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A young lump of coal was formed under the ground. He met a small but shiny diamond in the mine.
The wise and old diamond said to him, “Hide yourself well, and subject yourself patiently to time. Then many thousands of years later, you can gain radiance and an almost eternal form just like me!”
The young lump of coal said to him, “But I would like to go to the surface, and see the world outside.”
The old diamond replied, “But you could be found and burnt. Then your energy will be released and your body turned into a gas to wander the earth and be converted into other substances. If you are patient like I was eons ago, one day you will become shiny and hard and enjoy near indestructibility, and be admired and treasured.”
The young lump of coal thought for a while and made up his mind.
He said to the diamond, “I will rise to the surface now, to see this world as it is right now. If I am burnt for heat and light, so be it. At least my short life would have served a useful purpose to someone else.”
“But the carbon in you will be lost! You will be no more!”
“It was never mine to begin with in the first place. I was made from something else too…
