Safe and Rejoicing

"For the wise and the prudent, it is he first coin in the purse - that disbursement of the spirit which makes possible the negotiating of life's most dreadful passages - which enables men to go on their way safe and rejoicing. But for the foolish, the insensitive, the reckless, the undiscerning, it is the last coin in the purse, the one which, when every resource has been exhausted, when man is left with only his need and his desperation - purchases a secure crossing to fresh possibilities and new hopes." - From "Basic Judaism" by Milton Steinberg