To be honest, as this world goes,
Is to be one picked out of ten thousand.
—Shakespeare.
All other knowledge is hurtful to him who has not honesty and good nature.—Montaigne.
The best that a boy or man can do is to be honest. He will find honesty profitable; not only will it pay in a material way, but it will bring satisfaction with self, and will command the esteem and admiration of all with whom he comes in contact. Without honesty of purpose and act, there can be no substantial or lasting success either in business or any other undertaking in life. Be honest, in order that you may be successful and content, as well.
CHAPTER XII
Be Honest
“Honesty is the best policy” cannot be excelled as a moral maxim. As an aphorism it cannot be revoked. He who heeds it will avoid wrong, but he who disregards it will cease to do right. The word is sometimes used in a legal sense as that which is determined and enforced by law, sometimes in a worldly way as that which looks to public opinion as its motive and end, but Webster defines it “to be upright, just, fair in dealing with others, free from trickishness and fraud; acting and having the disposition to act at all times according to justice or correct moral principles.” That boy who adheres to these, is, as Pope declared, “The noblest work of God.”
That there are tricks in all trades is an acknowledged fact, and when resorted to to secure advantage over another, it is nothing less than theft, which is fraught with peril and liable to bitter remorse.
“A little theft, a small deceit,