The Parable of the Train on the Track
We are driving across some of the flat, open parts of the country so trains are on my mind. You can see them coming from a long way off.
Hence this parable.
There once was a newly-built train. At the switching station, it looked out on its first track all the way across the gleaming plain to the distant white city in the far, far horizon. The train was full of enthusiasm. “I am going to roll on all the way to that city!” it said.
An old worn-down train nearby wearily set about tempering the new train’s expectations. “You have no idea how far that city really is,” the train said. “Nor how difficult it is. You feel good now, but wait until you are trying to get your wheels to turn in sand. Or in swamp, heavens, oh man, swamp.”
“Why would I do that?” the new train said cheerfully. “I will simply stay on the track.”
The older train was aghast. “Stay on the tracks! Are you crazy? Live a little!”
Filed under: Deseret Review | Tags: Aesop's fables, fables, parables
Sute
August 25, 2025
I like this. Stay on the track, and any suggestions that you don’t need to are really illusions; if we are all inescapably a train in our own ways.
Ps – if you asked me if a city would be better off building a robust bus system or a train system I’d go with the bus.
On the analogy, Wouldn’t the naysayer side of this parable not be a train but an all terrain vehicle telling the passenger there’s more joy and flexibility in not confining yourself to a train?