Thought 08JAN2010

YOU ARE JUDGED BY THE WAY YOU SPEAK
Once an old sage sat meditating under a banyan tree. He was blind. A man came up and said : "Hey! old man, did you hear anyone passing this way?" The sage replied, "No, my good man, I did not hear anyone." After a while another man went up to the old sage and asked, "Old man, did you hear anyone going this way?" The sage replied, "Oh yes, a man went by just now and he asked the same question." The man went away. After some time another man came and asked, "Noble sir, did you hear anyone passing this way?"

The old sage replied, "Yes, your Majesty. A soldier went first and then your Chief Minister. Both of them asked the same question." The man was surprised and asked, "Good sir, how do you know that I am a king and that the other two were a soldier and a Chief Minister?" The sage answered. "Your Majesty, I knew them by their manner of speaking. The first man spoke very rudely. The second man was a little more polite, but Your Majesty was the most polite." The king went away astonished at the sage's astuteness.
extracted from 'Management Thoughts' by Promod Batra, Golden Book Centre Sdn Bhd, reprinted 1995
El que nace para medio nunca llega a real / If you don't have what it takes you won't get on in the world - Spanish Proverb