19 Wasting Time


Wasting Time

A scholar asked a boatman to row him across the river. 

The journey was long and slow. 

The scholar began to become bored; the journey was taking so long. 

"Boatman," he said, "let's have a conversation." Suggesting a topic of special interest to himself, he asked, "Have you ever studied phonetics or grammar?"

"No," said the boatman, "I've no use for those tools."

"Too bad," said the scholar, "You've wasted half your life. It's useful to know the rules so that you can speak wise words correctly."

Later, as the rickety boat crashed into a rock in the middle of the river, the boatman turned to the scholar and said, "Pardon my humble mind that to you must seem dim, but, wise man, tell me, have you ever learned to swim?"

"No," said the scholar, "I've never learned. I've immersed myself in thinking, and wisdom."

"In that case," said the boatman, "you've wasted all your life. Alas, the boat is sinking."

There are times when all the things we think are so very important that we find that may not, in fact, be the case. 

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