The Fisherman

Living to work or working to live?

TLDR: Uber driver or Nobel Prize winning writer Heinrich Theodor Böll? The question is are you working to live or living to work.

Years ago I was in an Uber headed uptown and the driver told me a story.

I’ve given him a lot of credit over the years until I realized it was a famous parable adapted from the renowned writer Heinrich Theodor Böll.

Anyway, I thought you might enjoy it too… rewritten by me, for brevity.

While on vacation, a wealthy businessman meets a local fisherman in a small village.

The fisherman had only caught a few fish and was packing up for the day. The businessman says “they’re not biting today?”

“Plenty actually,” replied the fisherman, “I only need enough to feed my family and to sell a few to my friends to pay for some basic things.”

B: Well why not stay a bit longer and catch a few more—make some extra money?

F: I think I’m going to go home, take a nap, play with my children, maybe stroll to the village, drink some wine, and play guitar with my friends.

B: Well I’m a wealthy businessman and I can help you. You should spend more time fishing, and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. With the money you make from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats; eventually, you would have a fleet of fishing boats.

F: And then what would I do?

B: If you do well enough you could leave this small fishing village, buy a bigger house, a car, and even move to a big city if you wanted.

F: How long will this take?

B: Only 10-20 years.

F: But then what?

B: That’s the best part! When the time is right you will sell your company and become very rich. You could make millions!

F: Millions, really?! But then what?

B: Then you would retire. Move to a small fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take naps in the middle of the day, stroll to the village in the evenings, sip wine, and play your guitar with your friends.”

F: …

Are you living to work or working to live?

See you Monday.