I am unsure about the origin of the this story, so I will give credit to the person that shared it with me: Stephen Markas. I saw it on the Quirky Blog.
There is an Islamic story about a giant ship engine that failed. The ship’s owners tried one expert after another, but none of them could figure but how to fix the engine. Then they brought in an old man who had been fixing ships since he was a youngster. He carried a large bag of tools with him, and when he arrived, he immediately went to work. He inspected the engine very carefully, top to bottom.
Two of the ship’s owners were there, watching this man, hoping he would know what to do. After looking things over, the old man reached into his bag and pulled out a small hammer. He gently tapped something. Instantly, the engine lurched into life He carefully put his hammer away. The engine was fixed! A week later, the owners received a bill from the old man for ten thousand dollars.
“What?!” the owners exclaimed. “He hardly did anything!”
So they wrote the old man a note saying, “Please send us an itemized bill.”
The man sent a bill that read:
Tapping with a hammer: $2.00
Knowing where to tap: $9998.00
Effort is important, but knowing where to make an effort in your life makes all the difference. Now, that proverb is applicable in so many aspects in one’s life.
Here is a link to Markas's Blog
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