Which lion wins?

“You make the world a better place by making yourself a better person.”

- Scott Sorrell

Once upon a time, grandfather sat his grandson on his lap and told him a story, a true tale of life.

“There is a raging battle in the soul of every man. Not unlike the clash of two lions, this battle is fought in the soul of each and every one of us. One lion represents EVIL - rage, jealousy, envy, greed, arrogance, self-pity, sin, anger, inadequacy, deceit, false pride...

The other lion represents GOOD. He represents true joy – peace, harmony, love, hope, enjoyment, optimism, friendliness, kindness, warmth, generosity, truth and compassion.”

A righteous verdict

"Never let your sense of morals get in the way of doing what's right."

- Isaac Asimov

Once upon a time, a rich merchant lost a bag full of gold coins. Looking everywhere but not finding it, he finally hired a herald to walk around the city and tell everyone that he will reward the honest finder with 100 gold coins. Not long after the herald finished delivering the rich merchant’s message, a poor farmer showed up on a merchant’s doorstep.

“Here merchant, I believe that this is your lost bag of coins” he told the rich man. Filled with delight, rich merchant grabbed the bag and immediately started counting the coins. After he counted it all, he suddenly saddened, since he remembered that he had to give 100 coins to the farmer as promised. After some thought, he had an idea how to keep the coins and swindle the honest finder.

“I see that you have already taken your 100 coins my good man,” he told the farmer “There were 800 gold coins in this bag and now there are only 700. You have done well. Thank you!”

Poor farmer was very surprised to hear this, more hurt by the lie than not getting the promised reward. He started swearing that he never even opened the bag and that the brought it as he found it. Unfortunately, the rich merchant insisted that there were 800 coins in the bag and now only 700. Not being able to reach an agreement, they went to the city judge, each one hoping to receive favorable verdict.

Echo as life

“Civility costs nothing and buys everything.” 

- Lady Mary Wortley Montagu

Once upon a time, a man and his son were walking in the forest. Suddenly the boy tripped and screamed, "Ahhhhh." Surprised, he heard a voice coming from the mountain, "Ahhhhh!"

Filled with curiosity, he yelled "Who are you?", but the only answer he received was: "Who are you?"

This made him rather angry, so he screamed "You are a coward!" and the voice answered: "You are a coward!"

The boy looked at his father and asked, "Dad, what is going on?" "Son," the man replied, "pay attention!" 

Then he yelled, "I admire you!" 

The voice answered: "I admire you!" 

The father shouted, "You are wonderful!", and the voice answered: "You are wonderful!"

The boy stood surprised, still not understanding what is going on.

True Friend and a Friend

“What is a friend? A single soul in two bodies.” 

- Aristotle

A friend will tell you what is new in their life.
True friend will ask "What is happening in your life?"

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A friend thinks that your troubles are new.
True friend says: "You have been grumbling about that for years. Make a move and do something about it!"

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A friend has never seen you cry.
True friend has shoulders soggy from your tears.

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A friend doesn't know your parents' first names.
True friend has their phone numbers in his address book.

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A friend brings a ready meal to your party.
True friend comes early to help you cook and stays late to help you clean.

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A friend hates it when you call after they've gone to bed.
True friend asks you "What prevented you from calling me earlier?"

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A friend will talk with you about your problems.
True friend wishes to help you with your problems.

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A friend, when visiting, acts like a guest.
True friend opens your refrigerator and helps himself.

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A friend thinks the friendship is over when you have an argument.
True friend knows that real friendship is just beginning after you've had a fight.

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A friend expects you to always be there for them.
True friend is always there for you.

It’s now or never

"Avoiding the phrase “I don’t have time...”, will soon help you to realize that you do have the time needed for just about anything you choose to accomplish in life." 

- Bo Bennett

Once upon a time, a man stopped at a flower shop to order flowers to send to his mother who lived in a city two hundred miles away. 

As he got out of his car he noticed a young girl sitting on the curb sobbing.

“What’s wrong?” he asked her and she replied, "I wanted to buy a red rose for my mother. But I only have seventy-five cents, and one red rose costs two dollars."

