Inspired by KoansMetaphorsAndParables

Some aspects of the parable form that might make a pattern...

* Are typically oral stories
* Are good stories that draw the hearer in
* invitational, not prescriptive - invites the listener to see things a they might not otherwise see, suggest more than they say, and invite a transformation of perception.
* "arresting crystallizations of insight that invite further insight"
* do not invoke external authority- are authoritative in themselves
* are about seeing for oneself, not about hearing what to believe
* Said singly, presented in a context appropriate to the insight.
* Said many times, not always the same way, but with differing emphasis and elaboration.
* Not presented as speeches, but in the context of a dialog with the hearer.
* Often appear as simple truisms, but the hearer is expected to see them in metaphor, and observe what lesson there might be beyond the surface meaning.
--StevenNewton

Parables on Wiki

* ParableOfTheIdiotFlowers
* ParableOfThePainter
* ParableOfTheRepairMan
* TheParableOfTheAutoMechanic
* TheParableOfTheGoldenHammerPolicy
* TreeParable
* WoodsmanParable

SharpenTheSaw probably counts as a parable.