The Difference

‘The young son of a very important and wealthy man one day walked up to Mozart and said, “Sir, I want to compose symphonies. Please show me the way; tell me how to go about it.”

Mozart spoke to the proud boy for a while and then said, “I think it would be better for you to do something else—or to wait for a few years!”

“Wait for a few years? May I ask, Mr. Mozart? Do you forget that you composed your symphonies when you were barely ten years of age?” demanded the teenager.

“That is true. I composed symphonies when I was ten,” admitted Mozart almost apologetically.

“Then how can you ask me to wait for a few years?” challenged the boy.

Mozart coughed, smiled, and then, lowering his voice, said, “It is true that I composed my symphonies at the age of ten. But you see, I did not ask anybody to show me the way or tell me how to do it! Is it clear now?”