Law of Success (21st Century Edition)

THE GOLDEN RULE 965

signed the charter that established the United Nations as a body dedi-

cated to promoting peace, international cooperation, and economic and

social development.

Perhaps you have wondered why the subject of honesty has not been
mentioned in this course as a prerequisite to success. If so, the answer
will be found in this lesson. The Golden Rule philosophy, when rightly
understood and applied, makes dishonesty impossible. It also makes
all the other destructive qualities-such as selfishness, greed, envy,
bigotry, hatred, and malice-impossible.
When you apply the Golden Rule, you become at the same time
both the judge and the judged, the accuser and the accused. Honesty,
then, begins in one's own heart, toward one's self, and extends to all
others with equal effect. Honesty based on the Golden Rule recognizes
more than just expediency.
It is no credit to be honest only when honesty is obviously the
most profitable policy so as not to lose a valuable client or be sent
to jail for deception. But when honesty means either a temporary or
permanent material loss personally, then it becomes an honor of the
highest degree to all who practice it. Such honesty has its appropriate
reward in the accumulated power of character and reputation enjoyed
by those who deserve it.
Those who understand and apply the Golden Rule philosophy are
always scrupulously honest, not only out of their desire to be just with
others but also because of their desire to be just with themselves. They
understand the eternal law upon which the Golden Rule is based and
they know that through the operation of this law every thought they
release and every act in which they indulge has its counterpart in some
fact or circumstance with which they will later be confronted.
Those who understand this law would poison their own drinking
water as quickly as they would indulge in acts of injustice to others,
for they know that such injustice starts a chain reaction that will not