A king sat on his throne, weary of long arguments between two ministers fighting over a piece of land. As they shouted, a tiny ant climbed onto the arm of his chair and slowly carried away a single crumb of bread. The king watched. The ant did not stop, did not boast, did not steal anything that was not directly in front of it. It took what it needed and walked away. The king looked back at the ministers and said gently: "Bring me your land claim again — but each of you may speak only as much as that ant needed to feed itself." The arguments shrank to a few honest sentences, and the case was settled before sunset.