As the old man walked along the beach at dawn, he noticed a young man ahead of him picking up starfish and flinging them back into the sea. Finally catching up to the youth, he asked why he was doing this. The answer was that the starfish would die if left until the morning sun. “But the beach goes on for miles and there are millions of starfish,” said the old man. “How can your effort make any difference?” The young man looked at the starfish in his hand and threw it safely into the waves. “It makes a difference to this one,” he said.
Adapted from “The Starfish Thrower” in the book “The Unexpected Universe” by Loren Eiseley (an American anthropologist, educator, philosopher, and natural science writer)
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