o get as much out of life as I can," the woman
protested. "You philosophers all say that one's life does not
consist in material things because they disappear, but what then can
I gain that I can keep?"

"The only thing that you can really keep--and keep forever--is what
you give away," said the philosopher.

Late one afternoon a blunt young man came up to The Man Who Talked
Backwards and asked him, "Now that you are old and about to drop
dead, do you look forward to death or fear it--or perhaps I should
ask, Did you live a good life or a bad one?"

"It is not one's life that determines his view of death," replied the
philosopher, "but one's view of death that determines how he lives."

"So you are ready to end your life?" asked the blunt young man.

"Death is not an end to life, as you suppose," said the philosopher.
"This world is but a mirror that reverses everything as it reflects
it. Death therefore is merely the shattering of a mirror."

"Your mirror already has a large crack in it," said the blunt young
man, with a laugh.

"Thank you," said the philosopher.

The Clue

In every civilization, someone has to put up the signs that guide us
on our way. --Proverb

Sometimes they had to drill the post holes up on Rocky Bluff--and it
was a tough dig, what with the rocks and the hardness of the soil.
They came home plenty tired and dirty on those days. Other times
they drilled the holes down in Sandy Meadow, where the augur slipped
in smoothly, quickly, and easily. They all praised the meadow and
said how great it was to get an assignment to put up some signs
there. And yet, when they told the stories of their lives--the
stories that animated their faces and brightened their eyes--they
always seemed to be speaking of Rocky Bluff.

An Analogy

As he clung to the sheer face of the rock, he could hear in his mind
the voice of his climbing instructor: "If you make even a slight
mistake, you will die instantly." He knew then that he need not
debate whether to be attentive in his climb. And he was glad also
that God is like a rock only in his steadfastness.

About the Author

Robert Harris was born in Los Angeles, California in 1950. He is
currently (1995) an English professor at Southern California
College in Costa Mesa, California. He lives in Costa Mesa with
his wife, Rita.

(C)1992 Robert Harris

End of Project Gutenberg's Stories From the Old Attic, by Robert H