The king and a nobleman make a bet about who can get to the other side of the palace wall first. The nobleman immediately begins the arduous task of climbing the wall. The king knows his limitations and looks for other options. He finds an open door, goes through it and wins the bet.
"Once upon a time, there was a successful man who knew when to take the line of least resistance."
The notion of taking the line of least resistance
Taking the line of least resistance means taking the easy way to avoid difficulty or unpleasantness. By doing so, we sometimes risk losing out on the important life lessons the more arduous path might have provided.
Old sayings contain simple learning and important qualities. Sometimes, their meaning changes over time in the hands of new generations. Nowadays, learning is very different from what it was in the past. Our need for learning today is more about knowing where we can find learning when we need it, combined with basic knowledge that is to hand independently of our access to Google, YouTube, ŧextbooks and so forth. If we find ourselves in an urgent situation involving a heart attack, a traffic accident or a client who needs knowledge here and now, we have to rely on fingertip knowledge.