Rene Magritte
"The False Mirror," 1928

An old man sat by an oasis near a Middle Eastern city. A young traveler asked, "What kind of people live here?"
The elder replied, "What were people like in your city?"
"Selfish and cruel. That’s why I left."
"You’ll find the same here," he said.

Later, another traveler asked the same.
The elder asked again, "How were the people where you came from?"
"Kind, noble, hospitable. I left friends behind."
"You’ll find the same here," he replied.

A merchant nearby, hearing both, asked: "How can you give opposite answers to the same question?"

"My son," the elder said, "each carries their world within. Whoever found no good before will find none here. But whoever had friends will find loyal ones here too. Because the people around us become what we choose to see..."

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