The Starfish Thrower

Once upon a time there was a man who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work. 

One day he was walking along the shore. As he looked down the beach he saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself to think of someone who would dance to the day. 

So he began to walk faster to catch up. As he got closer, he saw that it was an older man and the man wasn't dancing. Instead he was reaching down to the shore, picking up something and very gently throwing it into the ocean. 

As he got closer he called out, "Good morning! What are you doing?"

The older man paused, looked up and replied, "Throwing starfish into the ocean." 

The man noticed there were hundreds of starfish all washed up on the beach from a storm the night before. He watched as the man carefully continued to pick up the starfish one by one. 

"I guess I should have asked, ‘Why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?’" 

"The sun is up and the tide is going out. If I don't throw them in they'll die." 

"But don't you realize there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it. You can't possibly make a difference!" 

The older man listened politely. He bent down, picked up another starfish. He looked at the starfish as he prepared to throw it into the ocean, past the breaking waves and said – 

"I will make a difference to this one."