Only a Trifle

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Sep 11, 1913

A GREAT deal that is right can be fatally marred by a very little that is wrong. It takes only a little thing to spoil a big thing. An outing in the finest and coolest of country air, with the best of meals, the most luxurious of houses, and the most comfortable and sleep-inviting beds, may be ruined by the barking of a dog or the humming of mosquitoes. A mere trifle like that has changed more than one paradise into an inferno.

And it takes only a single serious trifle in the character of an otherwise strong, attractive man or woman to more than blot out all the attractions that might count for so much. It does not pay to overlook the little things, in our surroundings or in ourselves. It may seem an unfair principle, but it is inexorably true, that a little that is bad will more than offset a great deal that is good, while a little that is good will not offset the large evil. Hence it behooves us to be vigilant against all evil, no matter how tiny.—Selected.