When things go wrong

 

 There lived a lonely lady in a remote village. She kept a cat for her constant company. As there was no electricity in the village, she had to use candles. She succeeded in training her cat to hold a candle for her while she ate her supper.

 

The widow wanted to make a display of the exceptional performance of her cat. So she called her neighbours for a supper. They were impressed by the feat of the cat; nevertheless, they wanted to test it. One held a thick piece of meat in front of him. The cat never cared to look at it, but sat alert, fixing his eyes devotedly on the candle.

Another offered him a small fish, but he was not at all attracted by it. One woman, who had a mouse in a little cage, let it out. No sooner did the cat catch sight of it than he threw the candle aside and was on the mouse, while the widow sat in utter embarrassment. Someone looked at the old woman who sat hanging her head in shame and remarked, "The mouse is his weakness!"

 

One tiny cavity in a ship is enough to sink it! One vice is enough to cancel out all your good qualities. Gandhi, in his autobiography, My Experiments with Truth, said that he was painfully aware of his weaknesses. Hence he proved to be one of the morally strongest men India has seen in recent years. An awareness of your particular weakness and a constant vigilance over it is very important to avoid pitfalls.