To be innocent is to be not guilty; but to be virtuous is to overcome our evil inclinations.

— William Penn

LEADERSHIP

WHAT THIS MEANS

Not having done anything wrong is a low bar and not the same as being good. Innocence can come simply from never having been tempted, never having had the opportunity, or never having been in a position where it cost anything. Virtue involves a pull in the other direction that you did not follow.

Rather than counting what you have not done, look at where you felt the pull this week and what you did with it. That is the only place your character is being formed. The clean record is worth less than the one hard refusal nobody saw.

A QUESTION TO SIT WITH

Which impulse do you beat quietly and tell nobody about?

MORE IN INTEGRITY & CHARACTER

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