Short stories that contain philosophical lessons or allegorical meanings

Habit and Nature

A small pillar and a thin chain can tie an elephant weighing a thousand kilograms. Isn’t this absurd? But this ridiculous scene can be seen everywhere in India and Qin. Those mahouts, when the elephant was still a baby, tied it to a cement or steel pillar with an iron chain. No matter how hard the baby elephant struggled, it could not break free. The baby elephant gradually gets used to not struggling, and when it grows into an elephant and can easily break away from the chain, it does not struggle either.

The tiger tamer was as successful as the elephant tamer. He kept the tiger on a vegetarian diet until it grew up. Tigers don't know the taste of meat, so they won't hurt people. The fatal mistake of the tiger tamer was that after he fell, he let the tiger lick his blood on the ground. The tiger couldn't take it away and finally ate the tiger tamer.

Baby elephants are tied by chains, while elephants are tied by habits. The tiger was once bound by habit, and the tiger tamer died of habit (he has become accustomed to his tiger not eating people). Habits can tie up almost everything, but they can't tie up accidents. Like the tiger that accidentally tasted blood.

Leave a gap for others

A well-known entrepreneur was giving a report, and an audience member asked: "You have achieved great success in your career. What about you?" "What is the most important thing?"

The entrepreneur did not answer directly. He picked up the chalk and drew a circle on the blackboard, but it did not draw a circle completely, leaving a gap. He asked: "What is this?", "zero", "circle", "unfinished business", "success", and the audience in the audience answered in a variety of ways.

He did not comment on these answers: "Actually, this is just an incomplete end. You ask me why I have achieved brilliant results. The reason is simple: I don't do things perfectly. , Just like drawing a full stop, I must leave a gap for my subordinates to fill it.”

Leaving a gap for others does not mean that one is not strong. In fact, this is a kind of management wisdom, a kind of overall perfection at a higher level. Give a monkey a tree and let it climb; give a tiger a mountain and let it roam freely. Perhaps, this is the highest state of enterprise management and employment.

Horse

Horse, originally roamed freely in the mountains, drinking from the mountain spring when thirsty, and sleeping on the ground to bask in the sun when tired, carefree. But since the arrival of Bole, the horse's fate has changed. If you put a bridle on its head, put a saddle on its back, and tie it, the horse's mortality rate is already 23 out of 10, and then again Force it to transport things, force it to travel thousands of miles a day, and nail its feet with iron shoes, and the death rate of the horse will be more than half. The horse is originally an animal with no rules and no use. Let it absorb the essence of the sun and the moon, the aura of the heaven and the earth, and be useless and do nothing. You can still enjoy the whole life of the horse, educate it, and make it understand the etiquette, but it will harm its life.

Aren’t people like this? Under the constraints of rules, have we also lost our identity, followed the etiquette and justice set by others all day long, and forced ourselves to do things we don’t want to do? How much is left in our limited life?

The director is useless

There was a man from Lu who was good at weaving straw sandals, and his wife was good at weaving white silk. He wanted to move to Yue. The friend said to him: "You will definitely be poor when you go to Yue country." "Why?" "Straw sandals are used for walking, but Yue people are used to walking on their feet; white silk is used to make hats. But the people of Yue are accustomed to letting their hair hang loose. If you rely on your strengths to go to places where you are not needed, is it possible to avoid poverty? ”

This story tells people: a person must To use their expertise, they must meet the needs of the social environment. If it is separated from the needs of the social environment, its expertise will lose value. Therefore, we must decide our actions according to the needs of society and better utilize our expertise.

The mouse on the pagoda

A wandering mouse made a home on the top of the pagoda. Life in the pagoda is really happy. It can not only travel between the floors at will, but also enjoy rich offerings. It even enjoys privileges that others cannot imagine. It can chew the unknown secrets at will; it can rest freely on Buddha statues that people dare not look at. When it rises, it can even leave some excrement on the head of the Buddha statue. .

Whenever the faithful men and women burn incense and kowtow, this mouse always looks at the intoxicating smoke rising slowly. It sniffs fiercely and laughs secretly in its heart: "Ridiculous human beings, The knees are so soft, I just kneel down!”

One day, a very hungry wild cat broke in and caught the mouse. "You can't eat me! You should kneel down to me! I represent the Buddha!" ??protested the noble captive. "People kneel down to you, just because of the position you occupy, not because of you!" the wild cat sneered, and then it broke the mouse in half like a hamburger.

