Consequence

There was a Chinese farmer whose horse ran away. That evening, all of his neighbors said, “We are sorry your horse has run away. This is most unfortunate.” The farmer said, “Maybe.” The next day the horse came back with seven wild horses, and everybody came back and said, “Oh, isn’t that lucky. What a great turn of events. You now have eight horses!” The farmer said, “Maybe.”

The next day his son tried to break one of the horses, but he was thrown and broke his leg. The neighbors then said, “Oh that’s too bad,” and the farmer responded, “Maybe.” The next day the conscription officers came around to conscript people into the army, and they rejected his son because he had a broken leg. Again all the neighbors came around and said, “Isn’t that great!” Again, he said, “Maybe.”

It’s really impossible to tell whether anything that happens in it is good or bad. You never know what will be the consequence of the misfortune; or, you never know what will be the consequences of good fortune.