Say a person is in Dale Avenue, and he or she is about to turn into the next road ahead which is Charlotte Close, and the person does not know what to expect in this road. For example, there might be restaurants on Charlotte Close, ATMS, a particular office or other important facilities. The road might be leading somewhere or could have a dead end. It might be a safe road to walk through or it may be infested by criminals. If there are people walking on this road and they seem to be coming on the opposite direction, it means that these people have been down that road. This means that they have already walked on Charlotte Close. Therefore, it is such people that a person can ask the things that are on Charlotte Close or where it leads to. Simply, this is to say that before embarking on something important, it is critical for one to seek pointers from people who have embarked on similar endeavors before.
This quote is symbolic in meaning. The road ahead is used to symbolize the conditions that exist prior to the making of decisions in life. Usually, life is all about decisions. From the time a child is born, his or her parents start making decisions on their behalf. They choose what clothes the infant will wear, the food he or she will eat and the schools they will attend. At a certain age, the child becomes an adult and is responsible for his or her decisions. For example, a man decides the course he will pursue at the university, the kind of job he will enter into, the woman he will marry, the car or house he will buy and many other decisions. All these decisions are usually not spontaneous but are guided by a logical process of thought whereby one weighs all the available options before deciding on the most optimal or appropriate one. It is this weighing of options that conceive the concept of consultation. As such, the stage of weighing options is the one which is presented as the road ahead. The people coming back symbolizes the people who have undergone similar situations in the past or have experienced similar circumstances and navigated their way around them. Therefore, before making a major decision in life, it is important to engage the people who have had similar circumstances in order to seek guidance.
This is to say that when it comes to seeking answers on something, experience is the best teacher. Experiencing something becomes a learning process which enables a person to be able to know what to do or how to deal with certain situations. It is from such people that people can seek advice on what to do in the particular situations. This is because these people have walked down that road and they know where it leads, where it turns, where one can rest under the shade, where one can find water to quench thirst, or where one can make another turn into another road. They have been there and done that. Take the example of a person who wants to set up a liquor store. The person will try to find a person or friend who has a liquor store and seek guidance in terms of the things needed to start such a store, the challenges, the prospects and the secrets to getting customers. The same applies to a person who is trying to fight drug addiction. Such a person is best helped by advice coming from those people who have successfully managed to fight and recover from addiction. For example, they can recommend that one put sobriety as a priority ahead of all other things.
When one walks down a particular road, the person gets acquainted with the things along the way. As such, the person internalizes the road setting and can thus be able to make accurate predictions or point out any unusual happenings along that road. The same applies to tour guides or trackers who can be able to guide strangers through unknown territories and take them to a safe place. However, one should be careful when asking those coming back from the road ahead. Some might not be genuine and can use the experience bit for mischievous purposes. As the proverb goes, “just ask those coming back”, it assumes a plural tone by using ‘those’. This means that it is important to ask a number of people about the same thing in order to able to acquire the most consistent response so as to avoid mistakes.
In all, this Chinese proverb is a positive saying that not only seeks to inform but also to warn. It warns people against making rush decisions without engaging other important people. It also enlightens one in the sense that it offers insight on what a person should do in the event of making important steps in life..
Free Quote Analysis Essay Sample
Type of paper: Essay
Topic: Leadership, Children, Alcoholism, Life, Violence, Experience, Addiction, Road
Pages: 3
Words: 850
Published: 03/04/2020
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