A fool and wise man are in the wilderness and they are hungry. The wise man says, there are many apple trees over that hill. I'll give you this bucket if you go pick the apples. The fool goes out looking for apple trees, finds them, picks the apples until he fills the bucket. The fool brings the apples back and he and the wise man eat them. The fool says to the wise man, "I don't think you've done enough to deserve those apples. I'm outta here!"
The wise man looks at the fool and says, "Okay. Have it your way, and FWIW, you can keep the bucket."
The fool goes off on his own. The wise man stays, claims the land, and collects the seeds from the apples. He plants the seeds on his land. 10 years pass. The fool returns to see the wise man. Many things have changed. The seeds that were planted grew into acres and acres of orchards that now sustain the wise man plentifully. The fool became angry and shouted at the wise man... "You stole from me! Half of this is all mine!"
The wise man looked at the fool and said... "I concentrated on planting seeds while you concentrated on filling that silly bucket. You had the same opportunity I had, but you didn't recognize it when it was right in front of you. You chose your path, and I chose mine."
IMO, many pool players are like the fool. They are always looking for a way to fill that bucket while never understanding the importance of planting the seeds. For some, that's hard to look at, but nevertheless, it's there and it's obvious.
(maybe a movie buff)
