The Classic Story Of The Mexican Fisherman And The American Investment Banker

A Mexican fisherman is out fishing for the day in his little boat. He casts his net and pulls in a good haul of fish. After a few hours, he makes his way back to shore when he sees an American businessman walking along the beach.

The businessman sees the fisherman and calls out to him, asking how many fish he caught that day.

The fisherman replies, “Enough to feed my family and have some left over.”

The businessman then asks, “But what do you do with the rest of your time?”

The fisherman shrugs and says, “I play with my children, drink wine with my wife, and play guitar with my friends. I live a simple but happy life.”

Mexican Fisherman on beach playing guitar

The businessman scoffs and says, “You should be working harder, those fish only took you a little while to catch! If you worked harder, you could catch more fish and make more money. You could buy a bigger boat and hire more fishermen to work for you. Then you could really start to make some progress.”

The fisherman smiles and nods before responding, “I see, and then with the bigger boat and extra fishermen working for me, what would I do?”

Enthusiastically the businessman responds, “well then, you can continue to expand and run several boats and hire even more fishermen, and eventually, you can come to New York with me and take your company public. Then you sell your company stock, and with all the extra money, you wouldn’t have to work anymore.”

Grinning, the fisherman asks, “with all this time and money, what would I then do with my life?”

With complete satisfaction, the businessman boldly claims that he could spend his time doing a little fishing, playing with his children, drinking wine with his wife, and playing guitar with his friend.