Outline:
- Importànce of the saying
- The importance of timely action
- Examples
- The havoc caused by delay
“A stitch in time saves nine” is an age-old saying, which means that immediate action taken as soon as something goes wrong saves a lot of work and expenses later. Like all other sayings and proverbs this saying is also steeped in great wisdom, lifelong experience and the truth. Sayings etc. are like valuable pearls taken out from the deep ocean of life. Proverbs express human learning and wisdom so appropriately, exactly and briefly that the whole universe appears to be confined to a room. “What was thought but never so well expressed,” applies very accurately to the sayings and proverbs.
Timely action is of great significance. An evil nipped in the bud, a torn garment stitched in time, a horseshoed before it is late would save us a lot of expenses, trouble and time. Time is of great importance. It is more valuable than money. In every walk and department of life timely action and remedies are of vital importance. We must set right or wrong immediately lest it would grow into a very serious problem to be tackled in future. Problems not addressed in the very beginning often become unmanageable later. Another saying is highlighting the same wisdom. “Prevention is better than cure”. We should not allow a disease to originate and develop at all. It should be prevented from being born. Why a problem should be allowed to crop up at all? The best is to prevent a bad situation from being arisen. Cure and remedy is of secondary importance and it involves more efforts expenditure, labour and time.[the_ad id=”17141”]
For example, let us take formation of bad habits smoking, drinking, eating too much sweets, seeing too much of television programs or indulging in playing cards. These bad habits can be very easily acquired but are very difficult to be eliminated and rooted out. If a child is found smoking or stealing or telling a lie, he or she must be immediately checked and the evil nipped in the very initial stage before it becomes a habit. Once a bad habit is formed it is very difficult to get rid of it. We should never connive at the bad actions of the children. They should be firmly rooted out and all possible steps taken so that the child does not become habitual of them. Similarly, we elders should always be at guard and be ruthless in stamping out our bad and undesirable tendencies, attitudes and ideas before they mature into habits and deep-rooted practices. The force of habit is very powerful and obliges a person to practise that evil action again and again. If he does not repeat it, he feels very uncomfortable, and restless. And one evil leads to so many other evils. A habit of stealing things would lead a person to telling lies, cheating, drinking, drug addiction, illegal and immoral activities and the company of anti-social elements. It creates an endless vicious circle. Once you throw a stone into the water and then there are endless waves in circles, one after the other, then more and still more. You cannot escape it.
The consequences of delay, hesitation and procrastination are very serious and dangerous. Things should be mended and set right then and there. The results of putting off things are ever harmful. A decisive remedial action is very vital. Time or opportunity lost once is lost forever. It never returns. There are many evils that grow strong and abiding with the passage of time. Any evil that is detected must be crushed, eradicated and removed instantly or else it may grow into something very big and formidable to be done away with in future.
[the_ad id=”17142″]There is a short but beautiful story that very perfectly illustrates the saying and its ultimate moral. There was a mother and his young son in a school. The boy one day stole a pencil from the class, then a book and later money. The mother, instead of punishing him, connived at his evil habit of theft. Ultimately the child grew into a notorious thief and dacoit. But one day he was caught and ordered to be hanged. His last desire was to meet his mother. When his mother came he pretended to say some secret in her ear. And in the process, he cut off her ear with his very sharp teeth saying that she was responsible for his shameful and evil life and his death by hanging. If she has punished him in the very beginning while he committed petty theft, he would never have become a thief and dacoit.
Many of our tragedies, disasters, losses and evils are because we do not pay heed to this saying. In personal, social and national life, there are many examples which very well bring home the truth and wisdom of the saying. Evils in their very serious and devastating forms happen only because we allow them to grow and strike roots deeper and fail to nip them in the bud. A solider lost the battle and was disgraced only because he did not nail the shoe of his horse in time. A small negligence and so much loss!
