One day a young man was standing in the middle of the town announcing that he had the most beautiful heart in the whole town. A large crowd gathered, and they all thought it was perfect. There was not a flaw in it. Suddenly, an old man said, "Your heart is not nearly as beautiful as mine." The crowd and the young man looked at the old man's heart. It was full of scars . The young man laughed. "Comparing your heart with mine, mine is perfect and yours is a mess of scars." "Yes," said the old man, "You see, every scar represents a person to whom I have given my love. I tear out a piece of my heart and give it to them, and often they give me a piece of their heart that fits into the empty place in my heart. Though it has some scars, I cherish . Because they remind me of the love we shared. Sometimes I have given pieces of my heart away, and the other person hasn't returned a piece of his or her heart to me. These are the empty gouges . Although these gouges are painful, they stay open, reminding me of the love I have for those people too, and I hope someday they may return and fill the space I have waiting. So now do you see what true beauty is?" The young man ripped a piece out of his perfect heart and offered it to the old man. The old man placed it in his heart, then took a piece from his old scarred heart and placed it in the _ in the young man's heart. The young man looked at his heart, not perfect anymore but more beautiful than ever, since love from the old man's heart flowed into his. They embraced and walked away side by side. ,. The young man thought   _   at first.
his heart was painful the old man's hear was perfect his own heart was perfect he himself was the most beautiful