Such enemies that lurk in dampness and darkness, a thousand fall at thy side and ten thousand at thy right hand.

That great catastrophe that overtook Holland a century ago is not explained by a tidal wave that pierced through the dikes; the disaster was through the crawfishes that opened tiny holes and, weakening the bulwarks, let in the onrushing sea.
It was but a trifling error also that robbed the generations of one of man's divinest pictures.

Three hundred years ago the monks made tight and strong the roof above the room where was Da Vinci's "Last Supper." A thousand tiles were fastened down and all save one were perfect.

The one hid a secret hole.

When months had passed and the driving storm came from the right direction the rain found out that hidden fault and, rushing in, a flood of drops streamed down o'er the wall and made a great black mark across the noble painting, and ruined the central face forever.
Human life is ruined through the absence of humble virtues and the presence of little faults.