To me this says that parables are fairly useless: with enough padding any trivial insight may seem wise. I can't at the moment imagine something that I would th

To me this says that parables are fairly useless: with enough padding any trivial insight may seem wise. I can't at the moment imagine something that I would think important to communicate which would be made more clear by a parable. I would also be concerned about being patronizing. I'm sure this makes good fodder for academic quibbling, but I am beginning to doubt whether Dijkstra was more insightful than arrogant.