“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” Leonardo da Vinci. (Adopted by Steve Jobs)
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A Farmer visited his stables with his Lapdog, who danced about and licked the Farmer’s hand.
The Farmer, smiling, gave the Lapdog food, and the Lapdog jumped into his master’s arms, at which the Farmer stroked his ears.
An Ass, seeing this and desiring his master’s accolades, broke loose, prancing about on his hind quarters in imitation of the Lapdog. Then, the Ass went to the Farmer, and put his front hooves upon the Farmer’s shoulders and tried to climb into his lap.
Seeing this foolishness of the Ass trying to act like the Lapdog, the Farmer’s servants beat the Ass with sticks.
Moral of the Story: We are constrained to use our individual gifts and to understand our limitations. Context is everything.
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Introduction – The Essential Aesop – Epilogue
Related Articles: The Distinguished Napoleon – The Business of Aesop™ No. 2 – The Frog and the Ox; Self-Validation and Envy – No. 2. The Frog and the Ox – The Essential Aesop™ – Back to Basics Abridgment Series
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Why We Loved It: Such as Aesop taught us in The Distinguished Napoleon and The Frog and the Ox, we must have clarity of who we are as unique individuals. A great plan that cannot be implemented is not a great plan, as stated in Belling the Cat. Some people are more physically attractive, some have more charisma, some are older or younger, some have a better sense of humor, some have more money, etc., and each will thereby have a different unique “game” to play for certain precise contexts.
A relationship or grouping is a marriage of unique individual strengths and weaknesses, matching needs and desires. Strength in one context is a weakness in another context. Know thyself first, then know how to apply thyself to a context. Wisdom has the clarity of self and is not to fooled in the assessment of context. Fools misjudge themselves or the context into which they are to fit, or both.
In this fable, the Ass was too needy of his master’s validation. The Ass misinterpreted the context, tried too hard, forgot himself, and was ultimately beaten for it. Dogs do dogs things. Asses do asses things.
“Know thyself.” ~Socrates
“This above all: To thine own self be true.” ~William Shakespeare, Hamlet
“Weigh matters carefully, and think hardest about those that matter most. Fools are lost by not thinking. They never conceive even the half of things, and because they do not perceive either their advantages or their harm they do not apply any diligence. Some ponder things backward, paying much attention to what matters little, and little to what matters much. The wise weigh everything…” ~Baltasar Gracian. The Art of Worldly Wisdom
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© 2013 Arnold Zegarelli and Gregg Zegarelli, Esq. Gregg can be contacted through LinkedIn. Arnold Zegarelli can be contacted through Facebook.
http://www.linkedin.com/pulse/know-thyself-first-context-56-ass-lapdog-essential-zegarelli-esq-/
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