The man smiled and said, "Come on in with me. We'll buy you a rose for your mother."

He bought the little girl her rose and ordered flowers to be sent to his own mother. As they were leaving the flower shop, he offered little girl a ride home. 

This too shall pass

"Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn."
- Harriet Beecher Stowe

Once upon a time, in a faraway Chinese province, lived a poor scribe who lived with his only and very much loved son. He was so poor, that the only inheritance he could leave to his son was knowledge of calligraphy.

Then, one day, it came time for the poor scribe to depart this valley of tears. Before he passed away, he gave his son two small boxes, one white and one black. “Alas, I have nothing to leave to you except this. Please, my son, remember and keep them always with you. When one day, you are in terrible sorrow, and it seems that life is not worth living anymore, open the black box. White one you keep, and open it when you think that you are the luckiest man on earth.” Saying this, the old man died and the son was left weeping, holding one black and one white box.

As he was now alone, young man went from job to job, often forced to work hard and long, just for daily bread. He wandered from province to province, slept hungry in forests, without any opportunity to find his place under the sun. One morning, he woke up feeling pain from hard work in all his joints and started weeping. “This is the end; I can’t live like this anymore” he thought. Suddenly, as he remembered his fathers dying words, he reached in this bag and with his trembling hands, opened the black box.

Keeping love alive

You know very well that love is, above all, the gift of oneself!

- Jean Anouilh

Once upon a time, a mother and her son were walking along the beach. Suddenly, the boy asked: "Mom, how do you keep love alive?"

The mother looked at her son and replied, "Take some sand in your hand and squeeze it as hard as you can." The boy did as instructed, but the harder he squeezed the sand, the faster it escaped his hand, running through his fingers. "But like this the sands falls out." complained the boy.

"Yes," said the mother. "Now, open your hand wide." The boy opened his hand and the wind blew away all the remaining sand. "I can't keep it in my hand that way either!"

Black door of fear

"If you listen to your fears, you will die never knowing what a great person you might have been."

- Robert H. Schuller

Once upon a time, a terrible and ruthless king waged war on neighboring kingdoms. During war, all captured spies were treated the same. Any captured spy was sentenced to death, but the king had fallen upon a strange custom. He permitted the condemned spy to make a choice. He could either face a firing squad or pass through the big black door covered in engravings of gruesome scenes of torture.

As the moment of execution drew near, the king ordered the spy brought before him for a short, final interview, the primary purpose of which was to receive the answer to his query. "You can choose, either you will die by the arrows of the firing squad, or ... you can pass through those big black door and never have a chance to walk back. Which shall it be?"

Survival lesson

"Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all."

- Dale Carnegi

Once upon a time, on a hot summer day a farmer’s donkey fell down a deep well. For hours on end, the poor animal cried out in distress as the farmer tried to imagine a way to get the donkey out. Finally he determined, since the poor donkey was really rather old and not worth saving, besides, he decided to use this accident to his advantage by covering over the well.

Thus, he invited all of his neighbors over to help him cover the well and put the old donkey out of its misery.  Courteously, the other farmers dropped by, grabbed shovels and began to scoop dirt down into the well.

The donkey realized what was happening and cried out wretchedly in despair.  After some time, he quickly quieted down and, much to their amazement, looked up at them almost calculatingly. A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well and was amazed at what he saw. With every shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing something incredible. He would simply shake it off, and climbed on top of the falling dirt.

Rock, Pebbles and Sand

"People are lonely because they build walls instead of bridges." 

-  Joseph F. Newton

Once upon a time, a philosophy professor stood before his class placing down some items on the table in front of him.

When the class began, wordlessly he picked up a very large and empty glass jar and proceeded to fill it with large rocks. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They all agreed that it was, since no more space for rocks remained inside.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the glass jar. He shook the jar lightly and the pebbles rolled into the open areas between the rocks. He once again asked the students if the jar was full. Again, they all agreed it was.

Lastly, the professor picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up every open area in the jar. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with a thunderous "Yes."

"Now," said the professor, "I want you to imagine that this glass jar represents your entire life. The rocks within are the most important things - your family, your partner, your children, your health - things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full.”