I didn't like the bee metaphor at first, but I think it's actually fairly accurate. In real life, I keep bees in my backyard, and periodically am stung while tending them, usually when I do something wrong (not enough smoke, working into evening).
While being stung hundreds of times might be life threatening, what's probably not apparent is that being stung once and being stung 6 times causes approximately equal physical discomfort. It's really the worst sting (the one on your hand or face) that bothers you. It overshadows all the others.
If you were to ask: how much would I pay to have gotten one sting less, that number is very different for the first sting versus the last. This is his metaphor: how hard would you work if you were still going to have lots of pain outstanding when you get your paycheck?
The other part of the metaphor, which I don't think he intended, has to do with the acceptance involved. I realize that when I get stung by a bee on the back of my hand, it will swell up and leave my hand mostly unusable for a couple of days. Despite this, I keep bees. I think there is some deep rich vs poor metaphor here.
While being stung hundreds of times might be life threatening, what's probably not apparent is that being stung once and being stung 6 times causes approximately equal physical discomfort. It's really the worst sting (the one on your hand or face) that bothers you. It overshadows all the others.
If you were to ask: how much would I pay to have gotten one sting less, that number is very different for the first sting versus the last. This is his metaphor: how hard would you work if you were still going to have lots of pain outstanding when you get your paycheck?
The other part of the metaphor, which I don't think he intended, has to do with the acceptance involved. I realize that when I get stung by a bee on the back of my hand, it will swell up and leave my hand mostly unusable for a couple of days. Despite this, I keep bees. I think there is some deep rich vs poor metaphor here.