One day a wise man was walking along the shore, he looked down the beach and saw a young man picking up small objects and throwing them into the ocean.
As he came closer, the wise man called out, "Good morning! May I ask what it is that you are doing?"
The young man paused, looked up, and replied, "Throwing starfish into the ocean."
"I must ask then, why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?" said the somewhat surprised man.
To this the young man replied, "The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them into the ocean, they will die."
Upon hearing this the older man commented, "But young man, do you not realize that there are miles and miles of beach and there are starfish all along every mile? You can't possibly make a difference!"
At this, the young man bent down, picked up yet another starfish, and threw it into the ocean. As it met the waves he said, "I made a difference to that one!"
The girl seemed crushed, suddenly deflated. But after a few moments, she bent down, picked up another starfish, and hurled it as far as she could into the ocean. Then she looked up at the man and replied, “Well, I made a difference to that one!”
The old man looked at the girl inquisitively and thought about what she had done and said. Inspired, he joined the little girl in throwing starfish back into the sea. Soon others joined, and all the starfish were saved.