A man once visited a temple that was still being built. He saw a sculptor making a sculpture(雕塑).As he watched the man work on the sculpture, he noticed that there was a similar sculpture lying nearby.
He felt very strange and asked the sculptor, "Why are you making two same sculptures? Do you need two to put in different places?"
"No, "the man said without looking up, "We need only one, but the first one became damaged before I could finish it, so I'm making a new one."
The visitor picked up the damaged sculpture and examined it. But he couldn't find anything wrong with it.
"Where is the damage?" he asked.
"There is a scratch(擦痕)on the sculpture's nose." the sculptor said while continuing his work.
The man then asked, "Where are you going to place the sculpture?"
The sculptor replied that it would be placed on a 20﹣foot﹣high platform(平台)."If the sculpture is up that high, who is going to notice that there is a scratch on the nose?" the man asked.
The sculptor stopped his work, looked up at the man and said, "I will know it".
The sculptor chose to stick to a high standard of excellence in his work. Even if other people didn't notice it, it mattered to him that his work should be of the best quality. This is an attitude we should all work hard to keep.
