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Moses Mendelson    (1809)

Moses Mendelson was of the Jewish faith and worked as a clerk for a merchant who is not said to have invented gunpowder. Yet he was a very pious and wise man, and was therefore held in high esteem and loved by the most distinguished and learned men. And rightly so. For one must not despise the head on which the beard grows, simply because of the beard itself. This Moses Mendelson gave, among other things, the following proof of his contentment with his lot. For when a friend came to him one day, and he was just sweating over a difficult calculation, the friend said: “It is a pity, good Moses, and it is irresponsible, that such an intelligent mind as yours must serve a man for a living who cannot even offer you a drink of water. Are you not wiser in your little finger than he is in his whole body, however large it may be?” To another, this would have gnawed at his mind; he would have thrown pen and inkwell behind the stove with a few curses and given his master notice on the spot.
But the sensible Mendelson left the inkwell where it was, tucked the quill behind his ear, looked calmly at his friend, and said to him: “It is quite good as it is, and wisely devised by Providence. For in this way my master can derive much benefit from my services, and I have a livelihood. Were I the master, and he my scribe, I could not use him.”