From time to time, I come across something that impacts my perspective and worldview so profoundly that I feel compelled to share it with others.
It’s often something simple—a speech, story, or framework that causes me to pause and rethink the questions I’ve been asking and the way I’ve been living.
In particular, I have found great power in classic parables. A parable is broadly defined as a succinct story that illustrates one or more instructive lessons or principles. My view is that these parables have a sort of “Lindy effect” signaling, whereby their survival and re-telling across the generations is a signal of their usefulness and value. There are several that have become regular parts of my re-reading cycle whenever I need to refresh myself on their lessons.
I recently came across a beautiful, short parable that had this effect. In today’s piece, I’d like to share that story with you, as well as the two powerful lessons that I wrote down in my notebook to memorialize it.
The Farmer & the Horse
There was a farmer in a small village with a single horse who helped him earn a living for his family. The other villagers constantly told the farmer how lucky he was to have such a great horse.
”Maybe,” he would reply.
One day, the horse ran away. The villagers came to the farmer to express their sympathies.
”Your horse ran away. How unfortunate!“ the villagers exclaimed.
”Maybe,” the farmer replied.
A few days later, the horse returned home, with ten strong wild horses in tow.
”What good fortune. What incredible luck,” the villagers crowed.
”Maybe,” the farmer again replied.
The following week, the farmer’s son was riding one of the wild horses in the fields, when it kicked him off and broke his leg.
