An argument in the Desert

Two hermits lived together for many years without a quarrel. One said to the other, ‘Let’s have a quarrel with each other, as other men do.’ the other answered, ‘I don’t know how a quarrel happens.’ The first said, ‘Look here, I put a brick between us, and I say, “That’s mine.” That is how you begin a quarrel.’ So theyput a brick between them, and one of them said, ‘That’s mine.’ The other said, “No; it’s mine.’ He answered, ‘Yes it’s yours. Take it away.’ They were unable to argue with each other.

Taken from: Ward, Benedicta, The Desert Fathers, Sayings of the Early Christian Monks, Penguin Classic, London:2003 p 182, No. 22.