One sage in China devoted a half of his life to learning
how to fight dragons.
When he became sufficiently sophisticated in this art,
he began wandering all over the country in order to meet a dragon and slay it. But
no matter where he looked, he couldn't find a dragon to slay. Decades passed, but
he did not meet even one dragon to fight. Toward the end of his life, he got very
discouraged, realizing that he wasted his life for nothing.
But then he remembered all his training, his knowledge,
his expertise in everything about dragons, and how he had perfected his brilliant
dragon-fighting skills.
And so he began to teach young men to fight dragons.
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Source: The Dragon Slayer: Unattributed story posted to the "Philosophy
of History" Internet list.