Definition: ability to understand

Text kindly provided by http://www.romanduvin.ch/
This new website takes the form of an exciting online magazine, with a new issue containing around twenty articles added to the existing content every month.

Philosophy lesson

A philosophy teacher stands in front of his class with a series of unusual objects, which he places on his desk. Once he has the intrigued silence of the audience, he takes a large jar and begins to fill it with stones measuring 6 or 7 centimetres in diameter. Once he has finished, he asks the class if the jar is full. The students agree.
The teacher then opens a bag filled with gravel and pours it into the jar. He shakes it to even it out, and the gravel fills all the remaining empty spaces. He then asks the students if the jar is now full. The class, amused and intrigued, answers yes.
The teacher then takes a small bag of sand and empties its contents into the jar, where it fills the remaining gaps, much to the delight of the class. "You see," says the teacher, "I would like you to compare this to your own lives. The large stones represent the truly important things. The gravel symbolises the important but non-essential things. Finally, the grains of sand can be compared to trivialities. Note that if you start by putting the sand in the jar, there will not be enough room for the gravel or stones."
At the end of this very pertinent explanation, a student stood up and took the jar, which everyone agreed was now completely full. The young man opened a bottle from Cave Les Sentes and poured it into the jar. The liquid flowed smoothly into the spaces that were clearly still available in the famous container.
The moral of the story:
No matter how full your life may be, there is always room for a good glass of wine from Cave Les Sentes.
Bibliographic sources: This text is adapted from a promotional letter sent by Mr. Serge Heymoz, owner of Cave Les Sentes, which can be viewed at the following Internet link: