"Nasrudin, ferrying a pedant across a piece of rough water, said something ungrammatical to him.
"Have you never studied grammar?" asked the scholar.
"No."
"Then half of your life has been wasted."
A few minutes later Nasrudin turned to the passager. "Have you ever learned how to swim?"
"No. Why?"
"Then all your life is wasted - we are sinking!"