Group of alumni, highly established in their careers, got together to visit their old university professor. The conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in work and in life. Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee.
　　一群畢業(yè)生，各自的事業(yè)都已有所建樹，相約一起去看望他們的大學(xué)教授。談話一會兒就變成了各自對工作生活壓力的抱怨。教授去廚房端來一大壺咖啡招待這些客人，拿出各式各樣的咖啡杯——陶瓷的、塑料的玻璃的、水晶的，有普通的、有價值不斐的、有做工精致的——讓他們自己挑。
　　When all the students had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said:
　　當(dāng)所有學(xué)生手中都拿了咖啡杯之后，教授發(fā)話了：
　　"If you noticed, all the nice looking expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress.
　　“如果你們注意一下，就可以發(fā)現(xiàn)所有好看的貴的杯子都給挑走了，剩下的只是那些普通的和便宜的。當(dāng)然，每個人都想給自己挑到那個最好的，這很正常，但這也正是你們的問題和壓力根源之所在?！?br/>　　"What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup, but you consciously went for the best cups and were eyeing each other's cups.
　　“其實你們真正想要的是咖啡，而不是杯子，但你們卻又都下意識去挑選最好的杯子，并觀察別人拿到的杯子。”