The man watched the boy for a while, curious about what he was doing. The boy was focused and determined, but the old man could see that there were simply too many starfish on the beach. When the man finally reached the boy, he asked, “What are you doing?” The task seemed impossible. The boy paused for a moment, looking up at the man, “I'm saving these starfish,” he replied, “If they don’t get back into the water, they’ll die.” The old man, who had seen many things in his long life, couldn’t help but smile at the boy’s optimism. “But there are thousands of starfish on this beach,” he said, “You can’t possibly save them all, there are too many — what difference can you make?” Without saying anything, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish, and tossed it gently into the ocean. He turned back to the man and said... “I made a difference to that one.”
Based on ‘The Star Thrower’ by Loren Eiseley (1907–1977) published in 1969.
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