Lessons in Philanthropy

A young boy and an old man were walking along a beach. As they walked, the boy picked up each starfish he passed and threw them back into the sea. Confused, the old man asked him why.

"If I left them here," the boy said, "they would dry up and die. I am saving their lives."

"But the beach goes on for miles and there are millions of starfish," the old man said. "How can what you're doing make any difference?"

The boy looked at the starfish in his hand, threw it into the ocean, and answered, "It makes a difference to this one." 

--- President George Bush