Every family has a black sheep. I think it means, there is a person in a family that did or still does something unpleasant. Thus, making this person stand out of the family, eventually making them disapprove of black sheep action or behavior. It is not like there is bad blood between them. It is just the family's dislike of the sheep's actions.
Are honesty and labor always the best policy? To answer that, I would be delighted to refer to the story of "The Ant and the Grasshopper" by W. S. Maugham. The Ramsay family had a black sheep in the face of Tommy Ramsay, the youngest son in the family. He did not want to work, and one day just went away to travel Europe on borrowed money from his older brother. Tommy spent a huge amount of time, partying eating in the best restaurants, and dressing in costly clothes. He had this astonishing effect on people. Everyone knew him and liked him. Once in a while, Tom just turned up to his older brother and asked for money. Indeed, he was reckless. Whereas George was a righteous man and a good father to his children, he worked hard and was honest, not like Tom. For some reason, George kept giving his brother money, but he stopped when Tommy came into his wife's money, and boy, it was a fortune, ever since George was pissed off by how unfair this was.
I guess it was either skills or dumb luck that made Tommy a fortune. I felt sorry for George, but I think he shouldn't give money to his brother and try to reason him in the first place. I do hope that honesty and labor are the best policy, as my life goes, I can see that sometimes being honest and hard-working ain't enough. I do not consider H. W Maugham's story as an exception to this rule. Life ain't fair, we have to live with it.
Every
family
has a black sheep. I
think
it means, there is a person in a
family
that did or
still
does something unpleasant.
Thus
, making this person stand out of the
family
,
eventually
making them disapprove of black sheep action or behavior. It is not like there is
bad
blood between them. It is
just
the family's dislike of the sheep's actions.
Are honesty and labor always the best policy? To answer that, I would
be delighted
to refer to the story of
"
The Ant and the Grasshopper
"
by W. S. Maugham. The Ramsay
family
had a black sheep in the face of Tommy Ramsay, the youngest son in the
family
. He did not want to work, and one day
just
went away to travel Europe on borrowed
money
from his older
brother
. Tommy spent a huge amount of time, partying eating in the best restaurants, and dressing in costly clothes. He had this astonishing effect on
people
. Everyone knew him and liked him. Once in a while, Tom
just
turned up to his older
brother
and
asked for
money
.
Indeed
, he was reckless. Whereas George was a righteous
man
and a
good
father to his children, he worked
hard
and was honest, not like Tom. For
some
reason, George
kept
giving his
brother
money
,
but
he
stopped
when Tommy came into his wife's
money
, and boy, it was a fortune, ever since George was
pissed
off by how unfair this was.
I guess it was either
skills
or dumb luck that made Tommy a fortune. I felt sorry for George,
but
I
think
he shouldn't give
money
to his
brother
and try to reason him in the
first
place.
I
do hope that honesty and labor are the best policy, as my life goes, I can
see
that
sometimes
being honest and
hard
-working ain't
enough
.
I
do not consider H. W Maugham's story as an exception to this
rule
. Life ain't
fair
, we
have to
live
with it.