The Story of the Steel Glass Cup

A farmer only studied in junior high school for two years, and his family had no money to continue his education. He dropped out of school and returned home to help his father cultivate three acres of thin farmland. When he was 19 years old, his father passed away, and the burden of the family fell entirely on his shoulders. He had to take care of his mother, who was in poor health, and his grandmother, who was paralyzed in bed.

In the 1980s, farmland was contracted to households. He dug a puddle into a pond and wanted to raise fish. But the cadres in the township told him that paddy fields could not be used to raise fish, but could only grow crops, so he had to fill in the ponds. This incident became a joke. In the eyes of others, he was a very stupid person who wanted to get rich.

Hearing that raising chickens could make money, he borrowed 500 yuan from relatives and raised chickens. But after a flood, the chickens contracted chicken plague and all died within a few days. 500 yuan may not seem like much to others, but to a family that only relies on three acres of thin farmland, it is an astronomical figure. His mother could not handle this stimulation and died of depression.

He later made wine, fished, and even helped drill holes on the cliffs of the quarry...but he didn't make any money.

At the age of 35, he had not yet married a wife. Even divorced women with children look down on him. Because he only has a mud house, which may collapse at any time after a heavy rain. No one in the countryside looks down on a man who cannot marry a wife.

But he still wanted to give it a try, so he borrowed money from everywhere to buy a tractor. Unexpectedly, less than half a month after he started on the road, the tractor carried him into a river. He broke a leg and became a cripple. The tractor was picked up and was in pieces. He could only dismantle it and sell it as scrap metal.

Almost everyone said that his life was over.

But later he became the CEO of a company in the city where I am, with 200 million yuan in assets. Now, many people know about his troubled past and legendary entrepreneurial experience. He has been interviewed by many media and described in many reportages. But I only remember one episode -

The reporter asked him: In these difficult days, why did you never flinch again and again?

He sat behind the large and luxurious boss' desk and drank the glass of water in his hand. Then, he held the glass cup in his hand and asked the reporter: What will happen to this cup if I let go?

The reporter said: It fell to the ground and broke into pieces. Then let's try it. he said. As soon as he let go of his hand, the cup fell to the ground with a crisp sound, but it was not broken, but intact. He said: Even if there are 10 people present, they will all think that this cup will definitely break. However, this cup is not an ordinary glass, but made of fiberglass. So, I remembered this classic and wonderful conversation. Such a person, even if he has only one breath, will work hard to hold the hand of success, unless God deprives him of his life...

Opportunity

A works as a white-collar worker in a joint venture company , I feel that my ambition is not appreciated by my superiors, and I often think: It would be great if I could meet the boss one day and have the opportunity to show off my talents! !

A’s colleague B also had the same idea. He went a step further and asked about the boss’s commuting time and calculated when he would probably get into the elevator. He also went to take the elevator at this time, hoping that If you can meet the boss, you can say hello if you have the opportunity.

Their colleague C went a step further. He learned about the boss’s struggle in detail, found out the school where the boss graduated, his interpersonal style, and the issues he cared about. He carefully designed a few simple but meaningful opening remarks, took the elevator at the planned time, and said hello to the boss several times. Finally, I finally had a long talk with the boss one day, and soon I got a better position.

Fools miss opportunities, wise people seize opportunities, and successful people create opportunities. Opportunities only come to those who are prepared. The word preparation is not just talk.

Madmen and Idiots

A psychology professor visited a lunatic asylum to learn about the living conditions of madmen. At the end of the day, I felt that these people were crazy and acted unexpectedly, which was an eye-opener.

Unexpectedly, when I was about to return, I found that my tire had been removed. "Some lunatic must have done it!" the professor thought angrily, getting the spare tire ready to install.

The matter is serious. The person who took off the tire actually removed all the screws. There’s no way to get in without screws and even a spare tire!

The professor was at a loss. When he was extremely anxious, a madman jumped over and sang an unknown happy song. He spotted the professor in distress, stopped and asked what was going on.

The professor was too lazy to pay attention to him, but he still told him out of politeness.

The madman laughed and said: "I have a way!" He removed a screw from each tire, so that he got three screws to install the spare tire.

The professor was surprised and grateful, and was very curious: "How did you come up with this method?"

The madman laughed happily: "I am a madman, but I am not an idiot. Ah! ”

In fact, there are many people in the world who, because they have discovered the joy of work, will always show enthusiasm that is different from ordinary people, which is difficult to understand. While many people are laughing at them as lunatics, others may still be laughing at them as idiots.

Being dull and smart is a good attitude especially in China.