100 Moral Stories

WORDS AND ACTIONS SHOULD BE THE SAME There once was a boy who loved eating sweets. He always asked for sweets from his father. His

father was a poor man. He could not always afford sweets for his son. But the little boy did not

understand this, and demanded sweets all the time.

The boy’s father thought hard about how to stop the child asking for so many sweets. There was a

very holy man living nearby at that time. The boy’s father had an idea. He decided to take the boy

to the great man who might be able to persuade the child to stop asking for sweets all the time.

The boy and his father went along to the great man. The father said to him, “O great saint, could

you ask my son to stop asking for sweets which I cannot afford?” The great man was in difficulty,

because he liked sweets himself. How could he ask the boy to give up asking for sweets? The holy

man told the father to bring his son back after one month.

During that month, the holy man gave up eating sweets, and when the boy and his father returned

after a month, the holy man said to the boy “My dear child, will you stop asking for sweets which

your father cannot afford to give you?”

From then on, the boy stopped asking for sweets.

The boy’s father asked the saint, “Why did you not ask

my son to give up asking for sweets when we came to

you a month ago?” The saint replied, “How could I ask a

boy to give up sweets when I loved sweets myself. In the

last month I gave up eating sweets.” A person’s example

is much more powerful than just his words. When we ask

someone to do something, we must do it ourselves also. We should not ask others to do what we do

not do ourselves.

Always make sure that your actions and your words are same.