Discovering Purpose: What Three Stonecutters Teach Us About Finding Meaning in Work

Hai frnds,
I like to share this story that i came across recently.
One day a man came across 3 stonecutters working in a quarry. Each one was cutting out a block of stone. Curious as to what they were doing he asked the first stone cutter what he was doing. “What? Are you blind?” the stone cutter shouted, “Can't you see, I'm cutting this stupid piece of stone.” Shocked but still no wiser the man turned to the second stonecutter and asked him what he was doing. “I am cutting this block of stone to make sure that it's sides are straight and smooth so that the builder can build a straight wall.” Feeling a lot better but still not really any wiser the man turned to the third stonecutter, who seemed to be the happiest of the three, and asked him what he was doing. “I am building a cathedral,” the 3rd stonecutter replied.

Regards.
Vijay,Chennai

Dear all,

Unless it's our own story, we should be giving proper reference to where we got the story from. For example, the following site gives a different version of the above story with some explanations:

Steve Rowe's Blog: The Three Stonecutters

Simhan

Thank you, Sowmini, for your comments.

If people are posting what they receive by email, it's prudent to mention so. We can, at least, make an attempt to find the source by searching the web. I have seen posts on citehr where this site has been criticized for allowing such posts. It did not take me more than 5 minutes to find that story on the web.

Have a nice day. Simhan