Origin: Aesop’s Fables

Once in a far-away time on a cool winter day the North Wind and the Sun were having an argument about who was the strongest.

“Let us decide by having a contest,” said the Sun.

They looked down from the sky and saw a man walking on a winding road. He was wearing a warm winter coat.

“As a test of who is strongest,” said the Sun, “Let us see which of us can take the coat off of that man.”

“It will be quite simple for me to force him to remove his coat,” bragged the Wind.

The Wind blew so hard that the birds clung to the trees and the air became filled with dust and leaves. But the harder the Wind blew, the tighter the shivering man pulled his coat around him.

Then, the Sun came out from behind a cloud. The Sun warmed the air and the frosty ground. The man on the road unbuttoned his coat.

The sun grew slowly brighter and brighter.
Soon the man felt so hot, he took off his coat and sat down in a shady spot.

“How did you do that?” said the Wind.

“It was easy,” said the Sun. “I warmed the day. Through gentleness I got my way.”