"No Treasure Without Toil"

From Bill Bennett's first edition of The Book of Virtues (p. 370):

The Farmer and His Sons
By Aesop

A farmer, being at death's door, and desiring to impart to his sons a secret of much moment, called them round him and said, "My sons, I am shortly about to die. I would have you know, therefore, that in my vineyard there lies a hidden treasure. Dig, and you will find it." As soon as their father was dead, the sons took spade and fork and turned up the soil of the vineyard over an over again, in their search for the treasure which they supposed to lie buried there. They found none, however: but the vines, after so thorough a digging, produced a crop such as had never before been seen.

There is no treasure without toil.

In the latest edition, we assume, the sons learn the hidden treasure is a $200,000 line of credit at a casino and go home jackpot winners.

It goes without saying, of course that gambling is not a vice–it's a pleasurable pastime unless done to self-ruin.

It also goes without saying that a morals czar who has racked up as much as $8 million in total gambling losses over the years is asking for trouble.