Wow.. the last thing I expected y'all to get humanistic about was ugly women.

As far as philosophy, you need some rigorous state of mind or you end up in hipster territory.

Diet of Grapes



Once upon a time, in the days of long ago, there was a wise and powerful prince, who lived within a walled estate. His palace was surrounded by orchards and gardens, and he was generally thought, because he did not explain his actions, to be uncaring of the people's interests, and neglectful of his duty to strive to improve himself. Those people who were considered wise were unable to understand him, and spoke against him. Those who knew little about him thought that he was bereft of qualities. Those who wished to curry favour praised him; but since such people are generally superficialists, this did not extend his repute far.

Now the territory in which this prince lived was, as is the way of life, attacked by barbarians, who successively reduced the neighbouring principalities until they were fast approaching his own. Time and again the prince sent messages to the other rulers, asking them to ally themselves with him against the invaders, but such was their arrogance, their ignorance of him, or their other tendencies that they took no heed.

This behaviour on the part of his neighbours did not seem to distress the prince. All he said was, 'The burden of wisdom is almost too much to bear. I have, as a truthful man, been forced to tell them that I have to be their leader if the war is to be won in co-operation with them. Naturally they will not accept such a condition. Therefore the only option is to wait until the Second Stage.'

The barbarians continued to advance, until those who had been opposing them, in ever-increasing numbers, fell back upon the domain of our prince to make a last stand. They were the remnants of the knights and soldiers of every one of the vanquished princes.

Thus it was that one day when the prince was resting, his minister approached him and said: 'We have been unable to prevent the remnants of the defending armies from climbing the walls of the Domain, in their flight. They are now huddled in the vineyards, covered in mud and blood, in the last stages of exhaustion.'

The prince raised his head. 'And what else?' he asked.

'And,' continued the minister, 'they are too exhausted even to eat or to attend to their wounds. They are now lying fast asleep, like dead men, while the enemy masses without.'

'Very well,' said the prince, 'now you have made your report, you may withdraw. Return to me the day after tomorrow, to describe conditions then.'

The minister, though knowing that his master was possessed of wisdom, wondered why the prince did not take some action to defend the domain, but, like a good servant, made his salutation and withdrew.

Two days later he again approached the prince and said: 'Lord of Princeliness I have come as instructed.'

'Give me your report,' answered the prince.

 'The exhausted warriors,' said the minister, 'have now slept for two days.'
     
'And what are they doing?' the prince asked.
     
'They are now so famished that they are devouring grass, leaves and raw grapes.'
     
'Very good,' said the prince. 'Return in a further day and give me an account of conditions.'
     
The next day the minister announced: 'High Presence! The lords, warriors and ordinary people who fled to our domain are now eating the ripe grapes, having restored themselves somewhat.'
     
'Continue your report tomorrow, at midday,' said his master.
     
The day after, the minister said, 'The refugees are now selecting the best grapes and eating them'.
     
'Excellent,' said the prince. 'Now call them to me, and I shall prepare them for the victory against the barbarians, for they are ready. Before this, they were in no condition to struggle, and had to get what nutrition they could from us. If we leave it any later, they will be so sated that they will start to argue among themselves, and will not listen to us. Prepare for victory!'

And that is the tale of the wise prince whose actions nobody understood. When the final battle came, and the barbarians were slaughtered, the victorious army fell out with one another. Returning to their own lands, their historians wrote conflicting accounts of what had passed.

All accounts had this in common: they misunderstood the prince.



Reposted from hermes-press.com