HOME SPUN by Jim Olson
Mostly Honest?
I
once knew a Feller who said he was “mostly honest.” “Mostly honest!?” Just what in the heck is that? I, as most do, like to consider myself as being, honest. I considered his statement for a while. How can somebody be mostly honest? That’s kind a like being mostly clean! Mostly is similar to almost. It’s kind a like “almost” riding in Bronc. Almost winning the lottery. Almost telling the truth. How can you be mostly honest? Either you are, or you aren’t! Right? If you ordered seventy-two bales of hay from a person and they dropped off seventy, does that make them “mostly honest?” If you paid for ten pounds of X and only got nine, were you treated “mostly fair?” By a “mostly honest” person?” If I had ten doughnuts in a box and you took nine of them, but when questioned, said you only took a couple of them, does that make you mostly honest? Albert Einstein once said, “Whoever is
O
careless with the truth in small matters profess honesty as long as they can. To cannot be trusted with important matters.” believe all men honest would be folly.” If you were short-changed by a person Truth is, there was probably only one on a ten-dollar deal, would you do a thou- who ever walked this earth who could claim sand-dollar deal with them? Or a to have been perfectly honest. And it’s hundred-thousand-dollar deal? been about two-thousand years since he Then, I got to thinking more about it. was here. The good news however, is the Realistically, if you ever met a person who rest of us have his example to live by. This claimed to have never told a lie, you would has nothing to do with religion, but we know they had just told one right there. should all ask ourselves when put to the (Remember, even a little white lie is still a test, “What would Jesus do?” lie.) We are all born liars. From the time of Now don’t get me wrong. I do believe infancy. We do not want to tell the truth if there are honest people in this world. Lots it means of them. Some work getting into very hard at integrity. I trouble for even know folks I would If you ordered seventyour actions. play poker with over the two bales of hay from a Any toddler p h o n e . H o w e v e r, learns right honesty, just like every person and they dropped off away that if other factor in our charthey get in acter, is a work in seventy, does that make them trouble for progress. A learned doing a condition. “mostly honest?” certain thing, Thomas Jefferson when quessaid, “Honesty is the first tioned later if they did in fact, do that chapter in the book of wisdom.” certain thing, they usually shake their head I believe ol’ Tom was right. Honesty is a “no!” They do not want to be punished—so cornerstone of character. I believe my friend they lie. It is only after they are taught, not in the beginning was probably more truthto lie, that they become “mostly honest.” ful than most of us. In reality, most of us John Quincy Adams once said, “All men truly are “mostly honest.” However, we should all strive to be perfectly honest. It’s never too late to improve on our character!
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