A man goes to the beach every day for a walk. One day, he notices something strange in the distance. Someone seems to be dancing. Coming closer he realises that it is a man bending down repeatedly to pick up starfish from the beach in order to throw them back into the sea.

“What are you doing?” he asks, surprised at what he sees.

“The starfish”, cries the man, “the tide washes them on the shore and they die because they cannot go back themselves”.

“But what for? Look, the whole beach is full of them. It does not make a difference if you throw back some of them”, he responds surprised.

The man bends down again and picks up a starfish. For a long time he stands still and then whispers without looking at the other: “For this one here it does make a difference!”.