"An aged Chinese wise man was walking through a field of snow, when he came upon a woman weeping.
"Why are you crying?" he asked.
"Because I'm thinking about my life, my youth, the beauty that I saw in the mirror and the men I loved. God is cruel to have given the ability to remember. He knew that I would remember the spring of my life, and cry."
The wise man stood there in the field of snow, staring at a fixed point and contemplating. At a certain point, the woman stopped crying: "What do you see there?" she asked.
"A field of roses," answered the wise man. "God was generous with me when he gave me the ability to remember. He knew that in winter, I could always remember spring -- and smile."" --Paulo Cohelo