One miser had saved up five hundred thousand dinars and was already planning to live for a whole year without denying himself anything, before deciding what to invest the money in, when Death suddenly appeared in front of him and began to drag him along.
The man begged, begged, gave thousands of arguments so that Death would allow him to live a little longer, but she did not want to hear anything.
“Let me live at least three more days, and I will give you half of my wealth,” the man prayed.
Death did not seem to hear him and continued to drag him along.
- Well, okay, give me just one day, and I will give you everything that I have earned through backbreaking work over all these years.
Death was inexorable.
The man still managed to get himself only one small concession in time to write a note:
“To the finder of this note: if you have money for a decent life, do not waste time in the pursuit of wealth. Live! My five hundred thousand dinars did not help me buy even one hour of life!”
When a millionaire dies and people ask: “How much did he leave behind?”, the answer, of course, is almost always the same: “Everything!”
And sometimes he’s like, “He left nothing. He was just taken from his wealth.”
(Anthony de Mello)
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru