The morning after the storm, starfish littered the seashore as far as the eye could see. In the distance, a man was busy returning some of the creatures into the ocean. Someone walked by his side and asked, "There are so many... does it make a difference if you save a few?" The man paused briefly, flung another starfish into the water and said, "It makes a difference to that one!".
Mother Theresa heard someone complaining that changing the world was an impossible task. She countered, "Do you want to change the world? Pick up a broom and sweep the floor".
About fifty years ago, in the Japanese island of Koshima, one Macaque monkey learned to wash in seawater the sweet potatoes he had dug from the ground. Other monkeys imitated him, and the new skill slowly spread throughout the island. But when the hundredth monkey learned, all Macaque monkeys everywhere spontaneously inherited the skill — the knowledge had become part of their collective mind.
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