A Parable about LBYM

Ed_The_Gypsy

Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
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I followed a link here to JLCOLLINSNH web site and found this, his first post:
The Monk and the Minister

The Monk and the Minister
By JLCOLLINSNH | Published: JUNE 2, 2011
OK, let’s get this blog off and running. Here’s one of my favorite parables to get us started:

Two close boyhood friends grow up and go their separate ways. One becomes a humble monk, the other a rich and powerful minister to the king.

Years later they meet. As they catch up, the minister (in his fine robes) takes pity on the thin, shabby monk. Seeking to help, he says:

“You know, if you could learn to cater to the king you wouldn’t have to live on rice and beans.”

To which the monk replies:

“If you could learn to live on rice and beans you wouldn’t have to cater to the king.”

Most all of us fall somewhere between the two. As for me, it is better to be closer to the monk.

Something I wish I had realized when I was younger.

Gypsy
 
Great story. Here is another LBYM story, and how often the dream is already within reach...


The Parable of the Mexican Fisherman

An American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The Mexican replied, “Only a little while. The American then asked why didn’t he stay out longer and catch more fish? The Mexican said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs. The American then asked, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”

The Mexican fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siestas with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine, and play guitar with my amigos. I have a full and busy life.”

The American scoffed, “I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing, and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually New York City, where you will run your expanding enterprise.”

The Mexican fisherman asked, “But, how long will this all take?”

To which the American replied, “15 – 20 years.”

“But what then?” Asked the Mexican.

The American laughed and said, “That’s the best part. When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions!”

“Millions – then what?”

The American said, “Then you would retire. Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siestas with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.”
 
I don't like to fish so I'm glad I made enough money to pay someone else to fish for me. And it's even cheaper to eat fish on the beach in Mexico than it is here at home. :)
 
This approach is totally unacceptable - what if everybody did it? No, what we need is a whole bunch of A type nose to the grindstone folks to really get the wheels of commerce and industry turning so that the B type folks who generally save and invest wisely can enjoy the fruits of the labor of the A types...
 
This approach is totally unacceptable - what if everybody did it? No, what we need is a whole bunch of A type nose to the grindstone folks to really get the wheels of commerce and industry turning so that the B type folks who generally save and invest wisely can enjoy the fruits of the labor of the A types...
Hurray for consumerism! :dance:
 
This approach is totally unacceptable - what if everybody did it? No, what we need is a whole bunch of A type nose to the grindstone folks to really get the wheels of commerce and industry turning so that the B type folks who generally save and invest wisely can enjoy the fruits of the labor of the A types...

Now that you put it that way, of course I agree. Someone has to pay for my SS loophole benefits. :D
 
I'm not sure where Anthony DeMello found it, but I heard (& read) this parable with different personae, namely Diogenes is the role of "monk":

“The philosopher Diogenes was eating bread and lentils for supper. He was seen by the philosopher Aristippus, who lived comfortably by flattering the king. Said Aristippus, 'If you would learn to be subservient to the king you would not have to live on lentils.'

Said Diogenes, 'Learn to live on lentils and you will not have to be subservient to the king".”
 
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