There was a big tree more than several hundred years old located in the middle of a dry land. There was no other tree but the old one gave shelter and shade to thousands of travellers.

One day, two travellers were travelling from far away. They were walking for several miles on a hot day. They started their journey from early morning and it was almost mid-noon. They could not walk any more. They were completely exhausted! Luckily, they reached the tree. They decided to take a rest under the tree. They slept for some time happily, enjoying the cool wind.

They felt hungry and one of the travelers decided to climb the branches to see if the tree has any fruit. Since it is not a fruit-bearing tree, the traveller became angry because of hunger and shouted at the tree, “Oh, this is just a useless tree and it has nothing to feed us, not even a fruit or even nuts!”

When the other traveller heard his words, he asked him to stay cool, “You can’t be so ungrateful（忘恩负义的）to the tree. Just look back at the condition when you reached here in the hot and dry sun! The tree offered you a cool and comfortable place to rest and sleep with cool wind. If it’s not here when you are very tired, you would have died now! The tree saved you from the hot sun, but what you said makes me feel really sorry for you!”

An old man lives in a little house with a beautiful garden in a town. The old man can’t see things, but he is busy looking after his flowers every day.

One day a young painter walks past his garden. He sees the beautiful flowers and feels very happy. The beautiful flowers attract the painter and he doesn’t want to go. He also finds the old man can’t see things.

The painter is very surprised to ask, “You cannot see the flowers.Why are you busy looking after them?”

The old man smiles and answers, “I can tell you four reasons(理由). First, I am a gardener when I am young, and I really like looking after the flowers, trees and grass. Second, I cannot see these flowers, but I can feel them. Third, I can smell the sweetness of them. As to the last one, that’s for you.”

“Me? But you don't know me.” answers the painter.

“Yeah, it's true that I don't know you. But I know that many people like beautiful flowers and will feel happy when they see them. I know many people who love life will stop here and enjoy the beauty of my garden. Now we enjoy the happiness these flowers bring us. The flowers bring you and me together.” says the old man.

Every flower has eyes. They can see the kindness of the old man's heart. He grows flowers in his heart.

A famous speaker started his speech (演讲) by holding up a $20 bill (钞票). In the room of 200 people, he asked, “Who would like this $ 20 bill?”

Hands started going up. He said, “I am going to give this $20 to one of you. But first let me do this.” He crumpled (揉搓) the bill. He then asked, “Who still wants it?” Still the hands were up in the air.

“Well,” he said, “What if I do this?” He dropped it on the ground and started to grind (碾压) it into the floor with his shoe. He picked it up, now crumpled and dirty. “Who still wants it?” Still many students put up their hands.

“My friends, you have all learned a very important lesson. Whatever (无论什么) I do to the money, you will still want it because it is still $20.”

“Sometimes we feel like we are not valuable because we did something wrong. But whatever happens, you will never lose your value (价值) and you are still valuable to those who love you. The value of our lives comes not in what we do or who we know, but by who we are.”