Once a philosopher, noted for his lifelong dedication to nothing but the principles of pure reason, was lecturing a group of his disciples when a question arouse:
"Master," questioned one of the students, "is it better to have five daughters or five bags of gold?"
"Five daughters," came the instant reply.
"But that is based upon emotion and not pure reason," protested the student.
"Not so," replied the sage evenly. "First, human nature being what it is, if I had five bags of gold I would undoubtedly want more, and pure reason cannot condone greed, even in myself. You must agree that this cannot possibly apply to five daughters. Second, should I desire five bags of gold, it would not happen anyway; simple desire without practical application will not produce money, hence I would make a fool of myself and thereby put pure reason to scorn.
"Last," the sage concluded, "I would rather have five daughters because I actually have eight ..."