Art of asking

When I was in primary school (may be class 6 or 7) there was a lesson/chapter in our Hindi text book. I do not remember the title of that lesson but a sentence which was part of that prose  has remained etched in my mind ever since. Over the years I have come across numerous instances which have stressed the truth in that statement which is reproduced below -

देश की हर द्वार पे एक धाता खडा हैं; अपनी खुली थैली लेकर लेकिन कमी उन लोगों में हैं जो विनय से मांग नहीं सकते!

which translates to - There is a generous donor standing at every door/corner/corridor of the country/world but the problem is with those people who cannot ask with humility! 

There are very few who have mastered this extremely important art of asking; knowing what/when/why/how/where and whom to ask can make all the difference. After all, everything that we have today was given to us by somebody at some point of time - God, parents, teachers, spouse, siblings, employers and even children; the only thing that we can perhaps call our own is our big fat egos! :-)