Wisdom story: What can a hammer and some nails teach you about anger

There once was a little boy who had a bad temper and because of it was always in trouble. 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 fence in the backyard. The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. With every nail he hammered in the fence he promised himself he would be more in control of himself the next time. 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 pulls 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’ve 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. 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 and a verbal wound is just as bad as a physical one.’