8 Inspirational Short Stories That Provide Food for Thought

Short stories are always a blast to read when you have some spare time. In particular, inspirational stories can get you motivated and on track to finding success in your daily life. Let’s take a look at eight inspirational short stories that provide food for thought.

1. Dirty Money

A speaker offered a $20 bill to a crowd, and everyone jumped up to win. He crumpled the bill and stepped on it with his foot, but everyone was still eager to win the money. 

He asked why people were so hungry for the bill when it had been ruined on the surface. They said the money was still worth the same no matter what. 

Moral: no matter if you’re going through ups or downs in life, your value will always be the same.

2. Breathing with no air

An old man asked a young boy to run laps around a track, but the boy was lazy and unmotivated. 

The old man took the boy to a stream and held his head underwater. The boy tried to come up for air, but the old man was resilient. Eventually, the boy surfaced and realized how badly he wanted air while under the water. 

Moral: motivation is crucial to results.

3. Breaking sticks

A man challenged his sons to break ten sticks, one by one. All of the sons completed the challenge and were ready for more. 

He then challenged them to break ten sticks, all at the same time. While they laughed at this task, none of them passed this test no matter how hard they tried. 

Moral: strength is in numbers.

4. Squirting toothpaste

At a summer camp, a group of girls gossiped and shared secrets behind each other’s backs. 

Some of them reported this behavior to the staff, as it resulted in conflicts within their circle of friends. A camp counselor took out a bottle of toothpaste, squeezed it on the table, and asked the girls to refill the tube. None could do it. 

Moral: words can’t be unspoken.

5. Pound for a pound

A farmer and a baker used to trade a pound of bread for a pound of butter every week. 

After a while, the farmer felt like the butter was too light and brought the baker to court. The baker replied to the accusation, “I weigh the farmer’s bread, and give him a slab of butter of equal weight.” Sure enough, the baker and farmer had been trading goods of equal weight all along. 

Moral: you get what you give.

6. Rocks, pebbles, and sand

A professor brought a jar full of large rocks to his classroom. 

He asked the class whether the jar was full, and they said yes. He added small pebbles in between the cracks and asked whether the jar was full. The class said yes. He filled the rest of the jar with sand and asked whether the jar was full. They said yes once again. 

Moral: perspective is everything.

7. Boulder and gold

A king put a boulder in the middle of a street and hid behind a nearby bush. 

Nobody stopped to move it out of the way except one homeless man who struggled to carry the heavy rock. It was a good deed, as the road was cleared and all the carts could continue to drive by. After the man was done, the king gave him a bag of gold of equal size to reward his efforts. 

Moral: every obstacle is a chance to improve.

8. The ultimate test

Four college students partied the night before an exam and didn’t study. 

The four of them showed up to the professor’s office and told him their car had a flat tire, and they were stuck at the repair shop all day. The professor allowed them to retake the test. The new test consisted of a single question: “which tire was flat?” The students didn’t agree upon an answer, and the professor failed all of them. 

Moral: take responsibility for actions.

Some of these stories are real and some are urban legends. Either way, they provide food for thought and inspiration for the reader. For more reading, search for longer versions of these tales.