A man had four quarrelsome sons. He was fed up of their quarrelling and decided to teach them a lesson. He told each of his sons to bring a stick and come to him. When the sons brought the sticks, the man tied them together in a bundle. Then he told his sons, “I want each one of you to break this bundle of sticks.” Each son tried to break the bundle but was unsuccessful. Afterwards, the man returned the sticks to the sons. He told them to break the sticks. Each son broke his stick very easily. Seeing this, the man said, “When you were trying to break the bundle of sticks, it did not break. But when you broke the sticks individually, they broke. Similarly, if you stand united, nobody will harm you but if you are alone, you will be harmed easily.” The sons never quarrelled after that day.
The Bundle of Sticks
