An old man, afflicted with a family of contentious sons, brought in a bundle of sticks and asked the young men to break it. After repeated efforts, they confessed that it could not be done.
"Behold," said the old man, "the advantage of unity; as long as these sticks are in alliance they are invincible, but observe how feeble they are individually."
Pulling a single stick from the bundle, he broke it easily upon the head of the eldest son, and this he repeated until all had been served.