The document tells a story about a boy who was given a bag of nails by his father. Each time the boy lost his temper or argued with someone, he had to hammer a nail into the fence. Over time, as the boy learned to control himself, he hammered fewer nails each day. Eventually, he did not need to hammer any nails at all. His father then told him to remove nails for each day he stayed calm. Though many holes remained in the fence from the nails, the boy had learned an important lesson about controlling his emotions and words, and how they can hurt others.