The Starfish

     While walking along a beach at dawn an old man saw a boy 
  picking starfish up off the sand and throwing them back into 
  the sea. He caught up to the boy and asked him what he was doing. 
  
     The boy replied that the starfish would die if left exposed 
  on the sand after sunrise. 
  
     "But this beach goes on for miles," the old man said. 
  "There must be thousands of starfish stranded on the sand. 
  What difference will it make to save just a few?" 
  
     The boy looked at the starfish he was holding in his hand, 
  then threw it onto the surf. 
  
     "Well, for THAT starfish it makes a big difference!"