Example Of A Brick

November 21, 2015 | A Word From the Desert

Two old men had lived together for many years and had never fought with one another. The first said to the other, 'Let us also have a fight like other men do.' The other replied, 'I do not know how to fight.'

The first said to him, 'Look, I will put a brick between us, and I will say it is mine, and you say, "No, it is mine", and so the fight will begin.'

So they put a brick between them and the first said, 'This brick is mine', and the other said, 'No, it is mine', and the first responded, 'if it is yours, take it and go.' So they gave it up without being able to find an occasion for argument.

Sayings of the Desert Fathers
Artwork: Phyllis Nicoll