The Story of The Taoist Farmer

“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.” -William Shakespeare

“All is opinion.” -Marcus Aurelius

Living in a digital age where everyone has strong opinions, its nice to remind yourself that no one ever really knows how things will turn out. With that being said, here is the story of the Taoist Farmer.

There is a Taoist story of an old farmer who had worked his crops for many years. One day his horse ran away. Upon hearing the news, his neighbors came to visit. “Such bad luck,” they said sympathetically.

“We’ll see,” the farmer replied.

The next morning the horse returned, bringing with it two other wild horses.

“How wonderful,” the neighbors exclaimed! “Not only did your horse return, but you received two more. What great fortune you have!”

“We’ll see,” answered the farmer.

The following day, his son tried to ride one of the untamed horses, was thrown, and broke his leg. The neighbors again came to offer their sympathy on his misfortune. “Now your son cannot help you with your farming,” they said. “What terrible luck you have!”

“We’ll see,” replied the old farmer.

The following week, military officials came to the village to conscript young men into the army. Seeing that the son’s leg was broken, they passed him by. The neighbors congratulated the farmer on how well things had turned out.

“We’ll see,” he said…

(I took this story from http://tao-how.blogspot.com/2011/02/well-see.html – out of the many variables of the story that I’ve read, this is my favorite)