A father found his son by the sea, where the tide had washed ashore hundreds of starfish. They would soon die of exposure.

His son was tossing the starfish, one at a time, back into the ocean.

“Why do you bother?” the father asked his son, overwhelmed by the sheer number of starfish dying. “It won’t make any difference.”

His son stopped for a moment, looked at the starfish in his hand, and replied, “It will to this one.”