The Wind and the Sun

One day the Wind and the Sun began to argue. The Wind was boasting: "I am stronger than you. I knock down trees, I whip up waves, I blow roofs away!" The Sun smiled: "Perhaps strength is not about shouting and roaring."

Just then a traveler in a thick coat was walking along the road below. The Sun said: "Let's have a contest. Whoever can make that traveler take off his coat is the stronger."

"Easy!" said the Wind, and he went first. He took a deep breath and blew with all his might. Leaves flew, dust rose, the traveler's hat sailed off. But the traveler wrapped his coat tighter around him. The Wind blew harder. The traveler did up his buttons, turned up his collar and held his coat with both hands. The Wind howled like a hurricane, howled and howled, but the traveler did not loosen his coat by an inch. At last the Wind grew tired and fell silent.

Then it was the Sun's turn. The Sun was in no hurry at all. He came slowly out from behind the clouds and sent his soft, gentle rays down onto the traveler. The air grew warm. The traveler turned down his collar first. The Sun smiled a little more. The traveler undid his buttons. The Sun warmed him a little more. The traveler wiped the sweat from his forehead, took off his coat, folded it over his arm and sat down to rest in the shade of a tree by the road.

The Wind stared in astonishment. The Sun said to him quietly: "You see? What you cannot do by force, you can do with warmth. Being gentle is stronger than shouting."

Ever since then, whenever someone achieves something with kindness, the Sun smiles from the sky and the Wind quietly nods.