The Starfish

Once upon a time there was a wise man that 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 a young man and the young man wasn't dancing, but 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 young man paused, looked up and replied, "Throwing starfish in the ocean."
"I guess I should have asked, why are you throwing starfish in the ocean?"
"The sun is up and the tide is going out. And if I don't throw them in they'll die."
"But, young man, don't you realize that there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it. You can't possibly make a difference!"
The young man listened politely. Then bent down, picked up another starfish and threw it into the sea, past the breaking waves and said -
"It made a difference for that one."

(Author unknown)

*****

Another, slightly different Version:

One child came upon another child on the beach one day. The second child was walking along, looking down, then every few feet would bend down, pick something up out of the sand, and toss it into the ocean. The first child asked what kind of game this was.
The second child replied, “I’m saving starfish.”
The first child was incredulous. “Are you kidding? There are too many! What are you going to do? Spend all day and all night out here, tossing starfish back into the ocean? You’ll never save them all. And anyway, in the grand scheme of life, they’re just starfish. It doesn’t matter if they live or die.”
The second child scooped another starfish up from the sand, considered it briefly, then hurled it into the ocean. “It mattered to that one.”

(Loren Eisley)