Before It's Late

Sometimes we do not realize when we do the wrong thing, as was done by Nasreddin in this story; 

It was a long dry season. Most wells were dry. So, Nasreddin asked his son to take some drinking water from a natural fountain. He handed a jar to his son. After that, he hit his son's face and said, "Be careful, don't break the jar!" The boy cried and left.

One of his neighbours knew the event. He felt a pity on the boy. He approached Nasreddin and said, "Nasreddin, your son is a nice boy. Why do you hit him?"

"In order not to break the jar, "Nasreddin answered.

"You're not wise, Nasreddin. The jar is not broken, but you have hit your son."

"You're wrong, Nasreddin answered, "If I hit him after he breaks the jar, as most people do, it would be very late. And it is no use to do something late."

Huahahaa.... Did you ever do something like it?

(ref. Nasreddin, a man with thousands of ideas retold by Sugeng Hariyanto posted by M.Nurudin BLOG)