We can only hide our lack of integrity for so long. Eventually we'll experience failure, and whatever influence we've temporarily gained will be swept away. Hurricane Katrina taught us that. When the storm came, the river embankments in New Orleans broke and the city went under.Integrity is like a wall - erected one brick at a time. That's why it's crucial to take care of the little things. A lot of us don't understand that. We think we can do whatever we want when it comes to small things; we believe so long as we don't have any major lapses we're doing well. But that's not the way it works. Webster's New International Unabridged Dictionary describes integrity as adherence to moral and ethical principles, soundness of character, and honesty. Ethical principles are not flexible.
A little white lie is still a lie. Theft is still theft, whether it's one dollar or one million. The truth is, if you can't be trusted at all points you probably can't be trusted at any point. Each time you break a moral principle you create a crack in the wall of your character, and when times get tough it becomes harder to act with integrity - not easier.
Character isn't created in a crisis; it just comes to light. Everything you've done in the past, including the things you've neglected to do, comes to a head when you're under pressure.
Someone writes, "Integrity commits itself to character over personal gain, people over things, service over power, discipline over impulse, commitment over convenience, and the long view over the immediate."
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