“While wandering a deserted beach at dawn, stagnant in my work, I saw a
man in the distance bending and throwing as he walked the endless
stretch toward me. As he came near, I could see that he was throwing
starfish, abandoned on the sand by the tide, back into the sea. When he
was close enough I asked him why he was working so hard at this strange
task. He said that the sun would dry the starfish and they would die. I
said to him that I thought he was foolish. there were thousands of
starfish on miles and miles of beach. One man alone could never make a
difference. He smiled as he picked up the next starfish. Hurling it far
into the sea he said, "It makes a difference for this one." I abandoned
my writing and spent the morning throwing starfish.”
- Loren Eisely
There are many versions of this story but each has the same message that we should stop thinking we are powerless to make a difference, every drop in the ocean makes a difference. Throw a starfish today, I know that Percy will!
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