He met this philosopher who took him for a walk to a lake. On reaching the shore Socrates took this young man's hand in his and started walking into the water ever so slowly and continued moving gently till the water was almost waist high. Socrates stopped, quietly placed his hand behind the young man's head and in a sudden motion gripped him hard and shoved the boys head into the water and kept it there.
The seeker of wisdom was now in a state of terrible shock and thought maybe he had a made a mistake. He realized this old man could actually be mad. As the seconds ticked away, the lad struggled for breath, and Socrates in turn used more force to keep him down. A point came when the boy knew that the only way to survive was to put all his might and lunge out of Socrates' firm grip for a gasp of air. And he succeeded to pull himself out of danger by using all his might.
On recovering his breath and composure, he demanded to know why on earth did Socrates do this?! Socrates replied, “Young man, the day you pursue your goals with the force of passion and courage you displayed for catching one breath, is the day you will have wisdom!”
In Search of Widom, Kamran Rizvi
http://www.navitus.biz/content.asp?ContentId=628
