Aesop was right: the tortoise can beat the hare

Some days it feels like there’s no meaning to the world, that things just happen regardless of rhyme or reason and no solace can be found in anything but the hard, cold realities of entropy and our near-inevitable heat death. Welcome to the Monday after a 2016 presidential debate.

And yet these are salvageable times, when videos like this make their way to the internet and prove our capacity for truth and justice remains intact, exemplified by the purest life forms of planet Earth:

Little is known about this race, save for it perhaps occurring somewhere in Thailand over the course of the last few days. But it takes Aesop’s classic fable, which teaches us that perseverance and a strong work ethic can overcome a disheartening skill gap, and crystallizes the lesson at a time when it’s needed most.

Of course, we should probably take a moment to recognize the hare’s efforts. It traveled far — halfway to the finish line, in one valiant burst — before most likely being overcome by a soul-crushing and crowd-induced sense of fear. Its owner even tries to coax it across in a failed attempt to refute Aesop’s everlasting wisdom. But not today. Today, the fable rings true.