No Answer

In the World to Come I will be able to find defenses for all my sins except the sin of haughtiness. When the court Above asks me, "Why didn't you study the Torah?" I will answer, "I didn't understand the Torah for I was an unlearned man." When I am asked, "Why didn't you serve Hashem through prayer and good deeds?" I will answer, "I didn't have time because I had to work hard to keep my family alive." And if again I am asked, "Why didn't you afflict your body and engage in fasting?" I will answer, "I was weak, and these would have endangered my life." Then when the court asks, "Why didn't you give tzedakah?" I will say, "I couldn't give because I was poor." However, when the court asks me, "If you were unlearned, impoverished, and frail, why were you haughty? What was the source of your conceit? there will be no answer that question.

(Rebbe Raphael of Bershad)