There once was a little boy who had a bad temper.
One day, his father gave him a bag of nails and told him that
every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into
the back of the fence.
The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence.
Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger,
the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down.
He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive
those nails into the fence.
Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all.
He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out
one nail each day that he was able to hold his temper.
The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father
that all the nails were gone.
The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence.
He said, "You have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence.
The fence will never be the same.
When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one."
Author unknown.
