What are we worth?

A lecturer began a seminar by holding up a $1000 note and asking, "Who would like this thousand dollar note?"

Many hands went up, but the lecturer said, "Before I give it to you, I have to do something."

He screwed the note up into a ball and said, "Who still wants this bill?"

The hands went up again.

"And what if I do this to it?"

He threw the crumpled bill at the wall, dropped it on the floor, insulted it with vulgarities, trampled on it many times - and once more he showed them the bill - now all creased and dirty. He repeated his question, and the hands stayed up.

"Never forget this scene," he said, "It doesn't matter what I do to this money. It is still a thousand dollar note. So often in our lives, we are crumpled, trampled on, ill-treated, insulted, and yet, despite all that, we are still worth the same."