All this talk of analogies reminds me of an old joke. Not a good joke. Fair warning.
A young man makes a fortune in the tech industry. He's got the world at his feet: young, filthy rich, handsome. But he starts to feel empty... wondering what life is really about. So, he starts asking around. He studies different religions and philosophies and becomes somewhat obsessed with finding the meaning of life. Finally, after several years, he's broke and disheartened and no closer to a revelation. He spends his last few pennies on a plane ticket to SE Asia, to find a hermit he's been told is the wisest in the world. If anyone could tell him life's secret, it is this hermit.
It's an arduous journey, but he makes it. Filthy, broke and dejected he sees a man sitting peacefully on a rock with his eyes closed, deep in a meditative trance. This hermit looks older than the mountain itself, with a long, gray beard and skin thick and deeply wrinkled from years of exposure to the sun and the wind. "Sir, I'm so glad to have found you," the young man begins. "I've travelled the world to find the meaning of life. I've spent my fortune and given up everything to learn the answer to life's question. Can you help me?"
After what seemed like an eternity, the wise old hermit opens his eyes and says, "Life... is like a waterfall."
The young man was confused at first. But then, when it's clear that he would get nothing more from the old man, he became irate. "What?!!?" the young man exclaimed. "You mean to tell me that after all this time, all my money. The years. The filth. The sacrifices I've made, all you can say is 'life is like a waterfall?'" The young man goes on for a long time, venting out years of frustration at this old man. The old man, for his part, begins looking more and more confused. The young man finally ends by saying, "Well? Say something. Give me more."
Finally, another silence settles between the two while the hermit considers all that the young man had said. And after what seems like an eternity the old man said, "You mean, life isn't like a waterfall?"