Self-reliance

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A baby snail asked his mother, "Why was I born with a shell that grew so hard and heavy?" His mother said,"Because we don't have bones to support us. We can only crawl and move slowly, so we've got a shell to protect us." Her baby asked again,"The caterpillar has no bones either, nor can she move quickly. Why can she do so without a shell?" The mother snail answered,"That's because a caterpillar will become a butterfly. She flies high to the sky, which can protect her." Her baby had another question,"But the earthworm crawls like us. He has no bones nor can he turn into a butterfly. Why doesn't he carry a hard, heavy shell?" His mother said,"He can drill a hole, get into the ground and be protected by it." The baby snail then burst into tears,"Why a pity! We have no protection either from the sky or from the ground." His mother comforted him,"That's why we are gifted with a shell. We needn't count on the sky or the ground for protection. We rely on ourselves."