Opus 2011-47, Immortal Quotes: “Give a man a fish,...”

The way I heard it originally was “Give a man a fish, you feed him for today.  Teach a man to fish and you feed him for the rest of his life.”  There are other variations.  Trying to track it down has many sources saying it is a “Chinese proverb.”  Of course everything seems to go back to the Chinese from bicycles to fishing.  One source specifies Lao Tzu as the original.  Another says it is an Indian proverb. 

It is one of the hardest thing for some people to learn.  Sometimes helping people does not help them.  Often if makes them weaker by making them dependent.  At school the kids often get upset because I won’t give them answers they can find themselves.  They have a million ways of trying to trick me and I can only conclude because they try so hard that in the past the tricks have worked.  Teachers love to be helpers but the warm fuzzy way is not always the best for the student. 

I have been told that Alcoholics Anonymous have a term for this kind of person:  Enablers.  They are people who protect the alcoholic and shield them from having to face the reality of their situation.  They can keep recovery from happening.  We all could use that lesson.

Teach people to fish.  Demonstrate and transfer the skills necessary for life.  Do not do the fishing for them.  It may feel good to you, it is disaster to them.

homo unius libri