The secretary in our office said, 'My ex boyfriend said I am like an oak.'

So, I told her this story:

On the edge of the great forest stood a mighty oak. Around the oak were other trees and a fern.

One day the fern called to the oak and said: 'Hey mighty oak, have you heard the whisper on the wind, tonight there will be a great storm.'

The oak replied 'Listen, you puny little fern, I have no time to time to indulge in small talk with creatures like you.'

The fern said 'But oak, this storm will be big, so you better be prepared.''I have no need of preparation, I am the strongest tree in the forest, and I can withstand anything. You are the one who should be worried, little fern.'

That evening a great storm came, and there were lightning flashes, rain, a mighty crack, and the wind howled and whistled all through the night. The oak resisted the storm with all its strength.

The fern swayed back and forth in the wind, and bent all the way backwards from its force to be level with the ground. In the morning, the fern awoke, and looked around at the damage of the storm.

He looked to where the oak stood and noticed that the great oak had fallen in the night.

Our secretary said: 'I don't like this story, and right now I am not too fond of you.'Anyway, I continued:

Days later, people came with saws and hauled the oak away to burn as firewood, and to make floorboards that they would step on for years.

So it is that what is soft and yielding survives, while that which is rigid and inflexible perishes.