Always Someone Else’s Fault

Always Someone Else’s Fault

1989 6 June 9 Always Someone Else’s Fault (396) I always remember one of my former acquaintances as having a fine personality and a good brain, but as being a total failure. There was no service or business in which he met with success, and after this had become an established pattern, he eventually lost his mental balance. One day, in a state of distraction, he met with an accident on the road, and was killed outright.

The simple reason for his downfall was that while he wanted very much to be successful, he did not use his natural abilities towards that end. Then, when he failed in anything, he always held others responsible. But there was really no one to blame except himself.

He had started off well enough in school, but the year he had to pass his matriculation, he entered into politics, as a result of which he failed in his examinations. After this, he discontinued his studies. Then he tried his hand at running a shop, but since there was no fixed time for its opening and even remained closed all day whenever he was not in the mood to work, there was no question of its being a success. Finally, he was forced to close it. Then he took up a job. But the type of work was so far below his expectations that he was constantly in a state of tension and would often quarrel with his boss. So one fine day, he was given notice to quit.

In this way, he went on taking up different jobs, all of which ended in failure. When this happened, he would always complain about others, saying that one person was biased, another hostile and yet another obstructive. According to him, nobody wanted to see him progressing, and he was always ready to lay the blame for his failure upon others. In fact, he seemed to spend the whole of his life showing how others were at fault, without ever thinking of how he could mend his own ways. The result was that his actual shortcomings soon became quite apparent to everyone concerned.

Holding others responsible for one’s failure often seems a good way out of one’s difficulties. The great drawback is that this does not wipe out the failure. It only very temporarily diverts the attention of others from the real state of affairs. Final ruination is the only possible consequence.