When Alexander was leaving for India he went to see Diogenes, a great sage of the times. Diogenes
asked Alexander, ”Where are you going and for what?”

Alexander said, ”I am going to conquer Asia Minor first.”

Then Diogenes queried, ”And what will you do after conquering Asia Minor?”

”I will then go to conquer India,” said the would-be conqueror.

”And what then?” asked the sage.

And the answer was, ”I have to conquer the whole world.”

Diogenes was Lying on the sandy bank of a river; he was completely naked and enjoying the morning
sunshine.

He asked again, ”What will you do after you have conquered the world?”

Alexander said, ”Then I will rest and relax.”

This reply of Alexander’s sent Diogenes into loud laughter, and he called his companion, his dog,
who was sitting some distance from him. When the dog came to him Diogenes said, addressing
the dog, ”Listen to what this mad king is saying. This man says that he will rest after he conquers
the world. And here we are resting right now without conquering a single place.”

And he said to
Alexander, ”If rest is your ultimate objective, why not join me and my dog right now on this beautiful
river bank? There is enough space here for us all. I am already resting. Why ate you going to create
so much trouble and disturbance around the world just to rest at the end of it all? You can rest right
here and now.”

An embarrassed Alexander then said, ”What you say seems to be very sensible, but I cannot rest
right now. Let me first conquer the world.”

And then the sage said, ”There is no connection whatsoever between world conquest and rest. Here
I am, resting well, without having to go in conquest of the world.”