Food (or Fish) For Thought
Source unknown. Found in the foreword to Amy Tan's Saving Fish From Drowning.
A pious man explained to his followers: "It is evil to take lives, and noble to save them. Each day I pledge to save a hundred lives. I drop my net into the lake and scoop out a hundred fishes. I place the fishes on the bank, where they flop and twirl. "Don't be scared," I tell those fishes. "I am saving you from drowning." Soon the fishes grow calm and lie still. Yet, I am sad to say, I am always too late. The fishes expire. And because it is evil to waste anything, I take those dead fishes to the market and I sell them for a good price. With the money I receive, I buy more nets so I can save more fishes.
A pious man explained to his followers: "It is evil to take lives, and noble to save them. Each day I pledge to save a hundred lives. I drop my net into the lake and scoop out a hundred fishes. I place the fishes on the bank, where they flop and twirl. "Don't be scared," I tell those fishes. "I am saving you from drowning." Soon the fishes grow calm and lie still. Yet, I am sad to say, I am always too late. The fishes expire. And because it is evil to waste anything, I take those dead fishes to the market and I sell them for a good price. With the money I receive, I buy more nets so I can save more fishes.