A prisoner lived in solitary confinement for ten years. He saw and spoke to no one, and his meals were served through an opening in the wall. One day, an ant came into his cell. The man contemplated it in fascination as it crawled around the room. He held it in the palm of his hand the better to observe it, gave it a grain or two. … It suddenly struck him that it had taken him ten long years of solitary confinement to open his eyes to the loveliness of an ant.

Anthony de Mello

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