在广阔的大西洋海岸住着一位老人。每天当潮水退去后他都会沿着海岸线走上很远。不远处住着另外一个人，他偶尔也会注视着这个老人消失在远处，然后又看着老人回来。这个邻居发现，老人走着的时候会经常弯下腰从沙滩上拣起什么东西抛到海里。
One day, when the old man went down to the beach this neighbor followed to satisfy his curiosity and, sure enough, as he watched, the old man bent down and gently lifted something from the sand and threw it into the ocean. By the time the old man made his next stop the neighbor had come near enough to see that he was picking up a starfish which had been stranded by the retreating tide and would, of course, die of dehydration before the tide returned. As the old man turned to return to the ocean the neighbor called out with a degree of mockery in his voice, "Hey, old timer! What are you doing? This beach goes on for hundreds of miles, and thousands of starfish get washed up every day! Surely you don't think that throwing a few back is going to matter."
一天，当老人又一次沿着海岸线走的时候，这个邻居跟在后面看看老人到底在干什么来满足自己的好奇心。他看到老人弯下腰轻轻地从沙滩上拣起什么东西又扔进了大海。当老人再次停下来时，这个邻居走上前一看，原来老人正在拣起一只被潮水冲到岸上的海星，这只海星在海水再次到来之前就会脱水而死。当老人返回的时候，这个邻居用一种嘲弄的口吻叫住他：“嘿，老家伙！你在做什么？这个海滩有数百英里长，每天都会有成千上万只海星冲上岸！你不知道你这样做实在是没什么意义吗？”
The old man listened and paused for a moment, then held the starfish in his hand out toward his neighbor. "It matters to this on."
老人听完停了一会，把手中的那只海星拿到邻居眼前说：“对这只来说有意义。”