The Wealthy Rancher
A magazine reporter once visited a wealthy rancher. “I’d like to do a magazine story on your career as a sheep rancher,” said the reporter. “I’ve heard that yours is a true rags-to-riches tale, and I’d like to share the secret of your success with my readers.”
“Fine,” said the rancher. “I’m happy to tell you all about it.” “Well, I understand you own several hundred thousand sheep. Your ranch covers half the county and your net worth is in the millions. Yet I hear that, twenty years ago, you started out with only one sheep.”
“Not only that,” said the rancher, “but in those days, my wife and I didn’t have a roof over our heads or a dollar to our name. So we sheared that one sheep, sold the wool, and used the money to buy another sheep.” “Then what happened?” “The next spring, one of our sheep gave birth to two lambs.
Then we had four sheep. We sheared them, sold the wool, and used the money to buy two more sheep. That gave us a total of six sheep.” “Then what?” “The next spring, we had six more lambs—so now we had twelve sheep to shear. We sold the wool and bought more sheep.” “So now we’re getting down to it—the secret of your success!” “That’s right,” drawled the rancher.
“The next year—” “I know! I know!” the reporter interrupted. “You sold more wool and bought more sheep!” “Nope,” said the rancher. “That was the year my father-in-law died and left us fifty million dollars.”
A magazine reporter once visited a wealthy rancher. “I’d like to do a magazine story on your career as a sheep rancher,” said the reporter. “I’ve heard that yours is a true rags-to-riches tale, and I’d like to share the secret of your success with my readers.”
“Fine,” said the rancher. “I’m happy to tell you all about it.” “Well, I understand you own several hundred thousand sheep. Your ranch covers half the county and your net worth is in the millions. Yet I hear that, twenty years ago, you started out with only one sheep.”
“Not only that,” said the rancher, “but in those days, my wife and I didn’t have a roof over our heads or a dollar to our name. So we sheared that one sheep, sold the wool, and used the money to buy another sheep.” “Then what happened?” “The next spring, one of our sheep gave birth to two lambs.
Then we had four sheep. We sheared them, sold the wool, and used the money to buy two more sheep. That gave us a total of six sheep.” “Then what?” “The next spring, we had six more lambs—so now we had twelve sheep to shear. We sold the wool and bought more sheep.” “So now we’re getting down to it—the secret of your success!” “That’s right,” drawled the rancher.
“The next year—” “I know! I know!” the reporter interrupted. “You sold more wool and bought more sheep!” “Nope,” said the rancher. “That was the year my father-in-law died and left us fifty million dollars.”
