On the
Three Types of Persons, who are similar to Sick People:
There are three kinds of bodily sick people:
One will recover by himself, even without any doctor & any medicine..
One will never recover, even if treated by the best doctor & best
medicine..
One will only recover if treated by the right medicine after the
doctors advice..
It is for the sake of this last person that doctors work and medicine
is made!
Similarly with those mentally infected by grades of greed, hate &
ignorance:
One will cure & free himself, even without meeting this Buddha-Dhamma...
One will never be cured, even if taught this Dhamma by the Buddha
himself...
One will be cured & freed, if & only if, taught & learning this
Buddha-Dhamma...
It is for the sake of this last type of person, that this Dhamma
should be shared!
Source (abbreviated excerpt):
The Numerical Sayings of the Buddha. Anguttara Nikaya. Sutta III:22
The sick [I:120] Gilānā
http://www.pariyatti.com/book.cgi?prod_id=132552
http://www.accesstoinsight.org/canon/anguttara/index.html
http://what-buddha-said.net/Canon/Sutta/AN/Index.Numerical.htm