HONESTY IS THE BEST POLICY
Generally, people say that honesty is the best policy. It means that, if we want to succeed in life we should be honest and straight forward. Nothing succeeds like honesty. It is possible that dishonesty may be successful sometimes, but in the long run honesty is sure to succeed.
This can be seen if we consider the cases of students and business men. The student who tries to copy in the examination may get good marks. Here he neglects honest work and in the long run, he is sure to suffer the consequences of dishonesty, as he will find himself below standard.
Let us examine the case of a student who tries to use foul means in the examination hall and is caught red handed by the superiors. The least punishment he gets is that the paper is snatched from him and is asked to promise not to copy again. When he reaches home, he gets rebuke from his parents. In the company of his friends, he is put to shame. When he goes to his class for his daily lessons, he is hated by the teacher and the classmates. For a single act of dishonesty, the whole world hates him. He feels ashamed. But it is too late.
If a businessman is found to be dishonest in a single transaction, people try to avoid him. His sales go down. People refuse to believe him whatever he does. He loses his customers and goodwill. There are only two courses before him – either to wind up the business or to be honest.
The effects of dishonesty are much the same in the case of teachers, government servants and others. It is possible that a man may become rich by adopting a dishonest mean. But he generally squanders the money. He again adopts dishonest means to earn more.
It is necessary for us to be honest if we want to succeed in life. Dishonesty leads to failure. A dishonest person is bound to loose in the long run. Without hard work and honesty, none has succeeded in the world so far.