““A fisherman was on a riverbank one day when he saw another man fishing nearby. Every time the other man caught a big fish, he threw it back, but he kept every small fish he hooked. This went on all day, and the more the first fisherman watched the more curious he became. Finally he went over and said, “Sir I’ve watched you all day and I just can’t understand. Why do you throw the big fish back, but you keep the small fish?” “Oh, that’s simple,” said the other man. “All I have is a ten-inch frying pan.””
![“Next came the Patent laws. These began in England in 1624; and, in this country, with the adoption of our constitution. Before then [these?], any man might instantly use what another had invented; so that the inventor had no special advantage from his own invention. The patent system changed this…” quote by Abraham Lincoln](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/449/abraham-lincoln-88_adoption_next-came-the-patent-laws-these-began-in_1828.jpg)
