Think only twice!

*

A young man was walking eastward along a lonely road. He suddenly stopped, turned around and started walking westward in the opposite direction.
An old man, who was nearby, watched this and asked the lad, “Where were you going?”
“I was going to the next village in search of a job.”
“But why did you turn back?’
“Suddenly I changed my mind and decided not to go”.
“You should have thought twice befoe you started the journey”.
“In fact, I thought over the matter several times; but decided now to abandon my idea”.
“That was the mistake. You should have thought only twice. One who thinks more than twice is always confused”.
“What is the sanctity of two times? I could as well think only once and then decide”.
“No, you should think twice. Once about the good aspects and the second time about the evil aspects, weigh them and then decide. Thinking more than twice leads to confusion, confrontation and negative results”.
The lad got a clear idea and resumed his journey eastward. The old man was no other than Confucius, the great Chinese philosopher.

*
(Compiled from the Tatvaloka - The Splendour of Truth)