# The Half-Inch of Honesty

Imagine a golf tournament underway. You're about to strike the ball when it shifts—a mere half inch. No one notices this small thing except you.

What do you do then? Hit the ball and say nothing? Or, forsaking the prize money, add a penalty stroke to your own score?

This is where most people fail to remain honest. The person who refrains from silently profiting by a mistake or wrongdoing that no one else has seen—that person alone is truly ethical. The integrity of conscience runs far deeper than the integrity of judgment.

A victory built on anything less than complete honesty is, at its core, shame. In this sense, nearly all of us are walking around in the mask of victory, secretly savoring our own disgrace.