Adapted from Loren Eiseley’s “The Start Thrower / Starfish Story” (1969)

An old man was walking along the beach when he noticed a young boy picking up starfish and throwing them back into the ocean.

Approaching the boy, he asked, “Excuse me, but what are you doing?”

The boy replied, “The sun is rising and the tide is going out. If I don’t throw the starfish back in, they’ll die.”

The old man shook his head and said, “But there’s too many starfish on this beach. You can’t possibly make a difference.”

After thinking for a moment, the boy bent down, picked up another starfish and threw it into the ocean.

Then, he turned to the old man and said, “Well, I made a difference to that one.”