There once was a little boy
who had a bad temper.
His father gave him 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 for 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 scars just like these.
You can put a knife in a
man and draw it out.
It won't matter how
many times you say I'm sorry,
the wound is still there.
A verbal wound is almost as
bad as a physical one."