Are you a wise man, or a fool?

It is said that the wise man listens, and sees his folly, but the fool hears, and sees only his wisdom.

The fool thinks he sees his folly. The wise man fears he sees a false reflection of himself as wise.

It is said that a man broke his leg, and took up crutches, and then the whole village took up crutches, and then everyone forgot how to walk without crutches. It is said that one day a boy threw down his crutches and cried "One does not need crutches to walk!" and promptly fell on his face.

The fool thinks he is the boy, brave champion of a truth he cannot yet prove. The wise man fears he may be a villager who scoffs at the boy he should heed.

It is said that a king dreamed of a statue with a head of gold, a chest of silver, a belly of bronze, legs of iron, and feet of iron mixed in clay, and that a stone shaped not by human hands broke the statue's feet and scattered the edifice to dust.

The fool thinks that he is the stone, shaped by greater forces to knock down the increasingly valueless structures of the world. The wise man fears he may be the statue that would be a precious thing if it were not solidly standing on a foundation that cannot withstand the truth.

It is said there was a farmer who planted an olive tree, but it would not bear fruit, so he grafted on some wild olive nearby that, while sparse, bore fruit, but his tree only bore fruit for a brief time, and so the gardener cut away the tree to a stump. Time passed, and he returned to the tree, and coaxed a small shoot out of the old, dry root, and he wondered if history would repeat itself.

The fool thinks he is the shoot, bright recreation of a patient gardener destined to bear good fruit. The wise man fears he may be the farmer, trying to grow tame trees in his own fatal image of order rather than learn from the greater order that has always known how to bear fruit.

It is said there was a landowner who hired men in the morning, and hired men in the evening, and when the work was done, he gave them each the same wage.

The fool thinks himself the worker, who will receive a full wage as long as he is hired before the end of the day. The wise man fears that he may be the landowner, who shall seldom find anyone to work for him all day when they could only work for the evening.

It is said that a man had a fig planted, but for three years it bore no fruit, so he told the gardener to cut it down and stop wasting the soil, but the gardener replied that it should be let alone for one more year, dug around and manured, and that it might then bear fruit, and if not it could be cut down.

The fool thinks himself the fig, ready with potential and soon to bear great fruit if given good soil. The wise man fears he may be the man without patience to see the fig bear fruit, who cuts down good trees before he knows their worth.