The Wise Man and The Young Man

There was once an old wise man who live on top of a mountain. (I don’t know why the wise men always like to stay on top of mountains.) Whenever the villagers had a problem, they would climb up the mountain and ask the old man for advice.
One day a young man decided to climb up and ask the old man a question.

Wise man,” he asked, “What makes a man truly great?”

The old man looked at him and said, “Do you sincerely want to know?”
“Yes, yes!” the young man replied the wise man.

“Well,” the wise old man said to him, “Let me tell you in the form of a story”

There was once a Greek man who suffered from a deadly disease. Knowing that he will die soon, he was the first to join the army when his country was in a battle with the enemy. Hoping to die in battle, he would fight in the front line, exposing himself without any worry for his life. Eventually they won the battle and he was still alive. His general was so impressed with his bravery which contributed much to the victory.

The general decided to promote him and award him with medals of bravery and honor. On the day of presentation, he was looking very down and sad. Curiously, the general asked him the reason why and was told of his deadly disease. “How could I let such a brave soldier die?”, the general thought. So the general hired the best physician and finally cured the soldier. But from that day onwards, the once valiant soldier was no longer seen at the front. He would always avoid danger and tries his best to avoid danger and protect his life.

Young man”, he wise man said, “if you want to be truly great, you must not be scared of dying, you must be daring.” Fear not that life shall come to an end, but rather fear that it shall never have a beginning.