MISERY

Quote for Today November 13,  2011

THE  MISER

A man had a large sum of gold coins, which he buried in the ground. Every day he came to the spot to dig it up and count the gold coins one by one. 


He made so many trips that a thief, who had been observing him, guessed what it was that the man had hidden. One night he quietly dug up the treasure and made off with it.


When the man discovered his loss, he was overcome with grief and despair. He groaned and cried and tore at his hair.


A neighbor, after hearing his complaint, said, "Do not grieve so much. Bury a stone in the same hole and imagine it to be the gold. It will serve you just as well, for when the gold was there you made no use of it."

Aesop [c. 550 B.C.]

Check Highlighted in Yellow, A short course in living wisely and choosing well, H. Jackson Brown, Jr. and Rochelle Pennington, page 86.