon.
We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go
beyond our sight.
We have servants who serve us, but they serve others.
We buy our food, but they grow theirs.
We have walls around our property to protect us, they have friends to
protect them."
The boy's father was speechless.
Then his son added, "Thanks, Dad, for showing me how poor we are."
Isn't perspective a wonderful thing? Makes you wonder what would
happen if we all gave thanks for everything we have, instead of
worrying about what we don't have.
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This one is a bit wiser...for all those people who cannot talk face-to-face to resolve issues!
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The Test of Three
In ancient Greece, Socrates (469 - 399 BC) was widely lauded for his
wisdom.
One day the great philosopher came upon an acquaintance who ran up to
him excitedly and said, "Socrates, do you know what I just heard about
one of your students?"
"Wait a moment," Socrates replied. "Before you tell me I'd like you to
pass a little test. It's called the Test of Three."
"Three?"
"That's right, Socrates continued. "Before you talk to me about my
student let's take a moment to test what you're going to say. The first
test is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to
tell me is true?"
No," the man said, "actually I just heard about it." "All right," said
Socrates. "So you don't really know if it's true or not.
Now let's try the second test, the test of Goodness. Is what you are
about to tell me about my student something good?"
"No, on the contrary..."
"So," Socrates continued, "you want to tell me something bad about him
even though you're not certain it's true?"
The man shrugged, a little embarrassed.
Socrates continued. "You may still pass though, because there is a third
test - the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about my
student going to be useful to me?"
No, not really..."
"Well," concluded Socrates, "if what you want to tell me is neither True
nor Good nor even Useful, why tell it to me at all?"
The man was defeated and ashamed.
1 comment:
this test of 3 has failed in the work place according to another friend of mine! :) haha
but good read!
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