The Parable of the Donkey and the Tiger
The Donkey said to the Tiger, “The grass is blue.”
The Tiger replied, “No, the grass is green.”
The discussion heated up and the two decided to go before the Lion, the King of the jungle.
The Donkey began to shout, “Your highness, is it true that the grass is blue?”
The Lion replied, “If you believe that it’s true, then the grass is blue.”
The Donkey continued, “The Tiger disagrees with me, contradicts and annoys me. Please punish him.”
The King declared, “The Tiger will be punished with five years of silence.”
The Donkey jumped cheerfully and went on his way.
The Tiger accepted his punishment, but before he left he asked the Lion, “Why have you punished me? After all, the grass is green.”
The Lion replied, “In fact, the grass is green.”
The Tiger asked, “So, why are you punishing me?”
The Lion replied, “That has nothing to do with the question of whether or not the grass is blue or green. The punishment is because it is not logical for an intelligent creature like you to waste time arguing with a donkey. And on top of that, come and bother me with a question like that.
The worst waste of time is arguing with the fool and fanatic who does not care about truth or reality, but only the victory of his beliefs and illusions.”
The moral of this story: There are people who, no matter how much evidence we present to them, are not in the capacity to understand and others are blinded by ego, hatred and resentment… and all they want is to be right, even if they are not.
One of the most basic principles of success is to maintain a high teachability index — that is to remain teachable and coachable.
You’ll find that the most successful people are always keeping their mind and ears open to improvement… but only from those that are more successful than them (in whatever aspect of life they are trying to improve in).
Don’t get caught in the trap of arguing with those committed to misunderstanding you.
Identify when this is happening and with whom, and then re-evalute your circle, if needed.
Keep rising,
GP
