No anecdote, today. Instead, a work of pure fiction.
A young man travelled the circumference of the world, from pole to pole and culture to culture, but returned home with a sense of discontent. Days passed and restless nights spent themselves idly by while the young man agonized over the source of his unease. Eventually, swallowing a pride honed by years of journeying and learning all there was to learn, he visited the local wise man.
While the young man felt himself worldly and wise beyond his young years, he was at a loss for how to fill his longing for that which he could not yet define. With a plea, he said to the wise man,
“Oh, wise man, I have gazed at stars so old and faint no civilization has ever laid eyes upon them; I have drank from streams so remote and forgotten no man has ever sipped; I have made my mind a bridge between every nation, tribe and mythos this world knows or has ever known; I have made the wisest men and women of the world envious of my effortless understanding and grand application; yet for it all, still I feel a sense of emptiness. I cannot sleep, I cannot distract myself, and I cannot fathom why. Please, help me!”
The wise man listened to the youth, and when his plight was known, the wise man nodded once, and said,
“You cannot sleep because you have lived all there is to dream; you cannot distract yourself because you have spent every diversion in your search for focus; you cannot fathom why because you do not believe there to be a reason which yet eludes you.”
The youth looked worried, and hurriedly asks,
“Please, what can I do?”
The wise man narrowed his eyes and looked hard at the youth before speaking,
“You know all there is to know, do you not? How can you not know this?”
Feeling his pride wounded, the young man bristled,
“I know enough to see through your ploy; you wish to rile me. To prove against my claims of omniscience. You seek to debase my accomplishments in hope of proving to me that, though I have the wisdom of the world, I am still unequal to your own ‘sage advice.’ I know that you stall because you do not know, either.”
At this, the wise man smiled,
“Do you also know that you failed to answer my question?”
The young man merely glowered, and so the wise man continued,
“A man can spend his entire life plying a trade in an effort to become the greatest there ever was at what he does. That same man can create a masterpiece forever etched in the echoes of history. That same man can lay down his tools and never work again, so grand is the fame and fortune his work has wrought, and that same man will do just that. In so, he becomes the greatest fool.”
The young man casts a suspicious glance at the wise man,
“How is he the fool for taking a lifetime to build up to a monumental creation such as that? He achieves personal happiness, a lasting legacy, and something which inspires and emboldens. Where is the foolishness in that?”
Shaking his head, the wise man continued,
“You look, but you do not see. Let us take a woman, then. She is as beautiful as she is kind, and she falls in love with a noble man worthy of her affections. Thirty years pass; marriage and children, then grandchildren, but an illness claims the love of her life. She loved as though it would never hurt, and cherishes every moment spent with her beloved. Out of respect for the vows and the memories still strong within her heart, she swears never to love again, for so powerful is her devotion to her late husband. In so, she has become the greatest fool. Now do you understand?”
The young man seemed puzzled for a moment, but then nodded,
“You aim to say that the pursuit of happiness, even its attainment, is but a fleeting fulfillment?”
The wise man looks away for a moment, then focuses again on the young man,
“Yes and no. The man created something grand that would long outlive him, but where is the wisdom in striving for something so great, achieving it, then living out a docile life left chasing an echo of former glory? The woman loved as fiercely and loyally as any fairy-tale romance, but where is the wisdom in striving for a love so true, achieving it, then living a loveless life left chasing the embers of a former flame? The man, the woman, even you, are all afflicted by the same burden of greatness. You have obtained all you ever wanted in life, yet one trouble remains...”
Once the young man realized the wise man was not going to finish on his own, he prompted him,
“Yes? What trouble is that?”
The wise man stirred,
“You have obtained all you ever wanted in life, yet one trouble remains, and that trouble is that you still live.”
The young man’s confusion was plain,
“I do not understand.”
The old man held his hands together to form a point, and explained,
“You have climbed the highest mountain in the world and stared unblinking at the very face of heaven. What comes next?”
Understanding dawns on the young man,
“Nothing; nothing, save a wretched fall.”
Nodding, the wise man continues,
“The pride the man felt, the love the woman shared, the wisdom you have obtained; such joys are fleeting. The strange truth is that, contrary to what most hold to reason, we are not defined by our accomplishments; it is the other way around. The man who created the masterpiece is not immortal; his name is forever associated with his creation, but it is his creation which is famous, revered and written about. The woman’s marriage did not survive her husband’s death, and she found no romantic fulfillment from an empty bed and a grief-governed heart. Her devotion is forever associated with her love, but it is a ghost she keeps vigilance over; she might as well be dead along with her husband. It is not enough to accomplish something great...”
The young man finished the thought,
“...we must continually strive for greatness.”
The wise man smiled,
“Living things grow, and growth ends where complacency begins. If you are a master craftsman, do not stop crafting. If you are an ardent lover, do not stop loving, if you are a wise man, do not stop learning. The world passes over those who stand still.”
The young man then brought up a small hole in the wise man’s logic,
“Ah, but in your example, the woman DID continue to love.”
The wise man shook his head,
“You cannot love a memory; it has only the strength you give it. You can cherish it, you can love the source of that memory, but such a love is a shadow of the love which bore it, hence. Honorable to hold on to a loved one, so, even beyond death, but foolish to waste a kind and loving heart to memory and neglect.”
Smiling, the young man said,
“Thank you, wise man. You have given me much to think about.”
Grinning, the wise man chuckled,
“Now that you have something you wish to think on, you will find it that much easier to become distracted. Now that you have something to keep you awake, you will find it that much easier to sleep. Now that you have something to learn, you will find it that much easier to understand. Always remember, young man, the only time you should focus on what you have done is when you are dead. While you are alive, pay more attention to what you are doing, for it is in the moment that happiness is lost and won.”
The young man nodded seriously,
“I will always remember.”
The wise man said grimly,
“Then you have a reason to forget, and with it, a reason to live.”
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