In the time to come, the Holy One, blessed be He, will bring the evil inclination and slay it in the presence of the righteous and the wicked.
To the righteous, it will have the appearance of a high mountain, and to the wicked it will have the appearance of a thread of hair.
Both the former and the latter will weep.
The righteous will weep, saying, “How were we able to overcome such a high mountain?”
The wicked, too, will weep, saying, “How is it that we were unable to conquer this thread of hair?”
A high mountain is built by piling one thread of hair, and then another and another and another.
The wicked man encountered the first thread of hair and remained there.
The righteous man passed over one thread of hair and then another and another, until over the course of his life, an entire mountain of hairs had piled up.
The righteous looks at the mountain and wonders how he could have passed over such a mountain.
The wicked takes a look and says, “How is it that I was unable to conquer the thread of hair?”
An important lesson to be learned is that there is a second chance, and there is no situation in which all hope is lost.
Even if it seems to us that all is lost, it is not so.
Whoever requests another opportunity receives it.
–Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz