, he would answer,
"I'm looking for a place to stand, so that when the wind blows I may
stand and not fall."

Most people thought he was insane until a man who had lived long and
experienced much was overheard to say of him, "Only a few people are
as wise as this man, for he is engaged in the only search that
really matters."

Life

One day a man called his friend and invited him to lunch at his
office. "Just come on over and we'll have a great time," the
man said.

"Where is your office?" the friend asked.

"I'm not sure of the address," answered the man, "but it's somewhere
downtown, I think."

"Well," asked the friend, "what does the building look like?"

"It's tall, like an office building."

"What floor are you on?"

"I think it's one of the middle ones."

"How many doors down from the elevator?"

"Oh, it's several. But I've never really counted them."

"Don't wait for me," said the friend, as he hung up.

* This is not a story about a man who could not give directions to
his office. This is a story about the architecture of life. For
many people inhabit their own lives in just this way, not knowing
where they are or how to tell others how to reach them.

Discernment

"But compared to the pearls, this piece of string is worthless,"
said the man, as he pulled it from the necklace and lost his
whole treasure.

It Depends on How You Look at It: Eight Vignettes on Perspective

A man's house burned to the ground. Upon hearing of it, the man
said angrily, "This is the fault of oxygen!" For, as he explained,
if there hadn't been any oxygen in the atmosphere, his house never
would have burned.

* * *

When the boss called Smervits and Jenkins into the office, Jenkins
was very nervous because his plan to salvage the Freeble contract
had not worked. Smervits wasn't worried because he had shrewdly
stood by while Jenkins floundered with the contract.

"Jenkins, you failed," the boss said forcefully after the two men
had entered. "That's good," he added, "because it shows that you
tried something. Smervits, you didn't fail, but you didn't try
anything, either. You're fired."

* * *

One day the power went off in the mine, leaving the miners in
absolute darkness. One miner found a match and lit it. "What a
dinky little flame," said one of his companions, with contempt.

"What a great light in the darkness," said another, with awe.

* * *