... I responded, 'If your wife and children say, "Daddy has become nicer since he began to do zazen," then your practice is on the right track.'"

~~Roshi Kosho Uchiyama, 'Zen Teaching of Homeless Kodo'

And which sutta would that be, Bhante?

If one does not know how to illuminate these with the Dhamma itself, then right at that point the path comes to a halt — no further wholesome actions, no further wholesome Dhamma can be cultivated.

— Sayadaw U Ottamathara

On the other hand, if one thinks, “I do not understand the Dhamma at all, my effort is useless,” and falls into discouragement, then again one cannot continue striving.
These are situations that anyone who practices the Dhamma may encounter: sometimes there is understanding, sometimes there is not.

If such mistakes are not corrected within oneself, the practice cannot progress. Thinking, “I have already understood the Dhamma,” while in fact that understanding is distorted — then one cannot continue.

Sometimes there is not understanding, sometimes there is understanding — but even understanding, when clung to, becomes a misuse, a distortion.

There are right views, but there are also wrong views. Wrong view arises from delusion; but even when the view is right, if there is attachment to it, that is still greed.
Sometimes there is contempt, sometimes arrogance — both are unwholesome.

... — no longer deliberately trying to correct the faults of others. Rather, by correcting one’s own faults, one gains the strength and energy that can truly inspire and influence others so that their faults are also corrected.

This too is due to long-standing habits and conditioning.
If one truly knows how to look at one’s own faults, then one no longer spends time looking at the faults of others.
If one knows how to correct one’s own mistakes, then one will not set oneself up as a teacher over others...

... Four Foundations of Mindfulness (Satipaṭṭhāna).

People easily fall into error because the external is easy to see and observe, while the internal — the inward (ajjhatta), the domain of the mind — is much harder to see and practice.

When the Venerable Teachers give a Dhamma talk, in fact they are not merely speaking about the external surface. They are pointing to the ultimate reality (paramattha-sacca), and specifically guiding practitioners to contemplate Dhamma — that is, Dhamma-nupassanā within the....

But the practice of observing the mind, observing reality as it truly is, is not well understood.

...you make a mistake, you admit it. You don’t try to cover it up because, after all, you’re trying to change your actions from unskillful to skillful. And if you refuse to recognize your own mistakes, there’s no way you’re going to learn."

~ Thanissaro Bhikkhu "Prerequisites for the Practice"