The next time you feel angry and want to say something hurtful to someone, stop and remember this story: this is a keeper.
Once upon a time there was a bad-tempered boy.
His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that whenever he got angry, he would hit them with a hammer from across the fence.
On the first day, the boy hammered 37 nails into the fence.
Over the next few weeks, as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails he hit each day gradually decreased.
He found that it was easier to control his anger than hammering nails into his yard.
Finally, the day came when the boy was no longer angry.
Tell the father about this and suggest that the boy pull out one nail every day so that he will be patient.
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 yard.